From the Top with CEO Patrick Grace

You might have recently read about our partnership with Fowler Automotive to offer a free in-home charger to OEC members. If not, you can read more about it on page 8. I wanted to take a moment to explain more about why we are excited about the growing EV landscape and what exactly it means for our bottom line.

Typically, when a company of our size promotes an idea to its customers or, in our case, member-consumers, it means something is in it for them. There's usually a catch. A 'hook' for the company to lure in unsuspecting customers, all in the name of financial gain. As a cooperative that is owned by the members it serves, the decisions we make must be in your best interest, or they hurt us all.

We've had a keen eye on the EV industry for many years now, and it wasn't until recently when we began hearing interest from you, that we decided to dive in and learn how it could benefit our members. We purchased an EV of our own (a Chevy Bolt) so we could help those who are interested decide if it is the right decision for them and their families. We quickly learned that, yes, it most definitely could be. But, it might not be best for everyone.

The potential of EVs being purchased by our membership in the coming years compelled us to involve them in the discussion of rate structure — the more electricity being consumed by EV charging could mean additional infrastructure would need to be constructed. To curb that potential increase, we incentivize any activity that can use electricity overnight rather than throughout the day. EV charging is one of those activities.

If you have read many of my columns, you know that most of OEC's operational costs are the fixed costs of having the infrastructure in place, not the electricity itself. The pressure we put on the infrastructure to provide electricity at certain times of the day determines whether or not we need to expand it, which costs a lot of money that must be passed to consumers.

If your electricity use helps us avoid the need to build more infrastructure or, better yet, reduce the current demand on the system, we can pass those savings on to you. This is precisely why we offer alternative rates.

Anytime an opportunity presents itself to shift your electricity use to a less expensive time of day, we encourage you to take advantage to help keep money in your wallet.