2023 was a very busy year at the Cooperative staying on top of the latest innovations as well as modernizing our aging infrastructure. Rio Grande Electric Cooperative (RGEC) is working to bring our system up to date, or at least get closer. This takes time and resources. In strategic planning efforts, RGEC is working on replacing up to 10% of its poles a year to make your system more reliable. This will take some time and will not happen overnight. With the pole inspections, they are looking for damaged poles to prioritize pole replacements. If you see damaged poles please report them to your area office immediately. This will save time and money, not to mention downtime during a storm or outage.
RGEC's technology department has the complex job of dealing every day with Cyber security which is not an easy task, but making sure your information is protected from near and far is a top priority. Another task of RGEC's technology department is to keep communications open through different avenues. 24/7 they can find outages from the office and send crews directly to the problem. The crews may not know what the exact problem will be before they arrive, but the technology is there to help get your power back up and the lights back on as quickly as possible.
RGEC entered into the renewable energy sector with 11 solar arrays located throughout the service territory. While RGEC itself does not own the solar equipment or panels, we do purchase at a lower cost the power that is generated, thus passing those savings on to you. RGEC is working with customers to help them follow this path if they so choose.
Your board of directors listens to your concerns and takes them seriously. Just like the membership, the board of directors gets out electricity the same as you, with the same outages you struggle through. If you have a concern or problem, please let your director or any director on the board know, our phone numbers are in the magazine. We want better communication between members and RGEC. Please bear in mind that we have a limited number of employees, so please be patient, they only want the very best for you. Therefore, we encourage you, the members to reach out to your area director, the RGEC office, or any board member with any questions or concerns you may have.
In closing, I want to encourage all members to read the 7 Cooperative Principles to understand that you, as a member, own this Cooperative. The 7 Cooperative Principles are on the RGEC website. You have a say in what happens.
I am honored and humbled to serve as your president. I am grateful for the hard work of the outstanding staff and linemen who get u pevery day to make sure you have electricity. I thank my fellow board members for their hard work and dilligence and their belief that Rio Grande Electric Cooperative does and will continue to make a positive impact on its members and communities.