The holiday season signals the end of another year. For Midwest Electric, it was an interesting year with a lot of activity. But we had a successful and – more importantly – safe year for which we are very grateful.
As with most years, a lot of the activity was driven by our summer irrigation load. The growing season started out with some dry weather that led to higher-than-normal usage early in the year. August brought notable rainfall that dropped usage for that month to near record low levels. But then the season extended longer into the fall than normal. So, it was a different way to get there but overall, the total usage for the year ended up being somewhat average.
We also put considerable effort into finalizing our plans for the next four years in the form of our Work Plan. That outlines the major projects and projected new services we expect to complete over that time. We are now beginning a couple of the larger projects including rebuilding an 18-mile stretch of our transmission line between Paxton and Wallace. Because of the scale of this project, we have a contractor crew doing this work for us. Another crew from the same company has also begun rebuilding several miles of distribution line near Ogallala. These projects will update aging line, increase capacity, and provide reliability for our members for years to come.
Even with a lot of activity going on, our priorities remain the same. We constantly focus on safety and the need to protect our employees. We want to provide reliable power to our members and do our best to maintain our system at a high level. And we want to do all of that in a way that is financially responsible and maintains affordable rates for our members.
We are pleased that the Board of Directors was able to approve a budget for 2025 that does not include a rate increase. Hopefully that is a bit of good news to get your New Year off to a great start!
What Midwest can do for you:
Midwest keeps a Medical Emergency List in our Operations area so that we can have quick access to accounts that need to be notified or prioritized in case of a large or extended outage. If you, a family member, or a neighbor has medical equipment that might not provide adequate service if there is an extended outage – such as an oxygen supply – please contact our office so we can include them on the list.
Jayson Bishop
*Midwest Electric is an equal opportunity provider and employer.*