After 39 years of service to the electric cooperative program, Cherryland Electric Cooperative announced that Jim Carpenter will retire as their line superintendent and safety director, effective April 2019. “Jim’s passion and heart for our members will be missed,” said Tony Anderson, general manager of Cherryland. “We can’t replace the 35 plus years of experience at many different positions.” Carpenter was hired by [...]
MECA recently released an updated version of its mobile app for Apple and Android devices. The app is designed to keep Michigan’s electric co-ops connected with its searchable database of co-op directors, managers and employees, a listing of MECA sponsors, events calendar and co-op news from around the state. "Users probably won't notice much change in the overall look or functionality of the [...]
Fifty lucky subscribers were the first to be connected to Trustream before the end of 2018, and the new fiber-to-the-home internet service from Great Lakes Energy is already receiving rave reviews. Earlier this month, Bear Creek Organic Farm shared a Facebook post explaining the dramatic impact Trustream has had on their business and in their daily lives: "IT FINALLY HAPPENED! ON January 10, 2019 we joined the 21st [...]
MECA and its member co-ops have always valued a positive working relationship with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC). However, since all of the co-ops have transitioned to member regulation in recent years, interaction between the co-ops and the agency has become much less frequent. While the MPSC no longer regulates rates for co-ops, they do regulate several important issues that impact co-ops, [...]
Northern Michigan endured winds in excess of 50 miles-per-hour on Friday, Sept. 21. These powerful gusts took down trees and left thousands of co-op members without power. They also forced the Mackinac Bridge to partially close, which complicated restoration efforts. Alger Delta Cooperative was hit hard. At the height of the event, about one-quarter of their system was without power (2,500 outages). The [...]
The last week of August included a very clear safety focus for Thumb Electric Cooperative (TEC). The co-op completed a Rural Electric Safety Achievement Program (RESAP) audit and provided life-saving Pole Top and Bucket Rescue Training for its operations employees. “I’m proud of how they’re living up to the RESAP goal of continuous improvement,” said MECA Safety Director, Joe McElroy, commending TEC leadership and [...]
“If there’s going to be a big storm that causes widespread outages, you can bet it will probably happen over a holiday,” claims Joe McElroy, safety director and mutual aid coordinator at MECA. Turns out he may be onto something. That was certainly the case last week as a large-scale outage event took place over the Labor Day holiday. Storms raced through Michigan [...]
In July, the Wolverine Power Cooperative Board of Directors approved a five-year construction plan to rebuild 600 miles of transmission line—its most ambitious construction goal in the last half-century. “This plan is the culmination of Wolverine’s member teams, Board of Directors, and staff, working together over a decade to develop the technical and financial capabilities needed to execute a work plan of this [...]
On Monday, United States Congressman Jack Bergman visited Wolverine Power Cooperative’s state-of-the-art Alpine Power Plant to tour the facility and learn about the plant’s vital role for Wolverine’s members and Northern Michigan’s grid reliability. The Alpine Power Plant natural gas facility, completed in 2016, provides more than 400 MW of peaking generation, as well as essential transmission support, for Wolverine’s members and Northern Michigan’s [...]
MECA and its member co-ops are conducting a first-of-its-kind, statewide employee education and training assessment this month. Results will be used to develop an in-state training program to be hosted by MECA later this year. "We're very good at using data to measure almost everything we do in the energy industry," says Doug Snitgen, MECA executive vice-president. "But when it comes to selecting [...]
