Vol. 67 Number 4


News orthwestern Electric February 2016


Cooperation Among Cooperatives Helping our sister cooperatives in their time of need


Y


ou’ve probably heard the saying, “There’s power in numbers.” And we couldn’t


agree more. Cooperation is a key word for electric cooperatives, and a concept vital to our form of business. Member owned co-ops like Northwestern Electric operate under seven key guidelines, including the Sixth Cooperative Principle, “Cooperation Among Cooperatives.” In short, electric cooperatives serve their members best while strengthening the overall co-op movement by working together. At the most basic level, electric cooperatives support one another in times of crisis. If a storm or other disaster hits one of our sister cooperatives, we offer whatever help we can to ensure that service gets restored as quickly as possible. If we need help, our electric co-op family will be there for us.


For example, the ice and snow storm that rolled through the state after Christmas caused considerable damage to some of our sister cooperatives across the state. NWEC lost 30 poles in the eastern part of our system, but the damage was worse to the east and south of our territory. Over 82,000 cooperative members were left without power and some Oklahoma cooperatives were now faced with the monumental task of rebuilding miles and miles of lines. Several thousand cooperative members were going to be without power for an extended period of at least two weeks if not more. Thanks to the power of cooperation among cooperatives, hundreds of linemen from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri and Kansas and scores of contractors converged on the hardest


NWEC sent crews to Cimarron Electric Cooperative in Kingfisher to help restore power following the powerful winter storm in late December. Cooperative and contract crews converged on this muddy stretch of road south of Loyal, Okla., to replace the broken poles as quickly and safely as possible. Photo courtesy of Cimarron Electric Cooperative.


hit areas and worked tirelessly to bring power to co-op members across the state. Northwestern Electric sent crews to help with Cimarron Electric’s restoration efforts. The linemen encountered tough conditions from ice, snow, rain and wind to muddy terrain. We appreciate our crews and all the linemen and cooperative employees who worked long hours away from home to restore power. They are committed to those they serve and we thank them for their dedication and determination.


If you would like to stay updated on outage restoration efforts when the power goes out, follow us on Facebook. You can also follow our statewide association, the Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives, to see what is happening at other co- ops throughout the state and across the nation. Working with other cooperatives in their time of need and sharing information are just two of the many ways we exemplify the Sixth Cooperative Principle, “Cooperation Among Cooperatives.”


Inside


Buffalo office .................2 Outage map ...................3 Recipe ............................3 Staying safe ..................4 District meetings ..........4


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