Innovation requires both courage and compassion. It takes courage because there is no guarantee that the new thing you're trying to do will succeed. But true innovation – something beyond mere change – also requires compassion, the belief that this success should be shared by everyone, not just a select few.

On the evening of August 10, severe storms with high winds rolled through our service territory. At one point, over 10,000 homes were out of power, over 40% of our total membership. The response of our team was nothing short of heroic.

My article last month centered on Indiana’s utility disconnect moratorium and Tipmont’s commitment to help those of you who are struggling with unemployment, reduced hours, or furloughs from the COVID-19 pandemic. The moratorium expiration date was extended to Aug. 14 after the July Indiana Connection deadline and may be extended further if COVID-19 cases continue to increase. 

Last month, I shared that our board of directors decided to postpone the 2020 Annual Meeting, originally scheduled for Saturday, July 25. We’re all hoping that the pandemic continues to ebb, but the safety of each member we serve will always be our primary consideration.

Our Annual Meeting is an event I always look forward to. As you may know, its primary purpose is to elect the board of directors that governs our cooperative. But we also use the opportunity to celebrate the membership that makes Tipmont possible. It’s a privilege to visit with so many of you each year and listen to your feedback on how we’re doing.

I wrote last month about how our delivery of critical infrastructure makes our responsibility more important now than ever. Cooperatives routinely plan for emergency situations, and our emergency plan has served us well in a variety of circumstances — from ice storms to tornadoes. In these unprecedented times, we’ve taken some additional unprecedented steps to make sure our team is in place to power your world.

As I write this, we're in unprecedented and uncertain times. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected so many of our longstanding institutions and disrupted daily life for all of us. In the case of Tipmont and Wintek, our delivery of critical infrastructure makes our responsibility to the communities we serve more important now than ever.

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

The young lady featured on the cover of this month’s magazine was selected for Tipmont’s Youth Tour delegation last summer. The photo was taken at the Newseum, an exhibit that promotes the importance of a free press and the First Amendment. The balcony on the seventh floor looks right down Pennsylvania Avenue at the U.S. Capitol. It’s just one awe-inspiring sight in a week of life-altering experiences that Tipmont is proud to sponsor each year.