ELECTRIC CO-OP DIRECTORS MEET IN CAPE

Perhaps in the future homeowners will have a choice of electric companies the way people have a choice of long-distance telephone companies.

Some 160 directors of Missouri rural electric cooperatives heard a discussion of electric deregulation Thursday.

The Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives is meeting in Cape Girardeau this week for their annual conference.

Today, the conference continues with a discussion about environmental concerns with U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson.

"There may come a day when electric companies are calling you during dinner the same as telephone companies," said Randy Tyree, director of government relations for the association.

However, electric cooperatives haven't signed on to any legislation in Missouri. "Co-ops are in favor of deregulation on with strong consumer protections," Tyree said.

Sen. Peter Kinder has sponsored legislation that would allow customer choice.

"The movement to retail electric competition is not a result of the co-op system," Kinder said. "The movement toward retail competition is primarily driven by the high prices charged by certain investor-owned utilities."

In Missouri, power is supplied to consumers by three basic groups: investor-owned, for-profit companies like AmerenUE; municipal-owned, non-profit organizations like Jackson city utilities; and non-profit rural electric cooperatives.

"We need customer choice legislation in Missouri because of the high-cost investor-owned utilities," Kinder said. "Our goal is to implement legislation to give customers of those utilities choice without adversely affecting co-op and municipal systems."

Twenty-two states have adopted similar legislation to be implemented within the next two to four years.

Cooperatives are owned by the people who pay for utilities. They elect members to governing boards, and these boards make decisions about what services the co-ops should offer.

In some communities, co-ops have expanded outside electricity to offer propane service, satellite television and Internet connections.

Tyree explained that rural development is of importance to the cooperatives, whose boards of directors are made up primarily of farmers and small business owners.