AT-Cost ELECTRICITY MEMBER CONNECTIONS
AT-Cost ELECTRICITY
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for your home AND BUSINESS
Priority No. 3:
Reliability Trace McCuan, CEO
It’s a simple premise: when you flip the switch at home, the lights should come on. And at NEC we work hard to ensure you have electricity every hour of every day. It’s what we do; we’re here for you, our member-owners. Even as we maintain our distribution system to provide you with reliable electricity or forecast power for retail, we face continual threats. But being a professional organization, we are well prepared for them all. At NEC we have to prepare for all scenarios because we are a different sort of utility. The standard Co-op way is to maintain power lines and provide power to members all in one package. Because NEC is the only deregulated electric Co-op in Texas, we have to not only plan for the eight counties we maintain power lines for, but we also have to prepare for electrical issues throughout the state of Texas which occur on power lines not owned by NEC (such as AEP, CenterPoint, Oncor, and Texas New Mexico Power). Power Line Maintenance One of the ways we establish reliability on our power line system is through a rigorous maintenance program . The Co-op invests a significant budget each year to inspect and replace weathered or fractured power poles. Additionally, we invest in trimming trees from the hundreds of miles line which serve our members. You see, when you only average approximately 13.5 members per mile of power line, you have to ensure that each mile of line is strong enough withstand high winds, heavy rain, dusty drought conditions, and other destructive elements. The Co-op has a 5-year continuous maintenance plan to ensure our power lines can stand the test of time. 20
Texas Co-op Power April 2016 NEC Retail
Occasionally you will receive a call from the Co-op informing you of a planned outage. Occasionally, the equipment we use to bring power to your home might need major repairs or updates. When this happens, as a way to keep our crews and you safe, we plan an interruption to electric service. Behind every good plan is a strong engineering team. We are fortunate to have a well-established engineering department, as well as a strong IT team who is able to accommodate the industries rapidly changing advancement of technology. Purchase Forecast Our preparation for reliability begins months before you flip the switch. A power purchase forecast is exactly what it sounds like – an estimate or prediction of how much electricity will be needed in the future. We all depend on power to meet our daily needs, but the amount we use varies from season to season, day to day and even hour by hour. This is why NEC’s power supplier, STEC, plans far in advance to make sure there is enough power available to meet electricity demands. As demand fluctuates with the retail market, NEC must do our best to estimate how much we will need to buy, while being careful to not buy more than we need. It’s a careful balancing act that we must maintain to ensure all members receive power both reliable and at an affordable price. Working For You At NEC, we can’t predict the future, but we can be prepared for what it holds. We work hard every day to make reliability a priority, because you are our main priority and letting you down is not an option.
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