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. 

Tipmont’s board of directors held its regular board meeting via teleconference on Tuesday, June 23. All directors were present.

Tipmont’s board of directors held its regular board meeting via teleconference on Tuesday, May 26. All directors were present.

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.

Tipmont’s board of directors held its regular board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28. All directors were present. Also attending were CEO Ron Holcomb and Attorney Jeff Helmerick.

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

Electric vehicles (EVs) have a long and complicated history. The first electric car debuted in the U.S. around 1890. It was a six-passenger vehicle with a top speed of about 14 miles per hour. By the early 20th century, many taxis in New York City were electric. But the high cost of production compared to gasoline-powered cars combined with a lack of electricity outside the cities was too much to overcome. By the mid- 1930s, electric vehicles had mostly vanished.