December 14, 2022

AT CHEC

A Message from the General Manager

This year has been full of challenges, yet it has been full of rewards. We have battled through supply chain issues and to the end of a pandemic, yet somehow have grown in not only size but also in strength. The challenges we have faced have revealed what is rare in society yet common in the co-op world: resiliency within our company. I have witnessed opportunities for personal growth as well as unity within our organization as we have joined together to work through these challenges. 

There is a quote that says, “To succeed, you have to believe in something with such passion that it becomes a reality.” When I consider the passion of the farmers in 1945 to bring electricity to our rural area, I am in awe of the initial determination and drive that birthed Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative, which has allowed us to continue to grow and expand 77 years later. I am blessed to be part of yet another new chapter of Cookson Hills through the launching of Cookson Hills Connect and our high-speed internet and voice services through a state-of-the-art fiber to the premises buildout. It’s the passion of the Board and of our employees to see a need and meet that need in our rural areas – just as our rural farmers did in 1945. 

In two short years, we have progressed from the planning stages for our broadband buildout to now passing just under 10,000 homes and businesses with the opportunity for gigabit speed fiber-to-the-premises internet service to roughly half of our CHEC members. This was quite a task and quite an accomplishment in a short period of time. In addition to this, in 2022 we have also upgraded poles in over 80% of our service territory and have cleared out 350 miles of vegetation, helping increase the reliability of our power grid, and improving our outage indices. We also are finalizing our four-year construction work plan which targets areas that may need upgrades to ensure the reliability of our grid due to load growth. 

Although we have worked diligently to improve our electric system and to construct miles and miles of fiber, there is still much work to be done. During 2023, we hope to complete the fiber construction of our broadband project. We will also continue with our vegetation management program and will implement our new construction work plan, with continued efforts to improve reliability for our members. 

We hope that 2023 will be a year of blessings for you and your family. May you have a happy and blessed new year! 

Juli Orme 

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