Photos provided by Agripina Gomez. Background photo via bgfoto on Canva Pro
By Agripina Gomez
Clean Energy Organizer, Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter
It is no secret that the Rio Grande Valley, communities across South Texas, and our neighbors in Mexico have been experiencing record high temperatures this year. We have reached triple digit temperatures as high as 118 degrees Fahrenheit! No manches! Yikes! Ay caray! Global warming is in full effect as we speak, and we want to work with you to ensure our communities are protected and supported in this crisis. Are you a member of one of Texas’ 76 rural electric cooperatives? If so, let us know here. Unsure what a “rural electric cooperative” is? Read on…
A heat dome, according to Accuweather, is like nature’s oven with areas of high pressure that promote hot and dry conditions for days or weeks at a time. As temperatures swell, so too does the demand for air conditioning, which can increase the strain on the power grid of an entire region. This is the reason why our electric bills increase during the summer – the demand to cool our homes increases, and if houses are not weatherized, cooling a home becomes harder. Combine that and skyrocketing fuel prices, and you have a recipe for disaster for electricity bills that go through the roof! It is so hot that lakes in Mexico are drying up, communities are being called into water conservation, and many storms are brewing, putting people's lives at risk and leaving them without power like the recent ones in Houston and Dallas, Texas.
In response to the climate crisis and increasing electricity bills, community members in the Rio Grande Valley have started organizing for local, people-powered solutions. These community members are Magic Valley Electric Co-op member-owners, and they are participating in a form of local government many folks have never heard of, or might not know they have access to: democratically run electric cooperatives. These utilities are non-profit businesses that provide electricity and other services and are governed by a board of directors elected by the “member-owners” of the co-op. Texas currently has 76 electric co-ops serving 3 million members.
Recently, Magic Valley Electric Co-op (MVEC) members from Brownsville, San Benito, Harlingen, and all the way to San Juan, gathered in Mercedes, Texas to attend the MVEC annual meeting. They are hoping to transform Magic Valley into a co-op that chooses cleaner energy and better options to help our environment and people's pocketbooks.
Magic Valley Electric Cooperative members gather outside the co-op's annual meeting.
With the sun’s radiating energy and our own good spirits, we canvassed for weeks before throughout these communities with volunteers to invite Magic Valley members to the annual meeting. We were welcomed with great enthusiasm into these communities: La Paloma, Reid Hope King, El Naranjal. It was a nice experience meeting Magic Valley members and learning what they had to say about their co-op.
Many members did not know that they were also, in fact, owners of the co-op and therefore have a say in how it is run. Once they learned this fact, it encouraged them to attend. According to the Tri-County Electric Cooperative website: “Each member has the opportunity to participate in their cooperative through democratic member control. As a member, you receive a voice in the cooperative, capital credits, and locally owned and operated offices.” Many Magic Valley members were surprised to learn this fact.
When we arrived at the Magic Valley annual meeting we were greeted by the Magic Valley staff. This meeting is for Magic Valley members only, so they checked for membership with an electric bill. Snacks and drinks were provided and we were helped to find a sitting area. The meeting consisted of the presentation of an annual report and information about projects Magic Valley has been working on. But the big reason for this annual meeting was elections for the co-op’s governing board. Every year Magic Valley holds elections for their board, and they allow 1 minute for members to nominate themselves for a board position. One of our community members stood up, acknowledged Magic Valley for their work in the community and powering peoples homes, and asked them to add time for member comment during these meetings, since there is currently no member comment during the annual meeting. At the end of the meeting, community members handed a letter from the community to the board with improvements we want to see in our co-op.
This climate crisis is creating sweltering days in the summer and freezing temperatures in the winter to the point that our grid is on the brink of failure. The demand for energy in these fluctuating temperatures is so high because families need to protect their loved ones by keeping their homes cool in the heat and warm in the winter. But that comes with a high cost – energy bills go through the roof. Electric reliability is not just about having a stable power grid – reliability for most Texas families means they are able to afford their electric bill. When families get behind on their bills and the power gets shut off, reconnection fees get added to their bills and it seems impossible to afford paying for electricity.
Being a co-op member-owner means you have a say in the decisions of the co-op. We hope that member-owners can build a strong relationship with Magic Valley board members and staff and come together to find solutions to all the kinds of electric reliability issues we are facing. If you are a co-op member in other parts of Texas, let us know so we can learn together and organize for more clean, reliable, affordable energy. If you are a Magic Valley member, please reach out to me at agripina.gomez@sierraclub.org about ways you can get involved. HASTA LA VICTORIA, SIEMPRE.