Legislative engagement is paramount for Western Cooperative Electric and our members. This includes participating in events like the Kansas Electric Cooperatives (KEC) Day at the Capitol, where cooperatives meet with lawmakers while they are in session to discuss key issues.
During events like KEC’s Day at the Capitol, Western Cooperative Electric joins forces with other cooperatives to advocate for policies that benefit our rural communities. These gatherings provide a valuable opportunity to engage with legislators directly and ensure that our members’ voices are heard in the legislative process.
As we come together with other Kansas cooperatives, we set priorities for legislative action that address the unique challenges faced by our community. These priorities focus on maintaining the reliability of our electric systems, safeguarding against physical and cyber threats, and ensuring affordable service for our members.
Reliability is paramount for electric cooperatives as they strive to provide their members with a consistent and uninterrupted power supply. Electric cooperatives serve rural and often remote areas where access to electricity is not just a convenience but a necessity for daily life, agriculture, and businesses. Reliable electricity is essential for powering homes, schools, hospitals, farms, and businesses and enhancing quality of life.
In Western Kansas, reliability is crucial for our way of life and can no longer be taken for granted. While renewable energy sources like wind and solar play an increasingly significant role in the energy mix, they are intermittent and dependent on weather conditions. Dispatchable generation sources provide stability and flexibility, allowing electric cooperatives to meet fluctuations in demand and ensure a reliable power supply, especially during peak periods or when renewable sources are unavailable. Coal and naturalgas power plants can be ramped up or down quickly to respond to changing energy needs, providing essential grid stability and reliability. Electric cooperatives can maintain grid reliability by integrating dispatchable generation alongside renewable energy while transitioning toward a more sustainable and resilient energy future.
Electric cooperatives rely heavily on cybersecurity measures to safeguard their grids against an evolving landscape of digital threats. In today’s interconnected world, where critical infrastructure is increasingly digitized, protecting against cyberattacks is paramount. Electric cooperatives must defend against hackers, malware and other cyberthreats that could compromise the integrity and functionality of the grid. A successful cyberattack could disrupt power distribution, trigger widespread outages, and potentially cause significant economic and societal disruptions. By implementing robust cybersecurity protocols, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and regular security audits, electric cooperatives can mitigate the risk of cyber incidents and ensure the reliability and resilience of the grid for the communities we serve.
Physical security also remains an ongoing threat to cooperative infrastructure and the electric grid. Electric cooperatives require robust physical security measures for their grids to safeguard critical infrastructure from various threats and vulnerabilities. The grid serves as the backbone of modern society, powering homes, businesses and essential services. Physical security protects substations, transmission lines, and other vital components against potential sabotage, vandalism or terrorist attacks that could disrupt the power supply and cause widespread chaos. By implementing stringent access controls, surveillance systems and perimeter fencing, electric cooperatives can mitigate risks and uphold the reliability and resilience of the grid, ensuring continuous service for the communities they serve.
Through events like KEC’s Day at the Capitol, Western Cooperative Electric can advocate for policies supporting our members and community. As we continue legislative engagement efforts, we remain committed to ensuring that the needs of our members are met and that our rural communities thrive now and in the future.
