Ideas For Innovation
Join the Co-op Innovation Network for a webinar series highlighting how rural electric cooperatives are building resilient, efficient, and equitable energy systems through innovative energy solutions.
Upcoming webinars:
Electrifying Rural America: How Co-ops are Supporting Energy Use and Electrification for Farms
Thursday, April 30th at 4pm CT.
Electrifying Rural America will feature a panel of speakers discussing beneficial electrification and other solutions to meet the energy use of rural communities, particularly farms.
Join us to learn more about how co-ops are using beneficial electrification and other innovative solutions to meet the energy demand of rural communities, particularly farms.
Past webinar Replays:
Farming in a New Light: How Co-ops Can Harvest Sunshine with Agrivoltaics.
March 25th, 2026
Representatives from Delta-Montrose Electric Association, Silicon Ranch, US Solar, and Jack’s Solar Garden discussed how agrivoltaics projects have benefitted rural electric cooperatives across the country. They shared the many benefits of different types of agrivoltaics and how implementation saves money for co-op members.
Driving Innovation: How Co-ops Are Encouraging Adoption of Electric Vehicles.
February 5th, 2026
This webinar explores how co-ops are encouraging their members to drive EVs by offering rebates, creating consumer friendly time of use rates for EV charging, and more. Panelists share programs and insight from Surry-Yadkin Membership Corporation (SYEMC), Gunnison County, Electric Association (GCEA), and Missoula Electric Cooperative (MEC).
Financing the Future: how co-ops are expanding access through on-bill financing.
November 19th, 2025
This webinar explores how different rural electric cooperatives across the nation are deploying on-bill financing or on-bill repayment programs to reduce electricity prices and improve energy efficiency for their members. Panelists from Midwest Energy and the Collective Clean Energy Fund discuss the opportunities of on-bill financing as well as lessons learned from implementing these programs in their community.
Power in Reserve: how co-ops are making storage work
October 20th, 2025
This webinar explores how rural electric cooperatives are deploying battery storage at various scales to increase reliability and decrease member prices. Feature speakers are from Vermont Electric Cooperative, La Plata Electric Cooperative, and Connexus Energy.
The Orchestrated Grid: How co-ops are managing the surge in renewables
September 9th, 2025
This webinar explores how rural electric cooperatives are deploying grid orchestration tools—such as software, sensor networks, and pricing signals —to manage increasing loads of renewables while improving reliability. Panelists share insight into how real-time grid data and coordination platforms allow co-ops to unlock capacity and integrate variable generation sources while maintaining reliable and affordable systems.