WEC welcomed 2024 with a new member on its senior leadership team. In the first days of the new year, JJ Vandette joined WEC staff as the Co-op’s first Director of Special Projects and Innovation. Other Vermont utilities, including Green Mountain Power and Vermont Electric Co-op, have senior positions with “Innovation” in the title. It’s a word that suggests the …
Ask The Energy Coach
Ask the Energy Coach: How do I balance outage preparation with reducing my carbon footprint? Dear Energy Coach: My New Year’s resolution is to reduce my personal carbon footprint as much as I can within my own power and budget. I am starting with a list of opportunities and obstacles. One major concern I have is that if I rely …
President’s and GM’s Message: Weather Trends and Today’s Priorities
Storms Impact Vermont rural utilities in patterns of threes; welcoming JJ Vandette and Pat Barnes; acknowledging Dan Couture and Elaine Gonier; grant and legislative updates Weather and Outage Management Louis: Weather and outage management continue to be a major focus area not just for Washington Electric, but for our fellow electric distribution utilities. Where and how the weather hits makes …
Winter Begins With Streak of Storms and Outages
Pattern of Wet, Heavy Snow Continues Through December Early Monday morning after the Thanksgiving holiday, a winter storm brought wet snow and power outages to Vermont. WEC territory saw six to eight inches of heavy precipitation on average, and far more in pockets. More than 34,000 outages were reported across Vermont. WEC counted 6,287 outages, affecting approximately half the membership. …
Birds on a Wire
Osprey often build their nests on human-made structures. This can cause big problems when the structure they choose is a utility pole with energized wires. The nest becomes a fire hazard, the birds risk electrocution, customers can experience unexpected outages, and line crews may have trouble identifying the issue. That’s what happened in Coventry in 2022, when a young osprey …
Making A Difference In Our Communities
2023 started in the aftermath of a major winter storm that caused a lot of damage, and for a lot of members, a lengthy outage. Halfway through 2023, a major summer storm caused flood damage beyond what many central Vermonters had ever seen. Through the Community Fund, which is funded entirely by voluntary member contributions of capital credits, WEC aims …
Budgeting for 2024? Two “Plugs” from the Energy Coach
Plug-and-play heat pump water heaters; federal $7,500 point of sale incentives for EVs When you’re thinking about making household upgrades and reducing your fossil fuel footprint, it’s a great idea to call or email Bill Powell, WEC’s Energy Coach. New tech comes along all the time – and so do new incentives. Before you make a big purchase, check with …
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor: I want to sincerely thank all of the WEC employees who helped restore power to our 6,000 members who were without power. Most were restored in a little over two days, with mutual aid assistance from many of our neighboring utilities. It was a very wet, heavy snow with up to 15 inches in some parts of …
Ask the Energy Coach: Why can’t I get my Level 2 charger for my EV now?
Dear Energy Coach: I bought an EV and have been making do with Level 1 charging. According to the load sheet, I need a transformer upgrade, but my EV has a 7.2 kw onboard charger, which isn’t close to the 12 kw load of the Level 2 charger that would overload my transformer. What gives? Why can’t you give me …