February 2026

Nick Mascia looks for damage on a turbine.

During the year’s milder periods, a peaking facility like the Greenville Generating Station might go six weeks without spinning up to produce electricity for Ohio electric cooperative consumer-members.

However, when extreme heat or a disaster strikes, the plant answers the call. For example, when tornadoes caused devastation around Celina last Memorial Day, Greenville was online around the clock for the next three days.

The really interesting part? For either extreme, it’s up to a crew of only four to make sure the power stays on.

A picture of a moth against a white backdrop

In Ohio, there are an estimated 2,500 species of moths, compared to fewer than 140 butterfly species. An enthusiastic group of Ohio “moth-ers” (people who enjoy moths, rather than a maternal parent) is looking forward to celebrating these nighttime flyers during Mothapalooza, a bi-annual event taking place July 12 to 14 at Shawnee Lodge and Conference Center near West Portsmouth.

Two horses lead a canal boat down the river

Only a few years ago, when Buckeye Lake in central Ohio was being drawn down for dam repair, workers made a historic find: Hidden in those murky depths was a sunken canal boat called the Black Diamond.

“It’s the first archaeological-documented canal boat discovery in Ohio,” says Andy Sewell, historian with Columbus-based Lawhon and Associates, an environmental consulting firm associated with the dam project.

A large crowd celebrates and dances in front of a stage

Michael Barhorst never tired of standing near the covered stage in the natural amphitheater on his property in rural Shelby County, watching thousands of country music fans enjoy the Country Concert he organized every year.

Fans came there to enjoy headliners, old favorites, and newcomers to the country music scene, to camp out and have fun with friends, and to share their love for the music with a massive crowd. “It is so rewarding,” Barhorst often remarked to friends and family, “to watch thousands of people take a shared emotional journey through the power of a song.”

A man stands behind a woman pointing a gun at the clay in the air.

For years, competitive shooter and professional shotgun shooting coach Dan Bailey of Mount Vernon dreamed of building and owning his own commercial clay-target shooting range. That dream came true in the summer of 2017 when he and his wife, Peggy, opened Eagle’s Nest Sporting Grounds, an 85-acre, state-of-the-art shooting facility located near Mount Gilead in central Ohio, served by Consolidated Cooperative.

An illuminated lightbulb sits next to a scale comparing energy efficiencies.

Cooperation among cooperatives is one of the principles upon which our industry is founded. Think of it as teamwork — sounds nice, but it’s more than just a neighborly way to conduct business. We’re more effective when we work together cooperatively to achieve common goals. Ohio Cooperative Living magazine is just one example that shows how team effort really works to hold down costs and improve the quality of our service.

An outside view of the Armstrong Air and Space Museum, which resembles a moon base.

The whole world watched on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong planted his left foot in the virgin lunar dust. That “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” rocketed Armstrong to instant immortality. As the first person to stand on a celestial body, Armstrong fulfilled the late President Kennedy’s goal of putting an American on the moon and rendered the United States the winner in its space race with the Soviet Union.