Celebrating the New Year with our common purpose

Who is my neighbor?

It’s a question worth asking, whether in scripture or your community. It’s a question that electric cooperatives eagerly answer, because we are neighbors.

Whenever I think of the word “neighbor,” I think of my grandfather Joe Perry, who was a World War II veteran and a school bus mechanic who loved working on cars. When I was a child, he loved taking me on Sunday drives to visit neighbors and family.

He was a soft-spoken man who thought it was important for people to talk to one another, to sit on the porch together. I think about my grandfather as I drive across Kentucky to check in with our member co-ops. Yes, we have email, video conferencing and social media to keep up with each other today, but there is nothing like breathing the same air and meeting face-to-face.

It’s that spirit of neighborliness that is our co-op theme this year: Your Neighbor, Your Energy. Co-ops are not only neighbors because we live in the same communities as the people we serve, we are neighbors because we share a common purpose and interest: to improve the quality of life in our communities.

Your Neighbor, Your Energy also embraces our cooperative business model. As the energy landscape continues to change, know that your statewide association is working every day to protect members—both the largest customer we serve and the rural family at the end of the line.

Your local co-op is in a great position to serve your home area because a co-op—by its very nature—is uniquely suited to understand its own community. Your co-op was built by, belongs to and is led by people in your community.

Neighbors look out for one another. We’ll be looking out for you in Frankfort and Washington, D.C., as elected leaders make decisions that affect you. And, we may be asking for your help at times in that effort.

My grandfather’s Sunday drives  took us to nearby friends and distant hollers—but we were all neighbors. We checked on new calves and the corn crop and always shared a pitcher of iced tea.

As 2019 begins, let’s celebrate our connections and relationships. Let’s be neighbors.