An appreciation to WEC lineworkers

Coop CurrentsCoop News

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 …

Notice: Supply chain interruptions

WECCoop News, Notices

By Dave Kresock Like many other utilities across the nation, WEC is experiencing unprecedented challenges in procuring a wide variety of electric distribution equipment. The result is that there now may be significant delays in completing some member-requested electric services. This particularly affects new or enhanced service to members’ properties, as transformers are in short supply. In many cases, our …

WEC Presents on Outage Restoration to Cabot Students Studying Disaster Preparedness

Coop CurrentsCoop News

How do you capture the attention of a nine-year-old? You need a topic with action, danger, and the potential for knowledgeable kids to save the day. At the Cabot School, grade 3-4 co-teachers Alison Morrow and Rebecca Nally have landed on a class exploration topic that has, unfortunately, real-world application: natural disasters. The class studies disasters for months. “We integrate …

WEC featured on VPR podcast

Coop CurrentsCoop News

A rural Vermont utility crew confronts a surprise outage, and a changing climate Erica Heilman, producer of Rumble Strip, profiled WEC for VPR broadcast Published by Vermont Public Radio | By Erica Heilman | April 29, 2022 “Last week, there was a storm of wet heavy snow in areas throughout Vermont, with power outages all around the state. Independent producer Erica Heilman stopped …

General Manager’s Report: WEC Draws on Its Strengths to Navigate Disruptions

Coop CurrentsCoop News

By Louis Porter About five months ago, I began working for Washington Electric Cooperative, and I continue to be amazed by the warm welcome and generosity shown by my colleagues, the members, the Board of Directors, and those who work in Vermont’s public power system. Our corner of Vermont, and the world at large, have faced tremendous upheaval from ongoing …

2021 Service Reliability Index

Coop CurrentsCoop News

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 …

Operations Crew Ready for 2022

Coop CurrentsCoop News

One of the many factors that made 2021 historic was the state of labor. Across the country, across industries, for many different reasons, people left jobs or changed employers. In settled times, WEC has a fairly settled workforce, with employees regularly celebrating 10, 20, even 30 year work anniversaries with the Co-op. But this past year, WEC experienced the shifting …

WEC overcomes tree crew labor shortage, works to catch up on Right-of-Way clearing before winter

Coop CurrentsCoop News

Larry Gilbert, Right of Way Manager Over 2021, WEC’s operations department felt pinches in the supply chain and labor market just like most other industries. But in an essential industry—distributing electric power—in a rural service area, with storm season upon us, those pinches can have real effects. WEC contracts with several tree crews to help manage vegetation growth in its …