Housley and the Henderson, Kentucky, generation and transmission cooperative were honored for their work in isolated Philippine villages on the island of Mindanao. Housley’s introduction to the rural Philippine communities came during visits he made to the island nation as a minister. While carrying out his religious mission Housley learned first hand how unreliable service in the outlying islands could be. “The only communities that didn’t suffer daily blackouts were those that had no power at all,” said Housley. As he worked among the Filipinos, Housley came to share their frustration with the unreliable or nonexistent service. As Vice President of Engineering at Big Rivers he knew that, with the proper support, the isolated communities could build a system that would meet their needs, providing safe, reliable, and affordable power. “Travis came back from the Philippines determined to improve the lives of the folks he met there,” said Mike Core, Big Rivers’ President and CEO. “Travis was passionate about the project and his enthusiasm spread quickly to just about everyone he works with.”
With the support of Big Rivers’ board of directors and CEO, Housley returned to Mindanao where he began to assemble the necessary material and begin construction. To date the project has brought electricity to three villages and is working on several more. Those with power now have medical clinics and donated books arrive regularly for the now illuminated classrooms of the village schools.
“We’ve just begun our work here,” said Housley. “But someday soon people in this community will be able to tell their kids and grandchildren about the day the lights came on. ”
Housley and Big Rivers remain committed to the green-field project, rounding up material at home and from a network of electric cooperatives across America with the help of NRECA’s International Foundation. “They’re building this thing from the ground up,” said Jim Durnil, director of NRECA’s International Programs Division. “It’s a difficult and expensive proposition. Today they need poles; months from now they will need transformers and wire. We’re committed to helping them find and transport the necessary components. I’m confident that when they call, America’s electric co-ops will come through, because in the end, providing safe reliable power to rural communities is what we do.”
NRECA International Programs were launched in 1962 in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development. Over time, NRECA has sent more than 1,000 American electric co-op specialists to more than 100 nations in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, and countries of the former Soviet Union. NRECA-assisted rural electric projects worldwide provide electric service to more than 50 million people.
In addition to sending electric cooperative volunteers overseas, NRECA has provided organizational and management training in the United States for more than 500 representatives from 65 nations. Hundreds of U.S. cooperative electric utilities have hosted these visits in the past decade.
NRECA is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide electric service to more than 37 million people in 47 states.
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