From the Top with CEO Patrick Grace

You might have noticed OEC Fiber reached a milestone a few months ago when they reached the 20,000 subscriber mark. Now, it's OEC's turn as we celebrate serving reliable electricity to over 60,000 meters.

The excitement of a new broadband network is easy to celebrate, especially one that's moving as quickly as OEC Fiber. The relevance of its unique story — bringing high-speed internet where no one else will — has taken a lot of focus and attention. Not to be lost in that excitement is the tremendous electric growth we have experienced at the same time.

Serving electricity to 60,000 meters places us among the largest distribution electric co-ops in the nation. Only 7% of the 865 local, member-owned electric co-ops serve more members than we do.

Growth is good. It leads to financial stability and the ability to invest more resources into improving our reliability and the overall member experience. As we grow our infrastructure, we are also creating jobs, which means we must adapt our facilities to accommodate a growing workforce. It also gives us a cushion from devastating events like ice storms and polar vortexes, as we’re able to absorb costs so our members don't have to.

Our proximity to the Oklahoma City metro and consumers' migration to the suburbs has led to accelerated growth over the past five years. While most of our new construction is residential, plenty of commercial properties have continued to develop in the communities we serve and, as a result, our communities continue to grow.

One of the reasons we invest in our communities and give back is to see them and our members thrive. Growth in the areas we serve is always good to see, and we are happy to continually be your trusted energy partner as we work to improve the quality of life for all those we serve.