As the year 2007 begins, I would like to take this opportunity to briefly reflect on some of the accomplishments in the last few years and focus on the changes and service enhancements your Cooperative is hoping to achieve in the year 2007.

Your Cooperative has been working very hard the last few years to build the foundation required to significantly enhance the level of service that you, as a Cooperative member and owner, deserve.  The foundation that I am referencing above include the installation of new, state-of-the-art computer systems and the installation of the new automated meter reading (AMR) system.  The task of converting all computer systems and databases over to a completely new system is no easy task and requires a significant amount of hard work, time and training to accomplish this goal.  Your Cooperative has achieved this goal and continues to make progress everyday. 

The task of deploying the new automated meter reading system required that we retrofit all 35 substations with automatic meter reading equipment, change all 23,000 meters and convert almost every member from self-read, self-billing to invoice billing.  Your Cooperative accomplished this goal in less than one year while other cooperatives normally take three or more years to complete the same project.

Now that I’ve told you about the foundation, I would like to tell you how this will enhance the level of service that you experience in the year 2007 and beyond.  One of the first changes that you have already seen is an invoice bill that provides you with more information than ever before.  You no longer have to read your meter, calculate your consumption, determine the amount due and fill out your billing ticket.  The new AMR systems are performing these steps for you every month.

Another benefit of AMR that some of you have experienced is the ability for your Cooperative to monitor your service voltage to ensure your home, farm or business is receiving the correct voltage level.  The new system has allowed your Cooperative to find numerous transformers that were damaged due to lightning, failures, etc. that were delivering improper voltage levels to your services.  Once that is detected, your Cooperative removes the damaged transformer and installs a new one before this situation damages your electrical appliances or equipment.

The ability of your Cooperative to monitor your service for outages is just one more plus to the new system.  Currently, your Cooperative has the ability to monitor your account for outages while employees are present during office hours.  The system does not yet have the ability to report these outages when no employee is present.  Your Cooperative is in the process of purchasing the necessary computer server and new software that will allow us to monitor your account for outages on a 24/7 basis.  Once this system is functional, your Cooperative should be able to monitor your account for outages, dispatch line personnel and possibly have your service restored prior to the time you even know about the outage.

A few other enhancements that your Cooperative is hoping to achieve in the year 2007 include pre-notification of construction related outages.  This means that when your Cooperative must de-energize a line for construction related activities, we will attempt to contact you about the outage before it happens.  One other service enhancement that you should experience in the year 2007 is quicker responses when calling the office.  The call volumes have been very high this year due to the massive AMR project and converting all members over to invoice billing.  This project is virtually complete and the call volumes are declining significantly.  This should allow your Cooperative to be more responsive to your calls and provide you with faster response times.

 See you next month and as always, “We’ll keep the lights on for you.”