Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc
PO Box 1266 , Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States

Allegheny has a diversified power supply portfolio with significant investments in nuclear and hydropower resources and minimal reliance on carbon-based fuels. About 65 percent of Allegheny’s energy supply comes from these clean, stable and relatively low-cost resources. Allegheny owns 10 percent of the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, a 2,600-megawatt, two-unit nuclear power plant located in Luzerne County, Pa. Talen Energy Corporation owns the remaining 90 percent and operates the boiling water reactor facility.

Allegheny also operates the Raystown Hydroelectric Project/William F. Matson Generating Station (Raystown), a two-unit, 21-megawatt, run-of-river hydropower facility located at Raystown Lake and Dam in Huntingdon County,Pa. In 2007, Raystown earned the distinction of being the first hydroelectric plant in Pennsylvania to be certified as a Low Impact Hydroelectric Facility by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI), a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing environmental impacts of hydropower generation. The certification continues Allegheny’s high standard of environmental stewardship.

Additionally, Allegheny has been at the forefront of initiatives to control peak demand and assist consumer-members in the development of renewable generation systems. The Coordinated Load Management System, a demand-side program that has been in place since 1986, helps shift electricity use of hot water heaters and other appliances from times of peak demand to off-peak hours. By doing so, the voluntary program improves system efficiency, cuts costly demand charges and reduces the need for new generating capacity. The system is being updated to include state-of-the-art automatic meter reading, load control and smart meter/smart appliances capability.

Allegheny and PREA have also worked to develop a program to assist cooperative consumer-members who want to install a clean energy generation system at their home or farm. The Renewable Energy Assistance Program provides grants to electric distribution cooperatives to help cover various interconnection costs, such as metering equipment and distribution transformers. It also pays for certain transitional costs to help ensure that other electric cooperative consumer-members are not required to subsidize the operation or installation of small renewable energy generation systems — whether the system is an anaerobic digester, wind turbine or solar array.

In many ways, these initiatives reflect the electric cooperative tradition of members helping members and add a new chapter to our history of addressing environmental and energy challenges in a cost-effective and fair way.

Since 1942, the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association (PREA) has served as the unified voice for electric cooperatives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. These member-owned entities provide power and other services within their respective service territories. PREA is a non-profit, service organization headquartered in Harrisburg, Pa., and is governed by a 14-member board of directors – one director from each member cooperative.

Today, 14 electric cooperatives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey supply electricity to more than 230,000 rural households, businesses and industries, representing more than 600,000 consumers. The 13 cooperatives inPennsylvania own and maintain about 12.5 percent of the electric distribution lines in the state, covering nearly one-third of the Commonwealth’s land area in 42 counties. These lines, an essential component of rural business and industry, represent one of the Commonwealth’s largest non-governmental investments in rural infrastructure.

As locally owned (electric cooperatives are owned by their members) and locally controlled businesses, electric cooperatives play vital roles in maintaining the economic health of their rural communities – providing hundreds of jobs and contributing to the overall quality of life.

A Tradition of Service

Headquartered in Pennsylvania’s capital, Harrisburg, PREA serves as a resource center for the member cooperatives. By taking advantage of economies of scale, PREA is able to offer member cooperatives cost-effective services. On behalf of our member cooperatives, we are advocates in the state capital and in Washington, D.C. Our state and federal relations staff members work closely with elected officials and regulatory bodies to ensure that the concerns of rural citizens are clearly heard in the legislative process.

Directors, managers, employees and individual consumer-members of PREA and its member cooperatives contribute to PREA’s grassroots legislative efforts by participating in the Action Committee for Rural Electrification (ACRE), the political action arm of the nation’s electric cooperatives.

PREA also promotes a “community facilities” initiative that benefits rural areas. PREA works closely with member cooperatives and local community leaders to financially support vital community facilities in rural areas – facilities like hospitals, schools and emergency services. To help carry out this important work, PREA created the Rural Electric Community Assistance program (RECA), a low-interest loan program targeted to assist rural cooperative areas in improving the quality of life in their service areas.

Because members of an electric cooperative are also the owners, they have a vested interest in their cooperative. One way that PREA assists in consumer educational efforts is by publishing Penn Lines, a monthly news magazine focusing on rural issues. The magazine is tailored to each individual cooperative, so readers can stay attuned to their local cooperative’s activities.

PREA also offers member services, management, and employee training and safety instruction to its member cooperatives. Safety courses offered by PREA’s nationally recognized Job Training and Safety Program ensure cooperative employees can complete their jobs with the highest degree of security and protection.

By working with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), based in Arlington, Va., PREA ensures that member cooperatives and their boards of directors stay abreast of the latest issues affecting the energy business at the national level.