New Stories
Navigating electric deregulation — Balancing competition and cost in Indiana’s energy market
Electric deregulation — sometimes called “retail choice” or “restructuring” — is often presented as a simple proposition: allow customers to shop for electricity, introduce competition, and let the market produce better prices and more choices. In practice, deregulation is more complicated. It changes who supplies electricity, how generation costs are recovered, and how the financial… Continue reading.
The enduring legacy of cooperatives
BY JULIE YOUNG The United States may be celebrating its 250th birthday, but the nation’s first successful cooperative is much older than that. In fact, the nation’s oldest continuing cooperative, the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire, was organized in 1752 by none other than Benjamin Franklin. By definition, a… Continue reading.
Prioritizing people over profits
BY JULIE YOUNG Unlike a corporation, which is run by a board of directors for maximum return, a cooperative is a member-owned organization that is focused on community benefit. That benefit may begin with providing its members with the most reliable utility service at the best price, but it’s a commitment that extends to every… Continue reading.
The cooperative difference
BY JULIE YOUNG When you belong to a cooperative, you are part of an organization run and owned by its members for mutual benefit. Central to that organization are seven core principles that translate ethical values into action. The roots of the modern co-op go back to 1844, when a group of weavers in the… Continue reading.
