An all-night, three-system storm that began late on Monday, June 30, caused many Midwest Energy members to be without power. Significant damage occurred across the co-op’s entire southwest service area, with a total of 12,000 members without power, 253 outages, and 20 broken poles. “Our first crews were dispatched shortly after the first system hit at 10 p.m. Monday, and with the combined stellar [...]
Midwest Propane, a subsidiary of Midwest Energy Cooperative, has started transitioning its propane Will Call customers to a new Seasonal Fill program. The program is designed to create a better service experience and manage costs for all customers. Seasonal Fill includes one or two planned deliveries, depending on historic consumption. All tanks will be filled in August to prepare customers for the coming heating [...]
Great Lakes Energy wrapped its series of annual informational luncheons for its members in June. All the luncheons provided information on keeping electricity affordable, the reliability measures that GLE takes, what it means to be a GLE member, various products and services GLE offers, and its People Fund (Operation Round Up) program. A total of 367 members attended the luncheons held in all nine [...]
The annual MECA co-op directory is now available as a mobile app for Apple and Android devices. "The member co-ops asked us to provide an electronic alternative to the annual paper directory," says Doug Snitgen, MECA assistant general manager. "Transitioning to a mobile app ensures content is always up-to-date and allows users to make phone calls or send email to any contact right from [...]
MECA is currently seeking a Communications Specialist to work collaboratively with the Director of Communications & Marketing on a range of communication programs and initiatives. He/she will serve as the editor for content used across a variety of communications channels, dedicating approximately 75 percent of efforts to Michigan Country Lines (MCL) magazine, and approximately 25 percent to electronic communications (websites, blogs, email campaigns, newsletters, and social [...]
About 54 people attended Alger Delta Cooperative’s annual meeting on June 18, where three directors were seated from district elections. In districts 5 (Gourley/LaBranche/Cornell) and 8 (Nahma/Isabella), incumbents David Anthony and Raymond Young, respectively, ran unopposed and were re-elected. Anthony is a former state legislator, works for the Hannahville Tribal Administration, and owns several small businesses. Young is a retired educator and sits on [...]
Incumbent directors Gerald Nettleton (DeTour Village) and Virgil Monroe (Manistique) were re-elected, and new director John Sawruk (Sault Ste. Marie) was elected at Cloverland Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting on June 11.
Kelsey Miller, a Great Lakes Energy member from Howard City, is Michigan’s new representative on the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Youth Leadership Council. Miller is an honors student and active volunteer in her school and community, and was chosen by Michigan co-op students and staff attending the Rural Electric Youth Tour of Washington, D.C. in June. Her duties will include attending a Youth [...]
Safety instructors from Michigan electric co-ops recently attended the Quad States safety instructors meeting in LaCrosse, Wis. Pictured are (L-R) Ben Striegle (Great Lakes), Bruce Welliver (Wolverine), Jim Mackie (Cloverland), Joe McElroy (MECA), and Bev Bumstead (GLE). Members of the Quad State Instructors group are electric utility safety professionals. Formed in 1964 by electric utility safety people from four states, members now hail from [...]
The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC)on June 19 approved a request by Midwest Energy for waivers from certain code of conduct rules - with one exception - to enable the co-op to deploy high-speed internet in unserved and underserved parts of Michigan. "Michigan is a national leader in expanding broadband access, adoption and use," said MPSC Chairman John D. Quackenbush. "Today's order allows Midwest [...]
