Cobb EMC board candidate discusses issues facing co-op

Upon the recommendation of Roswell Mayor Jere Wood, Eric Broadwell is running for the Cobb EMC Board, Area 9 in Georgia, the seat presently held by Board Chairman Larry Chadwick. According to Broadwell, open meetings for Cobb EMC are a rarity - something he wants to change.

Cobb EMC provides electricity to approximately 200,000 residents. It owns power plants, wires, distribution lines, and dams and also performs landscaping services when trees are too close to facilities. Cobb EMC is not regulated by the Public Service Commission.

Broadwell said some of the recent problems Cobb EMC faces are due to "running its own ship... like a private club" without integrity, transparency, or oversight. President and CEO Dwight Brown faces a 31-count indictment brought against him by Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head which includes conspiracy and racketeering charges.

"It's always a challenge when you are trying to get a member-run organization to function correctly," Broadwell said. An aerospace engineering graduate of Georgia Tech and former Southern Company consultant, Broadwell has worked on forecasting and power projection teams.

Broadwell and other Cobb EMC reform candidates embrace the platform of open governance, open board meetings held on a regular basis, member feedback, and information dissemination. Broadwell said the Brown lawsuit concerns the operation of the business.

"Let's look at events that led up to the indictment of Dwight Brown. Look at the payments made to Brown for his ownership in Cobb Energy. What benefits are Mr. Brown and other people going to personally receive from inside decisions?” Broadwell added.

“Wouldn't it be nice if you had the lowest rates in the country, or your EMC was run so efficiently that when you saw a real estate sign on the front of your house, it didn't say this is a certain school district, but it said this is a Cobb EMC house, and you knew your low utility bill will drive real estate values and investment up? I want my community to be valued and my quality of life raised," Broadwell concluded.

Another major issue confronting the board is the construction of a coal-fired power plant in middle Georgia, the $2 billion-plus Plant Washington.

"I don't know if the present board has looked at all the options available. Conservation can go a long way with almost no overhead or reoccurring costs." Broadwell said natural gas and micro hydro alternatives also need to be considered.
©2011 Tomi Johnson. All rights reserved.