7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 3 Crews have restored power to all members. Remember: if you see lines down, do not touch or approach them. They could still be energized. Please report any downed wires or trees by calling WEC immediately at 1-802-223-5245 or 1-800-932-5245. 1:40 p.m. Wednesday, June 3 A vehicle accident has caused an outage in the Upper Road/Bartlett Road area of Plainfield. About 19 members are out
June 3, 2025
A Vision For How to Live I have been getting electricity from Washington Electric Co-op for over five decades, starting in 1971. I have lived in my home on Bliss Road, East Calais, Vermont two-thirds of my life now. I first got involved actively at the end of 1973 during the oil embargo, when Vermonters and folks all over the country were waiting in lines
June 3, 2025
Recap of Annual Meeting Election Results and Mike Kline Presentation on Waterways, Grant Funding Increases The Co-op tries to use member resources in the best interest of all members. We’re always seeking solutions that benefit as many people as equitably as possible. – Stephen Knowlton After the 2023 flood, we thought we’d escaped much of the damage. But in 2024, we saw serious erosion along
June 3, 2025
“We’re fighting against a process we haven’t dealt with much before: a valley reforming process. I’m proposing we need to have a different response in recovery.” – Mike Kline Mike Kline, retired State Rivers Program Manager and WEC member from the Bear Swamp area of Middlesex, was the Annual Meeting’s featured speaker. He discussed flooding causes and potential mitigation strategies, drawing from past flood events
June 3, 2025
Co-op Currents invites new WEC Directors to talk about the values and experience they bring to the role, how they’ll balance vision and fiscal responsibility, and what drives them to serve fellow members. Profiles do not necessarily represent the values and policy decisions set by WEC’s Board as a whole, but rather the individual perspectives of Board members. In 2025, Bill Powell was elected to
June 3, 2025
Meeting Themes Include Flood Response, Emerging Technology, and Potential Impacts of National Policy Uncertainty Susan Alexander and Board Secretary Betsy Allen, both one-term incumbents, were re-elected to Washington Electric Co-op’s Board of Directors. They were joined by first-time candidate Bill Powell, who retired from WEC staff in late 2024 before declaring his candidacy. Two-term incumbent Steven Farnham and candidate Ian Buchanan finished fourth and fifth.
June 3, 2025
8 a.m. Sunday, May 18 Crews restored power yesterday night. Remember: if you see lines down, do not touch or approach them. They could still be energized. Please report any downed wires or trees by calling WEC immediately at 1-802-223-5245 or 1-800-932-5245. 5:45 P.M. Saturday, May 17 Lightning and heavy rain have caused about 150 WEC members to lose power, with the greatest number in East Montpelier, Plainfield and
May 17, 2025
4 P.M. Monday April 28 WEC crews finished restoring the remaining outages this afternoon after a long day and night or repairing damage to lines across WEC territory. The scattered nature of the issues and the large number of them resulted in slow going for crews, who worked around the clock to return power to members. Our thanks to the member service representatives who answered
April 27, 2025
Not all outages are measured with the same yardstick: regulations require that utilities count, and report, outages that occur during major storms separately from outages that occur outside major storms. That gives a clearer picture of what outage norms are like, both during storms and outside storms. “Major storm” is a category with specific criteria. One criterion for major storm is outage length, so when
April 8, 2025
Service Quality and Reliability Plan Results for 2024 SQRP 2024 – By Louis Porter Washington Electric Cooperative reports annually to state regulators on 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.
April 8, 2025
The big question is, how do we slow the flow? How do we, as landowners and towns, give some room for that water storage to occur? If we leave streams alone they eventually heal themselves over time. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of stepping back, not re-trenching the stream, and being okay with how the stream and the land around it may change. – Mike
April 8, 2025
General Manager’s Message – by Louis Porter As members might imagine, preparing for outages and for the safe restoration of power after a storm is among the most important things we do here at WEC. We are working to minimize those outages and respond quickly to safely restore power. For example, we are implementing a new metering system which will help us get more information
April 8, 2025
Treasurer’s Report 2024 – By Don Douglas, Treasurer The net margins in 2024 were $868,465, which is nearly $200,000 less than 2023, but is still sufficient to satisfy our lenders’ loan covenants. In 2024 Washington Electric Cooperative recognized an increase in revenue of $534,265 from the previous year. Sales of renewable energy credits (RECs) were $1,882,175 which is also down from the previous year by
April 8, 2025
The concept of beneficial electrification is widely promoted as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the state. But the success of beneficial electrification depends on people like you and me choosing to use more electricity and less gasoline, propane, heating oil, and the like. – Stephen Knowlton By Stephen Knowlton In last year’s President’s report to the members, I talked of storms, outages,
April 8, 2025
4:25 p.m. – Wednesday, March 19 Crews have successfully restored power to all members. Thank you for your patience. Remember: if you see lines down, do not touch or approach them. They could still be energized. Please report any downed wires or trees by calling WEC immediately at 1-802-223-5245 or 1-800-932-5245. 2:30 p.m.- Wednesday, March 19 Due to additional pole damage found, restoration is now estimated to 4:00p.m. The
March 19, 2025
1:20 p.m. – Friday, March 14, 2025 Power has been restored to all members. There are high winds predicted for Sunday so please be prepared as usual for possible outages. Thank you. Remember: if you see lines down, do not touch or approach them. They could still be energized. Please report any downed wires or trees by calling WEC immediately at 1-802-223-5245 or 1-800-932-5245. 12:45 p.m. – Friday, March
March 14, 2025
March 7, 2025 – 3:45p.m. The large outage in Middlesex has been restored. The crews have been steadying working throughout the day. There are small outages in the territory and may continue to occur due to the high winds. Again, please be prepared for sporadic outages during high winds. Remember: if you see lines down, do not touch or approach them. They could still be energized.
March 7, 2025
March 7, 2025 – 11:40 am Crews have removed a tree from the WEC lines and power has been restored to all members. Remember: if you see lines down, do not touch or approach them. They could still be energized. Please report any downed wires or trees by calling WEC immediately at 1-802-223-5245 or 1-800-932-5245. March 7, 2025 – 11:30a.m. Crews are out removing a fallen tree on Cherry
March 7, 2025
Co-op Currents invites members to write in with their honest experiences buying and installing hot water heat pumps, cold climate heat pumps, electric vehicles, and other new electric tech. Submit stories to currents@wec.coop. Amy Lepage: Hot Water Heat Pump – June 2025 I recently had a hot water heat pump installed in my house which is shared with a family of two, and a friend
February 20, 2025