From the Top with CEO Patrick Grace

I don't want to jinx anything, but we have been pretty lucky when it comes to Oklahoma weather the past few years. Because of that, we've been able to really focus on system maintenance and ensuring we're providing the most safe, reliable electricity.

You can read more on page 6 about how our outage numbers rival those of any other co-op in the state, but especially our neighboring investor-owned utilities. Other providers here in central Oklahoma experience the same challenges we do, and it appears we are doing more to ensure our members can rely on the power we provide.

We are proactive and diligent in vegetation management efforts, which directly affects reliability. Some might believe that means our goal is to cut down every tree in our path, but it's not. We are fans of trees — so much that we are giving them away in April (more on that next month). We do encourage planting outside of our power lines' reach so you can enjoy the many benefits of trees while your electricity remains unaffected.

Since 2017, we have emphasized system hardening. This means we have identified the worst performing parts of our system and made a concerted effort to do reactive and preventative maintenance. It's all part of a continuous improvement cycle so our members can be confident that when storms come, OEC's system will remain in tact.

We've also improved the communication to our field equipment with the construction of OEC Fiber. While we are happy to begin offering internet services to our members, let's remember OEC Fiber was created first and foremost for communication to our electric system to increase operational efficiency, reduce outage times and allow us to work safer.

Obviously we can't prevent every type of outage. There will always be the unfortunate squirrel on the wrong side of a blown fuse or a wayward vehicle that inadvertently leaves the road and knocks over a pole, but we have worked very hard and continue to work hard to improve the things we can control so our members can depend on our service.