From the Top with CEO Patrick Grace

OEC is growing at record speeds — and not just thanks to OEC Fiber.

In days past, we could count on the majority of our growth — new subdivisions being built, new commercial load coming to town, etc. — during the summer months.

The growth has been pretty steady for a few years straight, and that's not even counting the broadband system we've built from the ground up in record time. Our seven-county service area south of the OKC metro includes prime real estate, and developers and contractors have been taking advantage. All of this helps postpone the need for rate increases, as our meters per mile of line continue to increase.

You see, investor-owned utilities and municipalities are able to offer lower rates at times due to their densely populated service areas. Municipalities, for example, serve an average of 48.3 customers per mile of line. Investor-owned utilities serve around 34 customers per mile of line. Co-ops in general average only 7.4 members per miles of line — OEC currently serves a little over 10 members per mile of line. All of that to say the higher that number, the better equipped we are to keep our operating costs as low as possible.

This is precisely why we pride ourselves on our reliability. While growth is important, our mission is to always provide reliable service to our members.

As more electric members come online every day, OEC Fiber continues its record-setting growth as well. Although OEC Fiber remains in the building stage, we've already connected over 15,000 subscribers to high-speed internet at affordable costs. From the west side of our system to the east, north and south, crews continue connecting nearly 300 new subscribers each week. Again, the speed of this growth is all but unheard of across the nation for a co-op broadband project.

If you are still waiting on OEC Fiber services or contacting us regarding electric or fiber service, please bare with us. We are working to increase staff where needed due to our growth, and as a result you may experience longer-than-normal hold times. Please know we continually seek ways to improve our quality of service to you and won't stop until we perfect our solutions.

Until then, thank you for being loyal members and subscribers.