If one doesn't stay with advancement and invest at the front end it costs more not only in investing to catch up but more during the period, long long time, while just arguing and doing nothing. They also lose the abilities and experiences to advance rapidly which makes those costs cheaper.
Board members seek more renewable energy sources, but some members question their value.
Jan. 17, 2011 - Over the past few years, efforts to reform the Pedernales Electric Cooperative have come from every direction.
Co-op members, elected officials and newspaper editorial writers alike have called for more transparency and accountability at a utility once so closed-off that meetings of its board of directors were often held in secret.
Largely, they've succeeded, and today Pedernales is much more open than it was during the era of Bennie Fuelberg, its former general manager who was convicted of felony theft and money laundering charges last month.
But lately, members of the nation's largest customer-owned electric utility have pushed for a new type of reform — creating a greener, more environmentally friendly co-op. That has set up a new conflict with other members who say Pedernales should focus exclusively on cutting spending and reducing electric bills.
"If (green energy) can be shown to be economically advantageous to the owners of the company, we're for it. If not, we're not," said member Ken Rigsbee, who says that Pedernales' electric bills are already higher than those of Austin Energy and other electric co-ops that buy power from the Lower Colorado River Authority.
A December 2008 audit of the co-op by Navigant Inc. found that on average, Pedernales customers were paying about 19 percent more than Austin Energy customers were paying for electricity. {continued}
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