2026 Symposium Recap The 2026 Symposium, held April 8 and 9 in Grand Rapids, brought together cooperative leaders from across Michigan for two days of shared learning, connection, and conversation about the issues shaping the future of the electric cooperative industry. Throughout the event, the value of co-ops learning with and from one another was clear. This year’s program [...]
March 18, 2026 Storm Recovery: Power Restored What a difference a few days makes. At the peak of this storm, outages across Michigan’s electric cooperatives climbed to nearly 14,500 as heavy ice, high winds, and record-breaking snowfall in the Upper Peninsula created challenging conditions across the state. Today, we’re down to just a handful of remaining outages. The graph below tells [...]
Cloverland Electric Cooperative in the Upper Peninsula joins Michigan Electric Cooperative Association All of Michigan’s electric cooperatives, serving more than half of the state’s 83 counties, now unified under MECA LANSING, Mich. — Cloverland Electric Cooperative has officially joined the Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (MECA), bringing all of Michigan’s member-owned electric cooperatives together under a single statewide association. With Cloverland’s membership, every [...]
A powerful winter storm brought heavy snow, ice, and high winds across Michigan during the holiday week, impacting every Michigan cooperative service territory and causing widespread power outages. At the peak of the storm on Monday, Dec. 29, co-ops reported approximately 33,000 members without power statewide. The Michigan Electric Cooperative Association and its member cooperatives mobilized local lineworkers, contractors, and mutual aid crews [...]
MECA Unites Behind FEMA Reform to Strengthen Disaster Recovery Across Michigan and the nation, electric cooperatives are speaking with one voice to strengthen disaster recovery and ensure communities can rebuild faster when severe weather strikes. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (MECA) are both rallying support for the bipartisan Fixing Emergency Management [...]
Cooperative IT Professionals Connect on Cybersecurity and Innovation Each October, information technology professionals from Michigan’s electric cooperatives come together to exchange ideas and explore emerging trends. This year's IT Conference was hosted by Midwest Energy & Communications (MEC) at its Cassopolis headquarters. The event brought together 23 staff members representing seven cooperatives: Cherryland, HomeWorks, Great Lakes, Presque Isle, Wolverine, [...]
Youth Tour Student Combines His Love of Cars with a Lesson in Safety For one Michigan Youth Tour participant, the road to leadership led straight to the driver’s seat. Literally. Inspired by his love of sports cars and his passion for learning, Great Lakes Energy member Naaman Looy’s service project turned into something fast, fun, and educational: a community [...]
Training Opportunities Strengthen Cooperative Leadership and Financial Insight Michigan’s electric cooperatives continue to invest in professional development that strengthens financial expertise and board leadership through hands-on training from national cooperative partners. The Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (MECA) recently hosted a CFC Workshop to help cooperative accounting staff sharpen their financial planning and analysis skills. Twenty-six employees from seven distribution [...]
From Elmira to D.C. and Back Again: Youth Tour Creates a Lifelong Co-op Advocate When Alex Mason boarded a plane to Washington, D.C. in 2016 as a home-schooled high school junior, he couldn’t have imagined how much the trip would shape his future. Representing Great Lakes Energy (GLE) as a student delegate on the NRECA Youth Tour, the high [...]
Michigan Students Find Inspiration in Nation’s Capital on 2025 Youth Tour Eighteen high school students from across Michigan took part in a life-changing journey this June, representing their electric cooperatives on the 2025 Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. The annual event, coordinated by the Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (MECA) in partnership with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), offers student [...]
