Tipmont REMC holds an annual meeting each year with the primary purpose of electing board members who govern our cooperative. Being a member of this board is an important position. The board's decisions impact service rates, rights-of-way, work plans and much more. This position holds significant responsibility and requires individuals who understand their community’s needs and serve the cooperative members’ best interest. Each director is elected to a three-year term.

It’s always interesting to look back and compare our reliability data from year to year. In 2019, our top outage causes were power supply, trees and equipment failure, which is consistent with every other year going all the way back to 2012. Of those three, power supply (also known as transmission) comprised over 51% of total member minutes out.

Effective Jan. 22, Tipmont’s energy charge will increase from $0.1034 per kWh to $0.1054 per kWh and the service charge will increase from $32.50 per month to $34.50 per month. For the average residential consumer, this equals about $4.75 per month

Why is it that farmers’ markets always feel the farthest away in February? No matter what the groundhog says, we’re only weeks away from strolling in the sunshine for fresh, local fare. But February is definitely a gut-wrenching gauntlet of sizable snowfall and sub-zero temperatures.

It’s college football season and Tipmont REMC is hosting the Pick-It Bowl Challenge this year!

Tipmont’s board of directors held its regular board meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15. All directors were present. Also attending were CEO Ron Holcomb and Attorney Jeff Helmerick.

Electric vehicles (EVs) have a long and complicated history. The first electric car debuted in the U.S. around 1890. It was a six-passenger vehicle with a top speed of about 14 miles per hour. By the early 20th century, many taxis in New York City were electric. But the high cost of production compared to gasoline-powered cars combined with a lack of electricity outside the cities was too much to overcome. By the mid- 1930s, electric vehicles had mostly vanished.

Given our area’s bounty of good eats, you can get almost anything you want, any night you want … except an excellent, localized everyday pizza.

I’ve been asked a few times how the fiber lines we’re building today will stand up to the promises of tomorrow’s wireless internet technology. While there are a lot of technological promises on the horizon, we can’t know for certain how they are all going to play out. Here are some things we do know today about one of the leading contenders.

Food Finders Food Bank solar lighting

Food Finders Food Bank received $6,481.97 for two solar parking lot lights at the new Greenbush Street pantry parking lot in Lafayette. Solar lights will help reduce the food bank’s energy bills while providing a safer and more accessible environment to people utilizing the pantry and education classes.

“The money we save on electricity can be utilized in our hunger relief programs and purchasing of food so that individuals and families who face hunger will have greater access to the nutritional food they need,” said Amanda Estes, grants coordinator for Food Finders Food Bank.

The lights are part of a new parking lot at the Food Resource and Education Center (FREC) located at 1204 N Greenbush Street in Lafayette. An additional grant from North Central Health Services will cover the installation of the solar lights.

The Food Resource and Education Center helps individuals learn how to prepare the food that is gown in Food Finders’ garden and distributed in our pantry. More information is available at food-finders.org.