FEMA assistance likely to help pay for Winter Storm Elliott costs By Don Douglas Washington Electric Cooperative works hard to provide the excellent service our members need and deserve. The COVID pandemic has been difficult on many levels for all of us. As we begin to transition into a post-pandemic world, the effects of it are still with us as we …
WEC’s 2022 Report Card By the Numbers
Service Quality and Reliability Results By Louis Porter Washington Electric Cooperative annually reports to state regulators how well it provided service to its members over the last year. The Service Quality and Reliability Plan, or SQRP, report consists of 12 categories designed to take a snapshot of where we are doing well and where we need to improve. While this …
2022 System Reliability Index
Trees and weather continued to be the primary causes of outages on WEC lines in 2022, and two back-to-back major storms in the final two weeks of the year severely escalated the number of member hours out. Combined with another major storm in April, the three weather events classified as major storms made up a third of WEC’s 2022 outages. …
Members Write
To Co-op Currents: As a 30 year industrial and commercial IBEW journeyman electrician, I recently became aware of a dangerous situation with trees that had fallen and brought powerlines into the street. Trees had been coming down in this specific spot on a semi regular basis, nearly hitting a moving vehicle and regularly bringing down powerlines into the street. When …
An appreciation to WEC lineworkers
By Don Douglas We experienced the first widespread outage on Friday, December 16, 2022 with most everyone back on by Saturday, December 17. The next storm wasn’t so easy. It started in the early morning hours on Friday, December 23. That’s when Board President Steve Knowlton lost power, along with many members in East Montpelier. Despite all the things that …
High speed internet reaches Central Vermont
CVFiber groundbreaking echoes rural electrification efforts of 1930s and 1940s “What we’re doing will be transformational the same way rural electrification was transformational to central Vermont.” Jerry Diamantides On December 21, 2022 – the peak of holiday season, between two winter storms – several dozen central Vermonters and state officials arrived at the Calais Town Hall to mark the groundbreaking …
President’s & General Manager’s Message
Why this was WEC’s most expensive storm ever, and what’s next 40 broken poles, $900,000+ in damages. How WEC plans to respond to members’ needs for the next one Storm recap Steve: As a WEC member and Board member, I want to start by expressing my appreciation for the efforts of all WEC employees in restoring power during this outage. …
Winter Storm Elliott coverage
By the Co-op Currents Editorial Committee On December 23, 2022, Winter Storm Elliott reached Vermont with extremely high winds coming from an unusual direction, and a thaw followed by a temperature plunge that created icy conditions so fast, state officials warned drivers to get to wherever they planned to spend the night by 3 p.m. It was a historic storm …
Three incumbents run for re-election to Board of Directors
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. Three incumbent Directors are running for re-election in 2023: Don Douglas of Orange, Treasurer; Jean Hamilton of Plainfield; and Mary …
Winter Storm Elliott: How does it compare to previous storms?
By Barry Bernstein Winter Storm Elliott, or the Christmas 2022 storm, will prove to be the most expensive storm in WEC’s history, but not the longest one in terms of days out. It was part of a storm front that put 200 million Americans on a winter alert: that’s two thirds of the US population. It was preceded by a …