Manager’s Message – October 2018
PrintCelebration of National Co-op Month
October is the month to celebrate the benefits cooperatives bring to our communities. Whether the cooperatives’ focus is food, child care, insurance, electricity or some other service, we all exist to help serve a need in the communities we live in.
Cooperatives are unique. We are not-for-profit, democratically controlled and member owned. The cooperative business model is about meeting the needs of the people, not about maximizing profits. In the U.S., more than 900 electric co-ops serve an estimated 42 million people. At Northern Lights, we have more than 17,000 members and 2,800 miles of distribution lines that serve members in Northern Idaho, Eastern Washington and Western Montana.
NLI is overseen by a seven-member board of directors, each elected by the members of the district they represent. Our power comes from the Bonneville Power Administration and our own dam on a tributary of the Kootenai River.
One way NLI serves its community is through Operation Roundup, where members can choose to round up their monthly energy bill to the nearest dollar to help families in need of assistance. Members also can choose to donate to the Helping Hand program, which is designed to help struggling members with their power bills. If you would like to participate in either of these programs, please contact us to sign up.
As summer has come to an end, the leaves are changing and fall is upon us. Before we know it, those princesses, superheroes, ghosts and goblins will be knocking on our doors hoping for a treat!
Annie Terracciano
General Manager
