By Louis Porter
Washington Electric Cooperative is small: about 40 people working together to provide renewable electricity to 12,000 members. But despite our size and the mission we share, it’s all too rare that we work together in the same place. Member service representatives and others who work in the office talk to those who work in the field by telephone, radio, or through email much more often than we see each other in person.
But every year those who work at WEC get together at the warehouse where we store our equipment, trucks, and materials, and out of which many field folks work, for a cookout and to spend some time together.
As I talked with my colleagues this year, I realized that each of us has a unique set of reasons why we are at the Co-op. For some, it’s the chance to work for and with people who are our neighbors. Others are passionate believers in public power and the right of those who pay the bills to determine how their money is spent. The desire to support other WEC employees who they have worked with for years, or even decades, is what makes others continue what is often difficult — and sometimes dangerous — work. For most, I expect, it is a combination of these reasons and more I haven’t listed.
You read about the work of these people in this and other issues of Co-op Currents. You already know the dedicated, and often downright heroic, work done by line crews during outages. But the people at WEC bring that same commitment to members in their day-to-day work as well, whether it be in building and refurbishing lines, by developing battery and flexible load programs, getting and implementing grants which lower costs for members, or supporting those in the field with dispatching, design, accounting, and other help.
From its rural nature to its snowstorms, floods, and (who knew) tornadoes, WEC has a financially and physically challenging territory to serve. Fortunately, we have the right people on the job and they do it for the right reasons. Thanks for supporting them, and for being a Co-op member.