Manager’s Message – March 2025

Advocating for Our Members

Even amid a significant winter storm in mid-February, wildfire risk is a priority for Lane Electric Cooperative. So much so that as the storm approached, I spent 2 days in Salem alongside 1 of your elected board members and representatives of electric cooperatives across the state, educating legislators about the challenges we face from wildfires.

Wildfire wasn’t the only issue we covered. We dedicated significant time and energy to helping legislators understand how the policies made in Salem can prevent us from successfully keeping the lights on during storms like the 1 we saw in February. Policies that challenge our ability to access critical equipment needed to respond to outages or that take decision-making authority away from your elected board of directors can affect the affordability and reliability of your power supply.

Supply chain challenges continue to wreak havoc on our industry, increasing equipment and material prices while delaying delivery timelines by months. These challenges affect Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)—which supplies Lane Electric Cooperative with reliable, cost-competitive, and carbon-free hydroelectricity—as much as they affect us. Because of this, BPA is seeing cost increases of their own. All these increases ultimately get passed on to you, the member-owner. This is something your board takes extremely seriously, and we need legislators in Salem and Washington, D.C., to share that concern.

That said, we at Lane Electric Cooperative are staying focused on our priority— keeping your lights on when it matters most. While important work was being done in Salem, equally important work took place back home to prepare for the first major snowfall of the year in our service territory.

Whether it be the peaceful fall of a picturesque snowstorm—and the potential outages that follow—or the frenetic flurry of legislative issues in Salem, Lane Electric Cooperative is busy protecting our member-owners and guaranteeing their power supply. It is an honor and a privilege to do so.

General Manager Dave Markham