The heavy, wet snow which consumed the area on Feb. 26 caused havoc for approximately 55,000 electric cooperatives across the state of Missouri, according to the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. That included more than 5,200 West Central Electric members.

“The majority of our problems were caused by snow falling off the lines and trees and causing the lines to gallop, or hit each other,” WCE General Manager Mike Gray said.

Crews fought a losing battle most of the first day, with outages coming in faster than they could be repaired. Linemen were also hampered by poor road conditions causing trucks to get stuck while trying to get to outage locations. 

WCE received assistance from crews from United Electric Cooperative of Maryville/Savannah, Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative in Kearney and Atchinson-Holt Electric Cooperative in Rock Port.

All outages were repaired before midnight March 1.

Representatives of West Central Electric Cooperative met with Sen. David Pearce Feb 4-5 during the 7th annual Legislative Conference hosted by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives in Jefferson City.

They joined with more than 200 rural electric cooperative leaders from across Missouri for the two-day event intended to keep them informed on statewide issues that could adversely impact their ability to deliver safe, affordable and reliable electric service to the state's 650,000 cooperative members. Topics addressed included metal theft, right-of-way access for rural broadband Internet, net metering and transmission.

With a theme of "Powering Communities, Empowering Members," this year's conference also gave cooperative directors, managers and staff the opportunity to visit face-to-face with their elected officials, both during capitol visits and at an evening reception.

Attending the reception were (l-r) WCE General Manager Mike Gray, Sen. David Pearce, WCE Member Services Manager Steve Moore and WCE Branch Manager Brent Schlotzhauer.

MEMBER SATISFACTION TRIENNIAL SURVEY BEGINS

During the next few months, West Central Electric Cooperative will be participating in a telephone survey that is conducted every three years to measure the quality of service provided to you, our members.

Members will be randomly selected and will be asked several questions about your energy usage and your satisfaction with the cooperative. It should take approximately 15 minutes to answer all questions.

The call center conducting the survey will identify themselves as calling on behalf of the cooperative. The call center is TSE Services from North Carolina, a subsidiary of North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives. THE CALLER ID TEXT SHOULD READ "Opinion Counts," AND ORIGINATE FROM A 336 AREA CODE, WHICH IS LOCATED IN WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA.

They will be conducting calls Monday through Friday form 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the cooperative.

YOUTH TOUR DEADLINE

Rural Electric Youth Tour essay

deadline Feb. 15, 2013

Information packet is available in the "Youth Progrmas" section of this website.

SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINES

John & Kathryn English Memorial Scholarship
deadline Feb. 22, 2013

West Central Electric Cooperative Scholarship
deadline March 22, 2013

West Central Electric Cooperative & Linn State Technical
College Electrical Distribution Systems Scholarship
deadline April 1, 2013

Scholarship applications are available at high school counselor’s offices & area WCE offices, as well as in the "Youth Programs" section of this website.