On Veterans Day, many people take time to thank those who served in the military. But for many veterans, the real thanks goes the other way — they are grateful they had the opportunity to serve their country, to be part of something meaningful, to grow as people, and to contribute to protecting the freedoms we all enjoy.
In an increasingly digital world, cybersecurity has become second nature to most of us. We lock our phones, use strong passwords, and enable two-factor authentication to protect our personal data. We’re alert for phishing attempts and digital scams that seek to exploit our trust or steal sensitive information. They’re practices that reflect a broader principle: securing what matters.
Farming has long been the backbone of Ohio’s economy. Even if you don’t farm today, you likely have friends or family who do, or ancestors who once did.
Ohio’s electric cooperatives have a long history with the farming community. Years ago, rural residents (many of them farmers) worked together to bring electricity to their homes and towns, changing life in the countryside forever.
Independence Day is a special time for Ohioans to honor the courage and hard work of our founding fathers, who overcame great struggles to create a nation where values like liberty, personal freedom, and self-governance could thrive. These same values continue to guide how Ohio’s electric cooperatives operate today.
June is that glorious month when we enjoy the longest days of the year. In fact, Ohioans get more than 15 hours of sunlight on several days surrounding the summer solstice later this month. In recent years, it’s also been a time when solar power draws significant attention as something that seems like an obvious solution to America’s ever-growing electricity needs.
But even as more electricity is added to the grid from solar resources, it’s important to understand that solar power alone cannot meet our nation’s electricity needs.
Electricity is truly remarkable. It’s everywhere — lighting up our homes, powering TVs and refrigerators, charging phones we rely on daily, and generally changing our lives in ways we almost take for granted. It feels like it’s always been here.
That’s not the case, of course. It’s worth remembering that, though electricity now runs almost every part of our routines, most homes and businesses in rural parts of the United States didn’t have electricity available to them until the mid-1930s.
I think we all can relate to the amazing feeling of those sunny, 70-degree days that start coming regularly in April, giving us hope that winter is finally over. We also know that crushing feeling of 30 degrees and snow the next day — bringing us back to the reality that winter isn’t quite finished with us yet.
Affordable and reliable electricity strengthens cooperative communities and enhances the lives of members wherever they are — on farms, in homes or schools, at their small businesses or large retail establishments, or even in industrial and manufacturing facilities. While it’s essential to meet our obligations to current cooperative members, we must also work to support economic development activities that help attract new people and enterprises to cooperative territories, with the aim of further benefiting these communities.
