Truck Accident Causes Coventry Plant Shutdown; GMP’s Zero Outages Initiative Irasburg truck accident Steve: Members may have heard about the truck accident in Irasburg where a propane truck drove into the Black River and burned. What was not included in most coverage was that the accident impacted our generation plant at Coventry. Louis: The morning of December 4, a propane …
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 …
A Tour of Coventry: Landfill Processes and Gas-to-Electricity Generation
Every September, WEC and Casella host an open house at Coventry Landfill, welcoming Co-op members and the public to learn about how the landfill operates and how landfill gas is captured to power WEC members’ homes.A few weeks before the September 16 open house, WEC Board member Betsy Allen toured the landfill and gas-to-electricity plant and took pictures. Here she …
President’s & GM’s Message: WEC Accesses Contracted Hydro-Québec Power
Longstanding contract provides 2 MW of baseload power as Co-op members’ winter needs and WEC’s electric peaks rise. Also: member education around EV charging, adding load, and safety Background to Hydro-Québec Contract Steve: In 2012, WEC negotiated a new 25-year contract with Hydro-Québec [HQ], and the Board at that time approved it. At the time, WEC did not have a …
President’s Message: Variability and our renewable energy future
2022 marked by major storm, broadband make-ready, rate increase By Stephen Knowlton Washington Electric Cooperative faced two major challenges in 2022. First, Winter Storm Elliott joined us all for Christmas like an unexpected relative, making the holidays more difficult and less comfortable for many WEC members and their actual relatives. As I write this, I find it pleasant to have …
WEC to File Request for Rate Increase
Multiple factors cause the Co-op to need to raise rates by more than 10 percent By Louis Porter WEC is planning to file a request for a significant rate increase with state regulators this month, due to a decline in production from the Coventry plant as work has taken place on the Casella landfill, very high and volatile electricity prices …