Reliable Power for Today— and Tomorrow Ringing in a new year sparks a sense of renewed hope and optimism about the future. As the CEO/GM of Hill County Electric (HCE), for me it’s a time to reflect on where we are and where we’re going. At the heart of this reflection, I think about ways we can better serve you, the members of the cooperative. Our team at Hill County Electric is always looking ahead, exploring ways to innovate and utilize new technologies to improve our services. As our nation increasingly relies on electricity to power the...

Be prepared for winter storms When winter temperatures drop and storms hit, it can be challenging to stay safe and warm. Winter storm severity varies depending on where you live, but nearly all Americans are affected by extreme winter storms at some point. Hill County Electric (HCE) cares about your safety, and we want you to be prepared. Heavy snow and ice can lead to downed power lines, leaving co-op members without power. During extremely low temperatures, this can be dangerous. During a power outage, our crews will continue to work as q...

How Does Inflation AffectYour Electric Bill? Inflation impacts everything from the price of gasoline to the price of food. We can all identify items where costs have gone up significantly in the last two years. We would be hard-pressed to think of an item that costs the same as it did three years ago or even a few months ago. HCE tries hard to keep the costs down. The increases we see in power and materials are not something we have any control over. Allow me to share some examples of the increase in costs HCE has experienced: Single ph...

Save a Life: Avoid Distractions While Driving While driving, we typically hear that “ding” on our phone, alerting us to a text or call coming through, and we sometimes feel the urgent need to check it. We know we shouldn’t, but we reason that we’re going to make an exception–– just this once. So, why do we indulge in behavior we know to be wrong, dangerous and in many states, illegal? Call it hubris. According to AAA research, most people feel they are better-thanaverage drivers. Afterall, we have busy lives and are accustomed to multitask...

During harvest (and planting) season, many farmers reap the benefits of advancement in agricultural technology. The length of equipment keeps raising the height of equipment when you put it in the air, but the electric code and the standards under which our electric company operates do not coincide with the size of the new equipment. When you get new equipment and it no longer fits under our electric lines, you will be required to pay to have those lines lifted or raised to pass under the lines without lowering your equipment. Another inven...

Save a Life: Avoid Distractions While Driving While driving, we typically hear that “ding” on our phone, alerting us to a text or call coming through, and we sometimes feel the urgent need to check it. We know we shouldn’t, but we reason that we’re going to make an exception—just this once. So, why do we indulge in behavior we know to be wrong, dangerous and in many states, illegal? Call it hubris. According to AAA research, most people feel they are better-thanaverage drivers. Afterall, we have busy lives and are accustomed to multitaskin...

Annual Meeting Update Thank you to all of our members who joined us for Hill County Electric’s 78th Annual Meeting of Members at the MSUNorthern Student Union Building on May 13, 2023. I’d like to congratulate Board Members Trevor Standing Rock (District 2) and Leslie Smith (District 3) for being reelected to serve their respective districts for another term at the annual meeting. We recognize the vital role HCE plays in energizing our local economy, but to continue to innovate and effectively serve the community, we rely on you, our membe...

Providing reliable power to our members is and will always be the top priority for Hill County Electric (HCE). These days, power reliability seems to be making news now more than ever. As the energy industry continues to transition and more segments of the economy are becoming electrified, such as vehicles, machinery and even lawn equipment, additional pressures are being placed on our nation’s electric grid. Although it may seem counterintuitive, we also maintain power reliability through planned, controlled outages. By carefully cutting p...

May is Military Appreciation Month, and in the words of John F. Kennedy, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” Memorial Day has been around since 1866 and first formalized in 1868 as it was called Decoration Day. This is because people decorated the graves of the people who died in the civil war. During World War I the idea to honor the dead of all of our wars was taking hold. It wasn’t until Memorial Day was passed in the US Congress in 1968 and it beca...