October-November 2024 The question is: Is it worth it to our members to pay more for our own power than market cost, and some years substantially more? – Louis Porter The Board is going to reach its decision with a lot of thought and with an eye to what the plant is worth. – Stephen Knowlton Louis: Washington Electric is considering whether to sell the
October 30, 2024
A Co-op Month meditation on the relationship between our historic cooperative values and providing electricity today By Louis Porter, General Manager My family loves to recount the time when, at a young age and having grown up on a farm, I casually stepped outside and went to the bathroom off the front steps of the Adamant Co-op. A stone’s throw away —for want of a
October 30, 2024
What it was about for me was seeing the Co-op as an instrument of progressive change. – Richard Rubin Richard Rubin was ready to retire from the WEC Board of Directors last year. But the 78-year-old trial lawyer from Plainfield decided to run for re-election one last time after he met Board newcomer Pat Barnes, liked Barnes’s energy and ideas, and thought it would be
October 30, 2024
October 13 – 1:15 pm WEC crews have finished restoring power to the few remaining members who were out of service! Thanks to all at WEC who worked on this outage, to the Stowe Electric line crew members who came to help and to our members for their patience and understanding. Only a few Vermonters remain out of service as other utilities also complete their
October 12, 2024
August-September 2024 RES Changes Group Net Metering Rules, Speeds More Utilities Toward 100% Renewable Summer storms saturate and erode ground, causing more outages It’s true that trees don’t impact underground lines, but erosion and flooding do. In places where we’ve had underground lines for years, erosion and flooding are washing them away. – Louis Porter Group net metering of the type where generation hooks directly
September 4, 2024
Washington Electric Co-op is particularly concerned about the impact of electricity costs on lower-income members. This program… aims to alleviate that burden. -Louis Porter The Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) and Washington Electric Cooperative (WEC) are teaming up on a program designed to help reduce the electric bills of both cooperative utilities’ income-qualified members while boosting renewable power. This initiative, funded by federal money, aims to
September 4, 2024
Get the right size transformer for your future electric load Going green can be a slippery slope—in a good way. It’s great to invest in emission-free devices, especially when they contribute to quality of life and cost less over the long term. What’s important is making sure you have the transformer capacity to power your new devices, both now and several years from now. Electric
September 3, 2024
Every year, Co-op Currents profiles an organization that receives funding from WEC’s Community Fund. In 2024, after several years of major events—floods, a pandemic—we decided to revisit three grantees we profiled in the past to learn if, and how, their needs and services have changed. The three organizations we returned to are Central Vermont Community Radio, profiled in 2022, the Vermont Foodbank, profiled in 2020,
September 3, 2024
In 2024, WEC set to return $278,833 to members active in 1999 When your electric cooperative takes in more money than it costs to run the utility, where does that money go? Have you ever noticed a credit on your November electric bill? As a member of an electric cooperative, excess revenue is returned to you and your fellow member-owners. This is a significant difference
September 3, 2024
August 11, 8:40 am Extraordinary work by WEC crews restored power to all members overnight. About 8,000 remain out around the state. Thanks for our line workers, those who support their work, to the outside crew from Burlington Electric Department who generously helped us out, and to all who worked on this restoration effort. Remember: Do not approach downed lines or trees on lines, as they
August 9, 2024
On Wednesday 31 July two WEC members received scam calls from the WEC phone # and name of “Washington Electric Co-op” demanding payment for an overdue account of $500 and $900. These calls were NOT made by the Co-op; the member was instructed by the scam caller to meet in person at a specific location in a local town with the money. The members called
August 1, 2024
July 24, 12:52 WEC crews have restored the outage in the Topsham area. Remember: Do not approach downed lines or trees on lines, as they may still be energized. If you see a tree on power lines or lines down, please report it to us: local 802-223-5245 or toll-free 1-800-932-5245. July 24, 12:15 p.m. A falling tree has damaged WEC’s three-phase line causing outages in the
July 24, 2024
July 21, 8:45 p.m. A fallen tree on a WEC line between Calais and Worcester has broken a pole and interrupted service. Crews will have to take the line out of service to replace the pole. They anticipate the outage will last less than an hour, although complications can always slow their work. Remember: Do not approach downed lines or trees on lines, as they may
July 22, 2024
12:30 p.m. Crews have replaced the pole and wires needing to be replaced from flood storm. Thank you all for your patience during this time. 11:30 a.m. Crews are replacing the broken pole that is leaning in the river on RTE 302 near Groton. The power did have to be turn off for safety reasons. 276 members in Groton, Barnet, Peacham, and Ryegate are impacted.
July 19, 2024
5:00 p.m. The crews were able to remove the tree and repair the lines, so all members’ power has been restored. Please continue to be prepared for outages at any time. Thank you. 2:30 p.m. Due to a tree falling on the line 134 members in the Northfield/Roxbury/Williamstown area are without power. Crews are onsite working on both the fuse and recloser needing repair. Estimated
July 18, 2024
July 17, 2024 – 3:40 WEC Crews have restored all outages. A large tree fell on the power lines along Route 25 bring them down. Remember: Do not approach downed lines or trees on lines, as they may still be energized. If you see a tree on power lines or lines down, please report it to us: local 802-223-5245 or toll-free 1-800-932-5245. July 17, 2024 –
July 17, 2024
July 15, 2024 – 4 p.m. After working through the weekend and into Monday to reach the final few locations that had been inaccessible or difficult to repair, WEC crews believe we have now restored power to all remaining member premises that are able to be reconnected. However, in an outage like this it is always possible that some homes may not be re-energized, but
July 11, 2024
3:30 p.m. – July 7, 2024 The crews continued working to restore all members’ power. Again, thank you all for your patience especially those that took a little longer than others. Remember: Do not approach downed lines or trees on lines, as they may still be energized. If you see a tree on power lines or lines down, please report it to us: local 802-223-5245 or
July 7, 2024
WEC JUNE 28, 2024 OUTAGES June 29, 2024 7 a.m. Crews restored power to the remaining outages overnight. 9 p.m. WEC crews have restored service to all but 13 members. Work to restore power to those remaining out continues. 7:47 p.m. Crews have largely restored the original outages in the area around Orange. Additional outages have occurred in the Duxbury area and a smaller outage in
June 29, 2024
The crews have completed the pole and material repairs, so all member power is restored. Please be prepared for the upcoming weather June 29 – June 30. The forecast is calling for similar conditions to last weekend with high winds and rain. Thank you. At approximately 11:00 a.m. the power will be shut off to repair the broken material that occurred yesterday with the excavator
June 28, 2024