By Ken Schlimgen, General Manager
We’ve all heard the phrase, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” This common adage usually serves as a warning — don’t risk everything on a single plan or option. It’s also a great way to describe your electric cooperative’s approach to building and maintaining a reliable and resilient power delivery system.
Whether you’re flipping on a light switch or running equipment in your shop, Central Electric delivers the electricity you need more than 99.9% of the time each year. That level of reliability doesn’t happen by chance — it comes from careful planning, proactive maintenance and strategic investment in multiple areas of the system.
At the heart Central Electric’s reliability efforts is system maintenance, and that doesn’t mean just fixing things when they break. We focus on several key areas.
Annually, your cooperative uses an outside contractor to test approximately 10% of our poles, with the goal of inspecting each pole once every 12 years. Poles that pass the inspection receive added ground line treatment to extend their life expectancy. Poles that fail the inspection are scheduled for replacement. Our contractor started this project in June, taking about 6 weeks to test 5,000 poles in Brule, Buffalo and Jerauld Counties.
Our crews regularly patrol lines to visually inspect for damage, wear and potential risks — including trees or brush that could cause outages or blinking lights. This proactive patrol helps prevent many common service interruptions.
Your cooperative uses devices known as oil circuit reclosures, which attempt to restore power when temporary faults occur, such as a tree branch on a line. To ensure they continue to function properly, Central Electric rotates service on 25-30% of these devices annually.
Since 2019, we’ve committed to replacing 50 to 60 miles of older overhead power lines each year. This ongoing investment has reduced outages and employee overtime — clear indicators of improved system performance.
A resilient electric system isn’t just about keeping the lights on during normal conditions — it’s about making sure our infrastructure can withstand severe weather and unexpected events. That’s why we continue to repair, upgrade and replace equipment before problems occur. By placing our “eggs in multiple baskets,” we reduce risk and enhance reliability for all members.
I also want to share information regarding the dollars your cooperative collects and pays for taxes. In 2024, we collected $2,748,645 from members for payment of taxes. Your cooperative pays a kilowatt-hour tax, which is applied to all energy sold. This tax is paid in lieu of a property tax on the infrastructure needed to deliver power to you. The amount of kilowatt-hour tax paid in 2024 was $1,077,489. The largest tax paid was for state and city sales tax at $1,535,324. In addition, property tax on buildings of $79,478 and excise tax of $53,005 was also paid.
These tax dollars are part of the broader picture. Powering our communities requires both financial responsibility and thoughtful planning. As our homes, businesses, and communities rely more on electricity, ensuring a strong, reliable grid becomes increasingly important. Central Electric is committed to meeting that challenge — through smart investments, preventive maintenance and a focus on delivering reliable service.
Until next month, stay safe!