Hoosier energy rural electric cooperative, Inc.: The rural cooperative perspective

Abstract

Making the business case for sustainability is far easier for large utilities that have either investors or a significant customer base pressuring particular actions. The business case is more difficult when those drivers are absent, as is the case for small non-investor-owned utilities (non-IOUs). For large non-IOUs, there is still pressure to respond to stakeholders and an extensive customer base, but it is more challenging to promote sustainability inside smaller organizations, such as rural electric cooperatives. Hoosier Energy, located in Bloomington Indiana, has been implementing programs to support its communities since its founding in 1949 but has only recently begun to frame these programs as continuous improvement. It took the development of a plan for new headquarters facilities to help bring all the pieces together into a theme that made sense for Hoosier Energy. The Hoosier Energy story is presented as an example of garnering support for a comprehensive program within a generation and tranmission cooperative.