Electric utilities have made recent news, primarily due to new governmental regulations, along with other price drivers that affect our industry. Electric rates have been stable during the last several decades, especially when compared to other goods and services we routinely purchase. However many events, some completely out of our control, suggest that rates will be increasing.

As a member of your distribution electric system, you not only own the distribution cooperative, but you also own Sunflower Electric Power Corp., which provides wholesale generation and transmission services. Costs associated with the maintenance and improvement of these generation and transmission assets make up a portion of the rates we charge to our six member-owners, which in turn are reflected in the electric bill you receive.

Sunflower routinely conducts maintenance work on generating stations and transmission lines. In some cases, more complex improvements are made to the system, including those required by the Southwest Power Pool, the regional transmission entity that determines what transmission work needs to be performed to ensure reliable service across a multi-state region. Some of these projects include the construction of transmission projects necessary for continued delivery of reliable electricity as the demand for electricity in our system grows and as new wind farms are interconnected with our system. These projects total approximately $30 million, a cost that will be shared by all members in the system.

Secondly, recent changes to environmental regulations will result in increased generation costs since additional emission control equipment must be installed to meet new requirements. One of the rules is aimed at reducing nitrogen oxides (NOX) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions that, once released, drift to eastern U.S. states.

Another rule reduces the number of hours that smaller generators owned by others with whom Sunflower contracts can operate and could result in some of these generating units being shut down. Sunflower relies on these units during peak energy demand or emergencies, so we will be required to either build new generation or seek energy elsewhere sooner than anticipated to replace any lost generation. Not surprisingly, the costs of new environmental controls or additional generation impact each of us as electricity users through higher electric rates.

As cooperatives our mission is to provide you with reliable energy at the lowest possible price while protecting the environment. We know that any rate increase affects you, and we continually strive to keep costs as low as possible. For this reason, we carefully weigh each decision on expenditures over which we have control.

We will continue to advocate on your behalf regarding regulations in an attempt to prevent governmental solutions to one challenge, such as the protection of our environment, from creating other challenges, such as increasing electric rates. As cooperative members, you, too, can help control your electric costs by using energy as efficiently as possible. Energy-efficiency information is available on our members' system websites to assist you with energy usage decisions.

Reliable, affordable energy is essential to the way of life we value and for sustained economic growth in our region. With that in mind, Sunflower and your distribution electric cooperative continue to work diligently to protect you and approximately 400,000 other Kansans served by the Sunflower system.

I encourage you to contact Sunflower or your electric distribution cooperative if you have any questions about your electric services.

Stuart Lowry is president and CEO of Hays-based Sunflower Electric Power Corp.