Business View Magazine | February 2019

312 nicipality, we don’t want that. They provide elec- tricity and we’re not electricity experts. So, let’s work with the utility.What makes it palatable to them and helps us meet our goals?” The answer, according to Yoder lies in the bot- tom line. As more and more communities like hers push their utility companies to transition to renewable power, the economics redound to their favor. “The market and the economics don’t support coal as a way to produce electric- ity,” she avers. “Nobody is mandating that the utility shut down anything, but as their assets expire or become less economical, because coal is more expensive, currently, than solar or wind, it becomes a normal transition over time. Now you have a new way to generate power from readily available natural sources, where you don’t have to continually buy coal or gas. And some utilities are seeing that they can make money in renewable electricity. Instead of competing with renewables, adopt them, use them, make money from them. The transformation of energy is going to happen over the next 50 years, anyway.We’re just enabling it to occur quicker.” “That’s where we’re at,” Yoder concludes. “We all want this to succeed and we have some winning, incremental steps underway. We are working to- gether to write the legislation that will enable us to continue on this endeavor to make it a reality.” Yoder adds that they are hoping to pass the en- abling legislation by this spring. Then, the com- munities who desire 100 percent net renewable