Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative’s Board of Trustees expressed appreciation to the cooperative’s membership for participation in a grassroots effort to convince Ohio lawmakers to abandon plans for a 30-percent increase in the state kilowatt-hour tax.
Thousands of BREC members signed petitions, sent e-mails, wrote letters to the editor, or made telephone calls to members of the local legislative delegation after being alerted to the proposed electric tax increase.
The electric tax hike was included in much-debated biennial budget legislation. The proposal drew fire from Ohio’s electric cooperatives and other groups because of its impact on rural residents and possible effect on economic development.
In June, lawmakers stripped the electric tax increase from HB 66, the $51-billion budget package finally approved by the state.
“This was good news,” said BREC Board of Trustees President Dave Lester.
“We simply felt that the kilowatt-hour tax increase would place an unfair burden on our members.”
Rural residents, on average, consume more kilowatt hours of electricity than their urban counterparts. They also pay higher rates because of the cost of providing the utility in rural areas.
“It seemed unfair for rural residents and farmers to shoulder this added cost,” said Lester. “We decided the membership needed to know what might happen. We wanted folks to have a chance to get involved.”
The Board of Trustees of BREC authorized a mass mailing to co-op members, alerting them to the proposed tax increase, and asking them to contact state senators and representatives.
The response was “tremendous,” according to Steve Oden, vice president of Member Services.
“Our phones at the office rang off the hook for a week after the mailing,” he said. “Co-op members called in to request additional information and to tell us that they were starting petition campaigns.”
Petitions were circulated at stores, ball fields, senior citizen centers, and churches.
“I was amazed at the energy and dedication of those who organized the petition drive. They did an awesome job,” Oden noted.
Packets of the petitions were sent to each state legislator from this area.
In addition, BREC members contacted newspapers and convinced the editors to publish stories about the kilowatt-hour tax issue.
“I clipped several front-page news stories in which BREC members were identified and used as sources,” added Oden.
“I really feel this grassroots action by Buckeye REC members helped make a difference. I talked with many of the elected leaders from Southeast Ohio. They reported receiving the petitions and talked about the numerous direct contacts logged at their offices from electric consumers in our service area.”
Lester said local lawmakers deserve the thanks of co-op members for listening to them and acting on their behalf.
“Those are the people who got the job done in Columbus after they heard from the voters. We need to make sure they get their due credit. What they did helped every electric consumer in the state.”
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