Podcast from agricultural lender explores how rural electric cooperatives can equitably develop clean energy

A recent Cobank podcast explored how rural electric cooperatives can best transition to renewable energy sources in an equitable way. Featured guests included Keith Taylor, a Cooperative Extension assistant economic development specialist from the University of California, Davis, and Gabriel Chan, and assistant professor of science, technology and environmental policy at at the University of Minnesota.

They discussed how rural communities could overcome the pricetag problems that come with transition and how co-ops could work with their communities and federal, state and local governments to facilitate the transition.  Listen to the podcast here.

Utilities nationwide are shifting toward renewable energy, but it's happening more slowly in rural areas served by electric cooperatives. Rural co-ops are much more reliant on coal than the average electric providers, partly because it's more difficult to afford the switch and sometimes because member-customers are sometimes more invested in coal as part of the local economy.