A Strategic Advantage for Electric Cooperative Leadership
Knowledge is Power: Understanding Rates and Cost of Service Seminar
Rates don’t whisper. They declare. Every bill a member receives carries more than a dollar amount. The bill reflects a set of assumptions, priorities, and tradeoffs. And in a time when utility costs are rising, usage patterns are shifting, and public scrutiny is sharpening, those declarations are under pressure to make sense.
That’s why rate design has moved out of the back office. What once lived quietly with engineers and accountants now commands attention at the highest levels of leadership and strategy. Rate structures are no longer just technical tools — they’re public statements. And those statements deserve fluency.
The Shift from Calculation to Conversation
A Cost of Service Study (COSS) does more than distribute dollars across categories. Done right, it reveals the economic structure of a cooperative: who uses what, who pays for it, and whether the system holds up under financial scrutiny. It traces subsidies. It tests fairness. It lays bare the mechanics of margin and risk.
But even the sharpest study can falter if its insights remain opaque. Numbers don’t speak for themselves. They need context. Relevance. Interpretation. That’s where
Knowledge is Power: Understanding Rates and Cost of Service comes in.
This seminar equips cooperative professionals to read between the rows. It doesn’t replace an external Cost of Service and Rate Design Study; it strengthens it. It prepares staff not just to receive a study but to apply it, ask more thoughtful questions, anticipate member concerns, and align financial tools with organizational values.
From Revenue Requirement to Rate Design
The structure is deliberate. The seminar begins where every Cost-of-Service Study must begin: defining the Cooperative’s revenue requirement. Participants walk through the complete anatomy of a study: classifying expenses, allocating costs across member classes, and comparing those allocations to current rate recovery.
Then comes the art of rate design. Time-of-use pricing, seasonal adjustments, and demand components are not just academic theories. They are signals, incentives, and tradeoffs. They have the ability to shape consumption, balance equity, and reinforce long-term objectives.
Attendees learn:
- How cash needs, such as capital credit retirements, capital expenditures, and equity objectives define revenue constraints and targets
- How depreciation schedules, plant investment strategies, and growth assumptions flow into rate strategy
- How each member and each rate class should get charged for use of the distribution system
- How the use of the distribution system drives cost-based rate designs
The content is technical but never tedious. Each input serves a purpose, and each concept connects to a decision.
Real Tools. Real Context.
Participants don’t just hear about Form 7—they use it. Income statements, balance sheets, and financial forecasts are not theoretical—they’re the everyday instruments of cooperative finance. Instructors explain how modest adjustments can shift equity, alter optics, or strengthen a narrative.
There’s room to ask, “What if?” There’s also room to say, “That’s how we’ve done it, but maybe that needs a second look.”
The goal isn’t to turn staff into rate designers. It’s to build fluency, to give teams the ability to interpret, explain, and engage—whether with consultants, board members, regulators, or the members themselves.
Built for Those Who Must Translate Complexity
We designed this seminar for those who participate in and communicate decisions about rates—CEOs/General Managers, accounting directors, finance staff, engineers, operations leaders, communicators, and member service managers—anyone who contributes to, supports, evaluates and/or executes critical decisions or engages with members. Increasingly, executives see the seminar as a valuable way to understand the thinking behind the recommendations they’re asked to approve.
The audience is diverse, but the challenge is shared. Whether a co-op is preparing for a COSS or digesting its results, the need is the same: understand the process, question the assumptions, and apply the findings with confidence.
Because in cooperative governance, every rate touches a neighbor. And every misunderstanding becomes a liability.
Why Fluency Now?
Conditions are shifting. Distributed generation, electrification, and time-variant pricing are no longer hypothetical. They’re here. Meanwhile, member expectations around transparency and fairness continue to climb.
Legacy rate designs (built for different load shapes, technologies, and politics) can quickly become liabilities. And as the pressure to modernize grows, so does the risk of misalignment between financial tools and organizational priorities.
A COSS is still the right starting point. However, the best outcomes emerge when internal teams know how to challenge assumptions, interpret implications, and make informed tradeoffs.
It’s about making the guidance of an external Cost of Service and Rate Design Study actionable. Internal fluency is no longer a bonus. It’s a baseline.
The Value of Comprehension
When staff understand the logic behind rates:
- Member questions get answered with clarity, not evasion.
- Board discussions become strategic, not reactive.
- Rate structures reflect more than math—they reflect mission.
- Organizations gain resilience against swings in sentiment or misinformation.
Understanding changes posture. It shifts teams from a defensive posture to a proactive mindset. It turns uncertainty into dialogue. And it positions leadership to move with intention, not reaction.
Format That Respects Your Time and Intelligence
The seminar doesn’t happen in a lecture hall. It happens at Guernsey’s Oklahoma City headquarters, where students can meet with specialists from other fields during their breaks. The agenda prioritizes learning in a collaborative spirit, with working sessions designed to sharpen thinking and help participants make the most of each opportunity.
We cap attendance to preserve the quality of dialogue. Participants test ideas, swap perspectives, and rethink assumptions.
The setting is clear-eyed and candid. And yes, there’s coffee. Good coffee.
What You’ll Walk Away With
This seminar isn’t a note-taking exercise. It’s preparation for real-world decisions. Attendees leave ready to:
- Explain the architecture of their Cost of Service Study
- Anticipate the political and financial implications of rate design options
- Articulate how financial objectives inform pricing strategies
- Communicate with greater confidence and credibility
More than anything, they return with a shared language — a way to connect finance, policy, and member trust in a meaningful conversation.
Seminar Details
- Dates: September 24–25, 2025
- Location: Guernsey Headquarters, Oklahoma City
- Tuition: $895 per participant
- Capacity: Limited, to maintain focus and engagement