WEC’s Role In Broadband Deployment Is Changing
By the WEC Board of Directors, ECFiber, CVFiber, NEK Broadband While Washington Electric Cooperative’s member owners will progressively be receiving new access to high-speed broadband over the next few years starting this summer, it will be accomplished without low-interest loans through WEC. The Communications Union Districts (CUDs) expect to receive sufficient grant funding from the federal government, administered by the …
President’s Report: In a Transition Year, Co-op Sees Changes to Broadband Partnership, Staffing
by Stephen Knowlton Sometimes, things seem to work out even if they don’t come off quite the way as originally planned. Readers of Co-op Currents will recall that Washington Electric had been in the process of applying for a $36.5 million loan from the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service to construct a 900-mile long fiber network in WEC …
Efficiency Vermont rate reduction in 2022
And other brief updates from this issue of Co-op Currents As provided by state law, the Energy Efficiency Charge (EEC) is collected by all Vermont electric utilities and paid directly to the statewide Energy Efficiency Utility (Efficiency Vermont). This year, Efficiency Vermont will continue to maintain a flat budget, while reducing residential EEC rates by 8 percent, and keeping commercial …
2021 Service Reliability Index
In 2020, problems on transmission lines were a major cause of WEC outages. Upstream of the Co-op, faults on the high-voltage lines that bring power to WEC’s substations caused more than half of the hours WEC members were without power. This past year, members spent a lot less time in the dark. WEC power in 2021 was at its most …
Vermont Sees Influx of Funding for Broadband Rollout
WEC plans a third virtual Annual Meeting; transformer shortage affects PowerShift President’s and General Manager’s Message Broadband rollout Steve: Vermont is experiencing an influx of funding related to high-speed internet. There are many more opportunities for federal funding for broadband through various forms: ARPA [the American Rescue Plan Act], NTIA [National Telecommunications and Information Administration], and the USDA ReConnect program, …
Seven Candidates for Board of Directors
Vote by mail in 2022 Every year, WEC’s membership elects three fellow members to serve on the Co-op’s nine-seat Board of Directors. The members who serve in these critical roles oversee management and staff and make policy and leadership decisions for the member-owned electric utility. In 2022, to date, seven candidates are vying for three seats. Two of these seats …
A legacy of working for the environment and the community
Outgoing Directors Barry Bernstein and Annie Reed on the importance of upholding the founding values of the Co-op now and into the future Barry Bernstein and Annie Reed are both stepping off WEC’s Board of Directors when their terms conclude in 2022. Bernstein was WEC’s President for many years, Reed served as Secretary, and they have a combined 35-plus years …
For World-Renowned Marriage Therapists, High Speed Internet Is a Missing Piece of Business Operations
When Israel and Cathie Helfand moved to Cabot in 1997, it was a conscious choice to bring hands-on homesteading into their daily life, and wilderness into their therapy practice. Using the carpentry skills that put Israel through graduate school, they rehabbed a 1845 farmhouse, built trails and gardens, and reintroduced farm animals, creating a space where visitors could decompress. Many …
Our Electric Car Experience
Members Write by Lauri Scharf It’s been over two years now since we bought an electric car (or EV). It’s our first EV, so we weren’t sure what to expect, but at this point the verdict is in: we’re very satisfied. At the end of the day, living with an EV isn’t very different from daily life with a gas …