What We Heard at TFACC 2026: Conversations Shaping Cooperative Finance

Large-load customers, including data centers, can create meaningful growth opportunities for electric cooperatives. They can also require significant infrastructure investment before the associated revenue is fully realized.

Data centers could account for nearly 12% of total U.S. electricity use by 2030, highlighting the scale of potential load growth utilities are preparing for.²

Serving these customers may require investments in substations, transformers, feeders, switchgear, metering and communications infrastructure. That timing can place additional pressure on cash flow and borrowing capacity, particularly when capital commitments begin well before load ramps up.

For finance leaders, the challenge is balancing new infrastructure needs with the ability to fund other planned investments. 

Project timing, costs and capital priorities can shift after an annual plan is established. Several discussions focused on maintaining the budget as a financial benchmark while using updated forecasts to reflect changes throughout the year.

First American has seen similar shifts firsthand. One electric cooperative had historically funded fleet purchases with cash, but rising vehicle costs prompted the organization to explore a different approach. What began as a single electric vehicle acquisition ultimately developed into a seven-figure fleet financing strategy, helping the cooperative support additional vehicle needs while preserving capital for other priorities.

Having access to additional funding options can help finance teams respond when project timing or costs change without displacing other planned investments.

Rate design was another important area of discussion. Cooperatives are balancing cost recovery, cash flow stability and member impact while evaluating structures such as customer charges, time-of-use rates, demand charges and targeted riders.

For finance leaders, the broader issue is how rising infrastructure and operating costs affect the overall financial plan. Capital structure can influence near-term cash requirements, debt service and liquidity.

Flexible financing cannot eliminate the underlying cost of an investment, but it can help align project payments with budget timing while preserving capital for other priorities.

Debt portfolio discussions focused less on individual transactions and more on how financing decisions affect long-term flexibility.

Considerations included amortization, fixed- versus variable-rate exposure, asset useful life, liquidity, debt service coverage and future borrowing capacity.

For cooperatives managing multiple capital projects across several budget cycles, the financing structure should support more than the immediate purchase. It should also preserve capacity for future needs.

Financial flexibility matters when challenges arise, but it can be just as important when an opportunity moves forward sooner than expected.

A fleet replacement, technology upgrade or infrastructure project may accelerate, while other investments may need to be delayed or restructured as conditions change.

Fixed-rate financing, deferred payments, progress payments and other customized structures can help align cash outflows with project timing. For longer-term initiatives, financing can also be structured around the useful life of the assets being acquired.

The objective is not simply to finance more projects. It is to maintain options as capital needs evolve.