NOTE: This is Part 2 of 2 of an interview with Bill Prather, who is retiring and passing the reins of Farmers Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. to Tobias “Toby” Moss, who is to start the job of president and CEO on Monday. Part 1 was posted Saturday at this link.
BY MELINDA J. OVERSTREET / GLASGOW NEWS 1
Bill Prather’s 15-ish years as president and chief executive officer of Farmers Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. have brought significant changes to the power distribution organization itself, with new technologies and power infrastructure improvements and additions.
In addition, though, during that time, the co-op has also played a vital role in ensuring that two major community projects were able to become a reality.
Methane gas to electricity
Years ago, city officials had been weighing options for managing the methane gas, a major greenhouse gas that is a natural byproduct of the decomposition processes that occur with the materials in a landfill, among other processes, to keep the Glasgow Regional Landfill in compliance with environmental protection laws. That methane gas has since been put to use producing electricity that is used by local residents.
“I think that’s one of the two community projects that we’re very glad that we’ve been able to do and to assist in,” Prather said. “The landfill-gas-to-energy system out there was a unique project because it was really a three-way partnership between Farmers and the City of Glasgow and East Kentucky Power [Cooperative]. That’s a small landfill, so the economics of putting a landfill gas system out there and a generating plant was challenging and one where we had to really sharpen our pencils and work together in order to make that a reality, but we were able, here at the co-op, to secure a $1 million U.S. [Department of Agriculture] Rural Economic Development Loan, which was a 10-year loan with zero interest, which helped in the economics of the city being able to put in a methane collection system at the landfill.”
It took a few years of work, but those involved were successful in getting it installed and operational.
“We had three different engineering studies to make sure we had some certainty that there would be enough gas for the plant if we built it. Working with East Kentucky Power, because of their long-term experience with that technology – and they’re our power supplier and we’re one of the 16 co-ops that own them – we were able to work out a unique contract with them where they built the plant, we bought 100 percent of the output; it goes right on to our distribution to our members,” Prather said. “It has performed well and reliably since it went online in December 2015. It’s done a good job. … It produces enough power, on a regular basis, for about 450 to 500 of our members.
“You know, there were a couple of other benefits to that. The city was beginning to have issues with the methane gas that was coming off of it from the standpoint of underground migration, they had a state mandate to correct some things, and they were getting to a point where it wouldn’t be too long before they were going to have federal issues to deal with on that, so that solved that problem for them. Also, instead of just flaring the gas off, we buy that gas, which gives them a cash flow that largely pays off that loan.”
Plus, it’s better for the environment than burning it off into the atmosphere.
That plant also had a benefit that wasn’t in the original plans and was added as it went along.
“The [Glasgow Water Co.] was undergoing a major upgrade of the sewer plant and they were going to have to put in a backup power generator, so I remember, [then-GWC general manager] Scott Young gave me call and he said, ‘Is there any possibility that you all could provide backup services to us out of that landfill generator,’ because it’s just up the hill from the sewer plant, and I said, ‘well, lets take a look at it.’”
They were able to work out an agreement through which the Glasgow Electric Plant Board would remain the primary power provider but they got approval through the Tennessee Valley Authority, the EPB’s power supplier, for Farmers to be the backup.
“That ended up saving the city, I think, about $400,000 on the installation of the backup generator, so there’s been a few times that they’ve asked to switch over to us while they’ve done some maintenance or something like that, but that’s been a good project,” Prather said. “It’s been beneficial to the community; it’s been beneficial to Farmers’ members. It’s been a good project to see, and it came together, truly, through collaborative efforts of working together between the city and Farmers and East Kentucky Power, and I think it was a demonstration of what can be done if folks want to really work toward something and make something really good happen. It wasn’t an easy project.”
Kurt Frey, then the superintendent for the Glasgow Department of Public Works, called Prather around 2011 to see whether the idea could work there.
Bill Prather discusses his time as president and CEO of Farmers Rural Electric Cooperative Corp. in December 2022 as he was preparing to retire. MELINDA J. OVERSTREET / GLASGOW NEWS 1
“The city, I think wisely, understood they did not have the wherewithall to get that done and run it on their own,” Prather said, “so they asked us if we would be interested and we said, ‘Yeah, we’ll take a look at it.”
This was, he thinks, the fifth plant of that type EKPC had constructed, but the others were all connected directly into the EKPC portfolio of power, where this one is dedicated to the FRECC’s distribution system.
“It was the smallest landfill that they’d done, and really it was this unique partnership that made it actually possible, because this would not have been a landfill they would have developed on their own,” Prather said, referring to the size.
Hospice facility
Prather was chairman of the T.J. Community Foundation’s board of directors when it was started in late 2014 and for about seven years, he said. Creating a hospice facility was the foundation’s first project.
“It was a big project, an expensive project from the standpoint of, for a foundation to just undertake as a first project. It was a pretty ambitious goal, but we did a lot of work and spent a lot of time on it. The project cost a little over $3 million to do. We did a lot of fundraising and had a lot of pledges being made, but it sort of became evident that it was going to take us a while to get to that goal of getting enough money,” Prather said. “So, again, we had the opportunity through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, their rural economic development loans, we had an opportunity to put that project forward to see if we could get another zero-interest 10-year loan.”
FRECC is the only local entity eligible to apply for that particular kind of loan, and it essentially serves as a pass-through for the funding. The utility puts the project forward in a competitive process to show what it can do economically or to improve the community, and then if it is approved, the loan goes to Farmers and they reloan it to the other entity – the foundation or, in the other case, the city. That other entity then makes its payments to Farmers, which is ultimately responsible for the loan repayment.
“There was a very narrow window of time where the USDA made $2 million loans available. Most of the time, they’re only $1 million, maximum. So we hit a window where they had that available, and we had about $1 million raised, so we put that project forward and we were approved for the loan,” Prather said. “It allowed the construction of that to go ahead and happen, so we’re continuing to fundraise for that, and the fundraising goes toward paying that loan off, but again, it’s a zero-interest, 10-year loan.”
It allowed the project to get on the ground, he said, and what became Shanti Niketan Hospice Home could begin serving the community in the meantime.
Prather shared that he has some personal experience with hospice with his parents.
“So I know how important hospice care is, and it is just as important to the family as it is to the patient, from a standpoint of support and all, so I think the hospice program was something near and dear to me,” he said, “but Farmers’ having access to those types of loans has helped in a couple of situations in our community to make things better, and I’ve been proud that the co-op could do those things, because, again, it’s part of our mission statement to make the area where we live a better place.”
Unfinished business?
Glasgow News 1 asked whether he was leaving with any major items pending that he hoped his successor would carry forward.
“I can honestly say probably we’ve accomplished – and I give full credit to our employees both past and present for the accomplishments that we’ve made. They’ve been dedicated to doing what’s best for the members and they really have been dedicated and had the best interest for them. But I can honestly say we’ve probably accomplished all that I had on my agenda from the standpoint of what I thought we needed to do,” Prather said. “We’ve worked hard, really, to fulfill our mission here at the co-op. If you look at our mission statement, it’s to improve the reliability of service and to maintain competitive rates and then try and help our communities be better places to live. I think we’ve focused on doing that, and we’ve tried to be a positive force in our area, a positive influence, I think largely behind the scenes a lot, quietly working and trying to support things like economic development and various activities in our community.”
What’s next?
As part of his discussion about giving back to the community, Prather provided his perspective on the place to which he relocated in 2007 for his position at FRECC. He said he was “extremely impressed” by some of the things he saw going on in the community. It seemed like there was a lot of positive energy and things happening, as well as the medical infrastructure for a community of this size, the outstanding school systems here, a regional university and community college campuses, a major lake with a state park and a national park, he said, also adding to his list Interstate 65 and the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway and the positioning between Louisville and Nashville as other assets.
“You look around, and it’s just a place where there are all kinds of good things,” Prather said. “It’s just a great area and there’s a tremendous amount of potential here, and the quality of life.”
He and his wife have lived other places, he said, and the quality of life is like nowhere else they’ve been.
“We intend to make this our home. We’re not going to leave, because we like it here. We love it here,” Prather said. “I asked my wife recently, I said, ‘Is there anyplace that you’d rather be after we retire?’ and she said, ‘Why in the world would we want to be anywhere else? We have everything here.’”
She has retired, too, now he said.
“I’ve just enjoyed being part of the community and helping in any way I can, and I hope to be able to continue to do that,” Prather said, but he’s ready to add more leisure time to the mixture.
The couple were talking recently about how nice it will be not to be responsible for something, he said.
“This job is 24/7/365. My wife has always said that CEO stands for “constantly engaged with the organization, because it doesn’t matter if we were on vacation or where, you know, I was checking my email or answering a call or something of that nature. It’ll be nice not to have to be concerned with those things and get on with another chapter of life.”
Prather said his plan is to do mostly nothing for a month or so. They have a place in North Carolina they’ll visit, but he also has plenty of hobbies to keep him occupied as time goes along, including a couple of Jeeps he likes to “mess around with,” woodwork, yard work, hunting and fishing.
He doesn’t expect to disappear off the radar too far, though, as he would like to do more volunteering and things of that nature here.
“I’ve got a 12-year-old grandson, and I’m looking forward to trying to spend a lot more time with him, because I recognize that probably my window with him is narrowing all the time, because he’s going to be interested in other things before long,” Prather said.”
RELATED: To learn more about the person hired as the next leader of FRECC, click on this link.
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