IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Ron Lienemann
President & Chief Executive Officer
RushShelby Energy Rural Electric Cooperative
"The electric utility industry will change more in the next five years than it has in my 20 years in the business. We must be leaders to direct the change, rather than let it happen to our cooperative and its members"
Co-op description: RushShelby Energy Rural Electric Cooperative
is a newly formed electric system in east central Indiana.
RushShelby Energy came into existence
March 1, 1999, with the consolidation of the former Rush County REMC and Shelby
County REMC. The new organization serves more than 13,000 members in parts of
nine counties. In addition to the traditional electric business, RushShelby
Energy has formed a for-profit subsidiary corporation to offer new services and
products to members and non-members. The subsidiary currently is a 50 percent
partner in a propane gas business, markets a medical monitoring system, and
sells personal pagers as part of the Cooperative Paging Network. RSE Service,
Inc. is the fastest growing area of the RushShelby Energy corporation and is
expected to provide revenues to lower the electric rates over the next decade.
Background: Lienemann grew up in western Nebraska. The son of a
Nebraska electric cooperative general manager, Lienemann earned his degree at
Wayne State College of Nebraska. He spent 15 years working in various positions
at a Nebraska electric cooperative, including power use advisor, member services
manager, and assistant general manager. He came to Rush County REMC in 1987 as
the general manager. In 1996, he became a shared manager, leading both Rush
County REMC and neighboring Shelby County REMC through the consolidation
process.
What developments are taking place at
RushShelby Energy? "Like nearly every industry, rapid change is coming from
all directions. The electric utility industry is the last legalized monopoly and
state legislators are changing that. Many states have already made moves toward
deregulation and customer choice. In Indiana, it looks as if our legislature
will address that issue in January 2000. As an electric company, we must be
ready for those changes. As a cooperative, we believe we have always been more
'customer' focused than other utilities so we should see positive effects from
deregulation. The other strategic planning item is diversification. We know it
will be difficult to survive as just an electric distribution company. By
expanding into other services and products, we will demonstrate our enhanced
value to our consumers and the community at large. Electricity and those
member/owners will remain our priority, but we will use the revenues of these
other activities to maintain our primary focus. We hope that when consumers have
a choice of their utility that they will believe that they can't live without
RushShelby Energy and will make us their choice. It will take service and
reasonable prices to accomplish, but that's what we have been all about since
1935."
Goals for RushShelby Energy: "Our primary goal is to provide unequaled service to our member/owners. Whether it be electricity, pagers, propane, the Internet, or something that comes over the horizon later, we want consumers to-think of us first. We will rarely be the lowest cost provider, but we need to provide superior service for the premium the consumer may pay. As we investigate subsidiary activities, we must not lose sight of the fact that we are an electric cooperative first. The goal of these activities is to enhance what we do as an electric utility, not to replace it."
Biggest RushShelby Energy concerns: "As we look into the next 12 months, our focus is on the Indiana legislature. We will work with the other electric cooperatives of Indiana to make sure that our organizations are equal players in the legislative action. We also want to make sure that deregulation protects the weakest of our members while opening up opportunities to those consumers who wish to make changes. We support customer choice, as long as each customer has the same safeguards and choices. Protecting our member/owners is a top priority and helping them understand and participate in the process is a concern we will address in the short term. Long-term concerns would fill more space than the publication has. Sweeping changes in the industry mean they are hard to get a handle on and we are planning to hit a moving target. That is always a concern."
Key rural development issues: "We are fortunate to be in
areas that have planned for growth of the industrial sector and are working to
make it fit into residential and agricultural areas. The biggest issue is how
our cities and counties can provide the infrastructure necessary to make the
growth work. The payoff in the long term is exciting, but the up-front costs can
sometimes be terrifying. We need to strengthen our public and private
partnerships to keep our communities on the grow." 
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