Environmental stewardship drives our member focus

Our focus on serving members drives us to be good stewards of the environment and of our members’ resources.

We’ve balanced our responsibilities to produce reliable, affordable, responsible electricity, which has never been easy or inexpensive, and our commitment to environmental stewardship has never wavered.

As retired rancher and former Associated board president O.B. Clark said, “Not to care for that upon which we depend for our living, for the resources entrusted to us, is simply ridiculous. The best environmentalists are the people out there depending on that land.”

Our members depend on natural resources for their quality of life and have lived up to their responsibilities. Associated Electric Cooperative and its members have invested more than $1 billion since 1994 to improve air quality and care for our land and water resources.

Environmental control measures to improve air quality costs Associated Electric on average about $45 million a year, including fixed and operating costs.

Along with our investments in environmental controls, Associated Electric has led the way with proactive research into lower-cost, effective technologies and innovation.

We have an impressive record of environmental compliance to celebrate:

• One of the first utilities to convert to 100 percent low-sulfur coal, reducing sulfur dioxide emissions 90 percent in 1994.
• One of the first to install selective catalytic reduction equipment, designed to reduce nitrogen oxides equipment more than 90 percent on large cyclone coal units.
• Nationally recognized -- twice -- by the U.S. Department of Interior for its innovative and successful mine reclamation and restoration.
• Nominated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and selected as “2006 Wind Co-op of the Year” by the U.S. Department of Energy.
• Voluntarily reduced mercury emissions years ahead of the compliance date by being the first to use a treated coal in cyclone units, and emissions remain well below required limits.

We’ve achieved remarkable results, balanced with affordable, reliable electricity. We’ve garnered national recognition for restoring land that today provides pasture, woodlands, wildlife habitat and outdoor recreational opportunities. We've partnered to bring the first utility-scale wind farms to Missouri -- and we buy all the power from those farms, as well as farms in Oklahoma and Kansas. We’ve raised peregrine falcons from the top of our power plants. 

We’ve balanced our responsibilities, and we will continue to comment and work to make compliance with environmental regulations affordable for members. That's the reason members continue to be involved in the ongoing political debate over energy issues and environmental regulations.