Two Students Awarded Van Sickle Scholarship
The Federated Youth Foundation has selected two students to be awarded the 2026 Charles Van Sickle Endowment Scholarship, worth $5,000 each.
Emily Elliott, Oconto Falls, is the daughter of Kristen and Michael Elliott, members of Oconto Electric Cooperative. Emily attends Oconto Falls High School and plans to attend Marquette University in the fall to double major in political science and business administration.
Christian Wedig, Richland Center, is the son of Timothy and Morhia Wedig, members of Richland Electric Cooperative. Wedig is a homeschool student who plans to attend Pensacola Christian College in the fall to study humanities and pre-law.
Emily Elliott, Oconto Falls, and Christian Wedig, Richland Center, each received a $5,000 Charles Van Sickle Endowment Scholarship to study pre-law or law from Federated Youth Foundation Executive Director Rob Richard.
The Charles Van Sickle Endowment Scholarship was made possible by an endowment established in 2013 to honor Wisconsin’s renowned electric cooperative lobbyist and attorney, the late Charles Van Sickle. It is awarded by the Federated Youth Foundation to a student studying pre-law or law, with a preference for a student who has an interest in cooperative law.
The Federated Youth Foundation is a Wisconsin nonprofit organization that administers a trust of unclaimed capital credits from all types of cooperatives. The foundation provides funding for scholarships, education projects, and local charitable causes.
Fusion Energy Summit Held at UW-Madison
Hundreds of innovators, policymakers, educators, and investors gathered at UW-Madison in May for the third annual Great Lakes Fusion Energy Summit. The event is focused on reshaping the nation’s and world’s energy future through advancements in nuclear fusion technology, which is clean, sustainable, abundant, and almost completely waste-free.
UW-Madison, along with MIT, is a premier institute for fusion research and has spurred at least three groundbreaking companies, including SHINE Technologies, Realta Fusion, and Xantho Technologies.
At the summit, attendees had the opportunity to tour fusion research labs, share information, and collaborate on ways to move Wisconsin forward in the industry that is expected to reach $40-80 billion in just ten years.
FEMA Overhaul Report Released
The FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Review Council has released its recommendations for revamping the agency, including significant overhauls to the notoriously slow and cumbersome agency. The council released a report that calls for a review of staffing levels and an effort to shift emergency recovery efforts, including funding, to states.
The 75-page report will be used to help guide the Trump administration’s next steps in revamping the agency. It focuses on ways to streamline, modernize, and accelerate disaster aid.
Legislative Conference Brings Co-op Issues to D.C.
A group of about twenty Wisconsin electric cooperative leaders from eleven co-ops including Dairyland Power, Oconto, Dunn, Central Wisconsin, Pierce Pepin, Eau Claire, Oakdale, Chippewa Valley, Polk-Burnett, Barron, and Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperatives, as well as East Central Energy which serves Minnesota and Wisconsin, traveled to Washington, D.C., to talk to members of Congress about the key issues impacting electric cooperatives.
Co-op leaders met with Senator Ron Johnson; Representatives Derrick Van Orden, Glenn Grothman, Scott Fitzgerald, and Tony Wied; and also met with key staff members from the offices of Senator Tammy Baldwin and Representative Tom Tiffany.
Issues the Wisconsin representatives brought to the attention of lawmakers and staff were permitting reform, RUS funding, FEMA funding, wildfire mitigation, and USPS concerns.
FERC Fines $1.1 Billion for Fraud
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) says an “energy efficiency” company has been defrauding ratepayers in regions that include Wisconsin for a decade. Recently, FERC ordered American Efficient to pay a $1.1 billion penalty.
FERC claims that Durham, North Carolina-based American Efficient orchestrated a scheme to claim credit for fake energy efficiency resources in federally regulated capacity markets. The commission issued an order that seeks a $722 million civil penalty and requires American Efficient to pay back $410 million in illegitimate profits.
American Efficient denies any wrongdoing.