As some of you may know, Allegheny Power no longer exists in Virginia. The customers that were with Allegheny have been divided between Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) and their affiliate, Shenandoah Cooperative, as of June 1, 2010. In another perfect example of just how bad the transparency problem in REC is, almost none of the former Allegheny customers had any idea that they had been switched until they got their first (considerably higher) bill from REC.

The better part of Clarke County was transferred from Allegheny to REC. Almost every person I have spoken to in this area has complained about power outages ranging from a few minutes to several hours. Most people who did know about the switch were first informed when they called Allegheny to complain about these outages. Ex-Alleghany co-op members have been grateful when I’ve told them about the coal plant, the upcoming co-op election, and our clean energy candidate, Rob Marmet. It’s frustrating that the only information some of these co-op members have received has been from CCAN, rather than their new co-op.

Last Tuesday, July 13th, REC held an informational meeting for new members. Justin, Leslie, Carrie and I piled into the car and traveled from our Fredericksburg office to the Clarke County government center, where the meeting was held. We arrived just in time to find REC executives setting up refreshments and brochures and to see huge rain clouds roll in.

Incredibly, almost as if REC could control the weather, the downpour lasted almost exactly the length of our stay before, after, and during the meeting. Unfortunately, the inclement weather seemed to affect the meeting’s turnout. Luckily, one person who wasn’t deterred by the weather was our candidate for the REC Board of Directors, Rob Marmet! Rob and his wife made it just in time to talk with us for a few minutes and head into the meeting.

During the question and answer session, Rob asked why new members who may have lost or thrown away their ballot must travel all the way to a REC office to request another ballot in person. There are REC offices in Fredericksburg, Culpeper, Bowling Green, and Front Royal. The co-op area spans about 15 counties, many of which are hours from an office, and it is unclear if they will even be distributed ballots at every location or only in Fredericksburg. He also brought up the proposed coal plant near the Chesapeake Bay, but the Board of Directors managed to sidestep the issue entirely. Rob is quoted in an article about this meeting in the Clarke Daily News.

Here is an excerpt:

“Marmet said that he is running for the REC Board of Directors because he believes in the cooperative system and thinks that direct public ownership is the best approach for running a good utility. Marmet also expressed reservations about plans by Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, REC’s primary electric power provider, to build a coal-fired power plant in Surry County, Virginia.”

“Why does a Virginia utility want to invest in antiquated coal technology?” he rhetorically asked.”