CEO’s Message – September 2024

Mutual Aid —Just a Phone Call Away

It’s a phone call that no co-op GM or Operations Manager ever wants to make. Because it means that something big and bad and beyond your capabilities to fix in a timely manner has occurred, and you need help.

Could be weather, could be wildfire—those are the “big 2” that cause the most damage in a short period of time, and the kind of damage that can’t be repaired quickly—that bring on the nightmare scenario that would prompt a call for “mutual aid” assistance from one utility to another, or several others. Columbia REA has responded to two such calls for mutual aid this year, one for each of the reasons stated above.

In January of this year, a Columbia REA crew went to the Eugene area to help Lane Electric restore power to their members after a devastating ice storm. Just last month a 5-man crew was dispatched to the Clearwater area of Idaho to help rebuild the Clearwater Power system, which, at the time the call came in, had lost 120 poles completely, and suffered damage to hundreds more.

That 5-man crew took with them 4 trucks, a side-by-side, a mini-excavator, 10 poles, and a lot of parts and pieces. After 4 days and 285.5 man-hours (an average of just over 14-hour workdays), power had been restored and our crew returned home. Tad Iseminger, Columbia REA Operations Superintendent, says there is no shortage of linemen who are willing to help.

“It’s 100 percent voluntary, and we keep a rotating list that shows who went last time and who is up next…just to keep it fair, says Tad. “It’s pretty much an automatic yes when I start working through the list. The month of July was tough because people already had vacations scheduled and that sort of thing, but if guys are available, it’s almost always a yes.”

We talk a lot about the cooperative spirit and our Seven Cooperative Principles. We talk about it a lot so when it comes time to act, it feels like second nature to respond without hesitation. Cooperative Principle number 6 is “Cooperation Among Cooperatives.” There is really no better example of that than the call for, and response to, a request for mutual aid. It’s a tough ask…but it’s an easy answer.

Best,
Scott Peters,
CEO