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...

The 78th Annual Meeting of Members of Hill County Electric Cooperative, Incorporated of Havre, Montana, will be held on Saturday, May 13th, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. in the Ballroom of the Student Union Building on the campus of Montana State University Northern in Havre, Montana, to take action on the following matters: The election of two trustees of the Cooperative. Voting may occur via mail or in person. Passing upon reports of officers, trustees and committees for the year 2022. Transacting such other business as may come before the meeti...

One of my favorite events is coming up on May 13, 2023, when Hill County Electric Cooperative (HCE) will host our Annual Meeting for you, the members we proudly serve. I always look forward to this event because it’s a great opportunity for our employees and myself to talk with our members and hear what’s on their minds. We hope you will join us for the Annual Meeting, which will take place at MSU-Northern's Student Union Building on Saturday, May 13 at 10 a.m. We thank you in advance for getting involved because your participation means so...

This year, HCE no longer has a nominating committee. The committee was eliminated in last year’s bylaw change. With this change, the only way to run for the Board of Trustees is by petition. Open districts this year are District 2 and District 3. Nominee requirements to run: Petition with district number and name of nominee Collect 15 current members’ printed name, address, and signature on petition Nominee must live within the district in which they are running To sign the petition, a member does not have to live in same district as ...

If you look around your home, you likely have more devices and equipment that require electricity more than ever before. Our connected lives are increasingly dependent on more electricity to function. As demand for electricity rises, Hill County Electric (HCE) delivers an uninterrupted 24/7 power supply. Electricity use fluctuates throughout the day based on consumer demand. HCE must be able to provide enough electricity to meet the energy needs of all members during times of high energy use or “peak hours.” These peak times are typically i...

In this month’s message I would like to discuss kW demand and energy. I covered this topic in previous newsletters, but now you should be seeing graphs on your bill statements showing monthly usage and kW demand, so I wanted to review these topics. Energy and demand are two separate things. Energy is the amount of power you consume; it is the amount of electricity used over a period of time and you would see it on your bill as a kWh or kilowatt- hour. Demand measures the maximum amount of electrical power consumed at a given time. How is d...