When disaster strikes, millions of people rely on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help their communities rebuild. Nowhere is that partnership more critical than in rural America, where electric cooperatives are often on the front lines restoring power in some of the hardest-hit, hardest-to-reach areas.
America’s not-for-profit electric cooperatives serve some of the nation’s most disaster-prone, remote, and sparsely populated regions. Every year, co-ops lose poles, transformers, power lines, and other critical infrastructure to ice storms, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and more. When major damage occurs, the cost of rebuilding essential infrastructure can place enormous pressure on local co-ops. Without support, the cost of storm recovery would frequently translate directly into higher electric bills for rural families, farmers, and small businesses.
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That’s why FEMA’s Public Assistance Program is a lifeline. When a storm hits, co-ops mobilize immediately to restore power quickly and safely. And doing that in rugged, remote territory is labor-intensive and expensive. Disaster relief funding through FEMA helps ensure that rural communities aren’t left bearing enormous recovery costs on their own.
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But too often, FEMA’s assistance comes with significant delays. Funding approvals can take months or even years. Paperwork requirements are excessively complex. Rules and interpretations vary across regions. All of this slows recovery and strains rural communities in their darkest hour.
Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast in 2024 and knocked out power to nearly 1.5 million electric co-op consumers. Although some funding has been released, many co-ops are still awaiting full reimbursements for major storm restoration work. Without timely FEMA support, recovery times skyrocket, outages last longer, and electric bills increase for local families already facing tight budgets and rising costs.
Congress has the opportunity and the obligation to make FEMA work better for the people in need. The bipartisan Fixing Emergency Management for Americans Act offers a set of smart and long overdue reforms to do just that.
The bill expedites FEMA reimbursement for emergency work so electric co-ops can restore power and remove debris quickly without facing uncertainty in the months and years that follow; streamlines the approval process for permanent repairs to critical infrastructure, cutting unnecessary red tape; helps co-ops rebuild with stronger, more resilient systems after a storm instead of simply rebuilding the vulnerabilities that failed during a disaster; and elevates FEMA to an independent, Cabinet-level agency, enhancing its ability to respond decisively and consistently to disasters across the country.
America is stronger when FEMA operates with greater speed, clarity, and accountability. The bill passed through the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support.
A more effective FEMA is a national necessity. FEMA’s job isn’t just disaster response. It’s helping communities rebuild stronger. And these commonsense, proactive, cost-effective measures reduce long-term disaster costs and help prevent future outages.
Electric co-ops power 42 million people across 56% of the nation’s landscape. These are communities that depend on a reliable federal partner when disaster strikes. They are also the communities most harmed when FEMA’s processes break down.
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With the 2026 hurricane season upon us, electric cooperatives stand ready to respond to rural and coastal communities that are especially vulnerable to severe weather impacts.
Rural America deserves a FEMA that is fast, transparent, and effective. The bipartisan FEMA Act charts a stronger path forward. Congress should move quickly to pass this critical legislation and ensure that rural families, farmers, and businesses aren’t left behind when the next disaster hits.
Jim Matheson is CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, representing nearly 900 electric cooperatives. He previously served seven terms as a U.S. representative from Utah.
