This is the first in a series of articles about the importance of a Balance of Power approach.

First Electric recently conducted a member survey asking our member-owners questions about their service with the cooperative.

The most impactful information came from the question, “How concerned are you about governmental regulations impacting the price and reliability of your electricity?” Overwhelmingly, 93% of our members who responded said that they are somewhat concerned to very concerned about the impact.

First Electric’s wholesale power provider Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC) is a minority owner in White Bluff Steam Electric Station, and Independence Steam Electric Station which will both cease operations in 2028 and 2030 respectively. The closure of these two plants, without a sustainable source of baseload generation (coal, gas or nuclear) present a danger to our reliability and affordability.

AECC is working to replace the generation capacity from the two plants and ensure the availability of baseload generation for First Electric’s member-owners and the state’s other 16 electric cooperatives. However, that can’t be replaced with renewable, or intermittent resources alone.
Non-readily dispatchable generation resources, such as renewable generation — like solar and wind power — is sometimes referred to as intermittent. That term is used because the nature of the power generated is not continuous. This means the amount of electricity they produce can vary depending on factors such as weather conditions.

Baseload generation is crucial to provide a reliable and constant supply of electricity to serve our member-owners with affordable and reliable power.

First Electric supports an all-of-the-above “Balance of Power” approach so our member-owners won’t be left in the dark!