The second weekend of November felt like we were inside a snow globe. Giant fluffy snowflakes drifted down from the sky for three days, resulting in record-breaking snowfall for the region. Fortunately, we had only a few short-lived outages and, thankfully, the wind stayed away.
For those of you who are longtime SIEA members, you probably remember we didn’t fare so well the last time it snowed as much. In March 2017, a similar snowstorm caused widespread outages lasting nearly a week for most members.
What’s changed? The answer lies in the tens of millions of dollars we’ve invested in our electric grid since then. These investments are being paid for over time, by your grid access charge.
As mentioned in previous issues, in November, the SIEA Board of Directors approved to increase the grid access charge to $35 for residential members, effective January 1. Since the upgrade projects began in 2017, the grid access charge is the only fee on your electric bill that’s been raised in an entire decade.
These funds are essential for sustaining the reliability improvements you’ve experienced and for preventing outages like those in 2017. These upgrades don’t just prevent outages — they also play a critical role in providing cost savings to keep rates steady and for wildfire prevention. Fewer outages also translate into cost savings for SIEA member-owners because there are fewer unexpected repair expenses. To reduce the number of people affected by an outage, hundreds of fuses, reclosers, and switches were installed; these can also detect potential fire hazards in our lines. To aid in mitigating fire risks and reducing outages caused by vegetation, we’ve also increased the size of our tree trimming crews and re-evaluated our tree trimming cycle to prioritize areas of rapid growth.
The impact of these upgrades and preventive measures is clear — not only in the data, but also in the experiences of those who work on the front lines of our system.
In a conversation after the storm, SIEA Communications Manager Paris Daugherty asked lineworker Jesse Madril why outages were so minimal. He didn’t hesitate: “It’s all the behind-the-scenes work — the upgrades and maintenance we’ve done over the years.” That observation from someone who is usually in the thick of restoring power is a happy and proud moment for all of us.
SIEA lineworkers deserve immense credit for responding to storms and for the hard work they’ve put in upgrading and rebuilding much of our system. However, these results wouldn’t be possible without the contributions of our behind-the-scenes employees — the ones who answer phones, file permits, manage inventory, and ensure every project is planned and funded. Together, these teams, along with the foresight of our Board of Directors, have made our grid stronger and more resilient.
We understand that any increase affects your budget, and we take that responsibility seriously. However, the results speak for themselves: shorter outages, improved safety, and a grid that keeps your power on when you need it most. That peace of mind is an investment worth making.
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