{"id":35167,"date":"2020-03-01T07:00:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/?p=35167"},"modified":"2020-02-29T14:38:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-29T22:38:00","slug":"active-membership-is-a-family-tradition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/active-membership-is-a-family-tradition\/","title":{"rendered":"Active Membership Is a Family Tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Story and photos by Craig Reed<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Chris
Hiking is a favorite activity for Chris Seubert, especially with his dog, Tucker.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Seubert was introduced to Lane Electric Cooperative at an early age.<\/p>\n

Fred and Mary Lou Seubert moved their family into Lane\u2019s service area when Chris was 7. The Seubert family attended many of the co-op\u2019s annual meetings, seeing the board in action.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad was fascinated with the co-op model,\u201d Chris says.<\/p>\n

Chris is carrying on the family tradition of being a Lane co-op member. The meetings of his youth have grown into board meetings that he helps lead. Chris has served the district on local, state and national boards.<\/p>\n

Now 65 years old, Chris, his wife, Stephanie, and their teenage children are residents of the co-op\u2019s Central District. Chris has represented that district as a member of the Lane Electric Board of Directors since 2004.<\/p>\n

Chris was a long-time employee of Pacific Northwest Bell and had experience in several operations and network positions for that company. He retired in 2011 after 35 years. He brings his telecom experience to the Lane Electric board and enjoys every second.<\/p>\n

\u201cI use the word fun,\u201d Chris says. \u201cPeople might mistake that as not working hard, but I\u2019ve immersed myself 100% into the co-op. I look forward to the monthly meetings, the conferences, the workshops. It\u2019s been 16 years of learning, of education and staying current with what is going on in the co-op and power industries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris is certified as a Credentialed Cooperative Director through the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. He is a past president of Lane Electric\u2019s board. His continuing interest led him to serve as a board member and president of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association, an organization that represents and promotes the interests of electric cooperatives and their members. He was chairman of ORECA\u2019s Technology Committee for five years.<\/p>\n

The ORECA experience sparked Chris\u2019 interest in the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative. Encouraged to run because of his telecom background and interest in high-speed internet, he campaigned and was elected to a three-year term on that co-op\u2019s board in 2018. He represents co-ops in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.<\/p>\n

As a member of local, state and national boards, Chris says it is difficult at times to speak out about issues, \u201cbut I\u2019m not afraid to challenge the status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debi Wilson, Lane Electric\u2019s general manager, says it is important for a board member to speak up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best boards are diverse in their points of view,\u201d she says. \u201cIf everyone thinks alike too much, the board is bound to miss something important. Chris challenges us to consider the alternatives. He is very passionate about the co-op and doing what is best for our members.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chris
Indoors, Chris enjoys listening to his daughter, Hannah play the piano.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris says electricity rates continue to be the most important concern for members. As a co-op member, he\u2019s all for lower rates, but as a co-op district director, he understands the rate must cover labor and maintenance of the co-op\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a cost to getting power to your house,\u201d he says. \u201cThe reality is you have to spread the cost across the system. You have to create a rate structure that is fair for everyone. There is a fixed cost to running a co-op. Our job as a board is to figure what is the best way to handle those costs. It is something we\u2019re always looking at as we go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lane Electric has approximately 10,000 members and 13,000 meters. Chris says that because of more energy-efficient products such as appliances, windows and doors, power use has slowly dropped in each of the past six years in Lane Electric\u2019s service territory that consists mostly of residential meters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile usage drops, Lane Electric still has expenses,\u201d Chris says.<\/p>\n

Other issues facing the co-op, according to Chris, are continual preparation for the forecasted Cascadia earthquake or any other natural disaster and the possibility of getting high-speed internet to its members. NRTC is in the midst of an internet feasibility study for Lane Electric.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know getting high-speed internet out to the rural areas is a problem,\u201d Chris says. \u201cWe just don\u2019t know yet how it\u2019s going to get solved. If our members can\u2019t get legitimate high-speed internet, we\u2019re not going to attract new younger people to move into our area. Somehow, co-ops have to be part of that grassroots effort, to help facilitate or be part of that process. We know we have a responsibility to be at the table, to assist in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Natural disaster preparedness and readiness for subsequent power outages is a topic of discussion at Lane Electric\u2019s district meetings, and the focus of articles in Ruralite magazine. Chris says that planning in advance can help limit the effects of surprise events.<\/p>\n

Chris says he continues to find these co-op issues intriguing and interesting.<\/p>\n

When his positions on both the Lane Electric and NRTC boards come up for election, he plans to run for reelection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Story and photos by Craig Reed Chris Seubert was introduced to Lane Electric Cooperative at an early age. Fred and Mary Lou Seubert moved their family into Lane\u2019s service area when Chris was 7. The Seubert family attended many of the co-op\u2019s annual meetings, seeing the board in action. \u201cMy dad was fascinated with the […]\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":35168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[218,220],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35167"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laneelectric.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}