Major Projects

The software conversion was started in April 2021 and was considered “fully deployed” in August 2022 For the benefit of the cooperative and members, NISC (utilized by other Ohio and national co-ops) was selected as our new system when we were faced with a mandatory upgrade to our current software. This was an enterprise-wide conversion of everything tha t we use to operate on a day-to-day basis and affected every department and employee. This project included a full conversion of the following systems:

• CIS (Customer Information Systems)

• FIS (Financial Information Systems)

• GIS (Geographic Information Systems – mapping)

• OMS (Outage Management System)

• IVR (Interactive Voice Response)

• WMS (Work Management System)

This conversion brought multiple efficiencies to the way we work and interact with our members The new system allows our lineworkers to have all work assignments, documentation, and outage information at their fingertips with the new functionality, using an iPad Now, our cre ws receive information to get the lights back on faster than ever The conversion also brought many new conveniences to our membership.

Here are a few:

• New payment capabilities by phone

• New and improved payment methods and options

• SmartHub, our new account management “all-in-one” online and smart phone application

Work continued in 2022 on the $2 5 million shared cost ARC POWER Grant fiber project that was awarded in 2019 After delays caused by COVID and material shortages, our engineering firm was able to finalize the fiber routes and design. Materials were ordered in advance of the work, due to long lead times

The grant funds are providing about 70% of the total project cost. The overall goal for this project is to build a “middle-mile” fiber backbone through unserved and underserved areas of our service territory This backbone will allow BREC to improve service reliability, security, and utilization of our substation technologies by connecting them with fiber The other great benefit for our members is that this backbone fiber will allow for new partnerships with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that can then provide “last-mile” service to connect homes and businesses to high-speed internet

Governor DeWine authorized funding from the Ohio EMA (Emergency Management Agency) through the state disaster relief program for the devastating ice storms of February 2021 As a result of the cooperative's efforts to receive this funding, we were given a $9,080,526 20 estimated Ohio EMA gr ant award for damages sustained by the co-op Of the total award, $3,000,000 is being spent on the ice storm restoration costs and an additional $6,000,000 for rebuilding, strengthening and restoring our heavily damaged system The grant is a 75/25% split, with Buckeye REC responsible for 25% of the cost The work includes the rebuilding of approximately 28 miles of three-phase line and 14 miles o f single-phase line. More than 25 miles were completed in 2022. The project is now targeted for completion by January 1, 2024.