At Home With CASA
Wireside Chat
In conjunction with our third-annual Safety Day event for Southwestern Electric Cooperative employees and their families, the cooperative was able to raise $3,370 for two Court Appointed Special Advocate organizations that operate in our service area. Tawny Rodriguez, the Bond and Madison County Volunteer Coordinator for CASA of Southwestern Illinois, joined this month's podcast to tell members about CASA, where that money goes and how they can get involved if they're interested in volunteering.
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Meet and Greet
Wireside Chat
A lot about September's 87th Annual Meeting of Members will look the same, but one thing will be different — the person running the show. Manager of Member Services Jennifer Gillan joined Southwestern Electric Cooperative in May, meaning this will be her first annual meeting in charge of the event. Jennifer joined the podcast to discuss her background, her acclimation to the cooperative and what we can expect from the meeting itself.
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Planting the Seeds
Wireside Chat
Electric cooperatives and the Future Farmers of America go hand in hand. Southwestern Electric Cooperative and the Illinois Association FFA are no exception, and the cooperative was recently recognized for 75 years of support for the statewide organization. In this episode, go inside the 97th annual FFA State Convention in Springfield earlier this month and hear from Southwestern CEO Bobby Williams and director Jared Stine about the importance of the cooperative's longstanding dedication to the FFA.
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The Principle of the Matter
Wireside Chat
Cooperatives are guided by a set of seven principles that help shape their actions and policies. In this solo episode of the podcast, host Nathan Grimm details those seven cooperative principles and how they relate to Southwestern Electric and its members.
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Capital Venture
Wireside Chat
For the third consecutive year, Southwestern Electric Cooperative sent a few select high school-aged members to Springfield, Illinois for the Illinois Electric and Telephone Cooperatives Youth Day. Southwestern Executive Assistant Brooke Scott served as the chaperone for the trip this year, and she joined the podcast to discuss the experience.
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Help After Helene
Wireside Chat
On September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Gulf Coast and quickly made its way across the Southeastern United States. In total, seven states felt the effects of Helene and another 17 states provided mutual assistance to those affected. Among those affected was Satilla Rural Electric Membership Corporation, an Alma, Georgia-based electric cooperative that's one of the biggest east of the Mississippi River. Satilla manages more than 7,000 miles of power lines in serving more than 59,000 members across nine Georgia counties. And in Helene's wake, nearly all of those 59,000...
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Speaking of SmartHub
Wireside Chat
In March, Southwestern Electric will switch over its software platform provider, a change that means members will have a new account management system as well. Vice President of Information Technology Glenn Williams joins this month's episode to talk about the system, SmartHub, and what members can expect with regards to the change.
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Regulation and Reliability
Wireside Chat
As a new presidential administration prepares to take office, the electric cooperative industry is focused on how the new regime might approach the burdensome regulations that are poised to threaten reliability as early as this winter. Host Nathan Grimm discusses both the national concern about reliability and how even locally leaders are expressing worry about the future. The letter from NRECA CEO Jim Matheson to President-Elect Donald Trump's Transition Team .
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Giving Thanks in 2024
Wireside Chat
In what's becoming an annual podcast tradition, Southwestern Electric employees give reasons why they're thankful in 2024.
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Lineworkers' Safety Rodeo 2024
Wireside Chat
Every year, the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC) puts on a Lineworkers' Safety Rodeo for lineworkers to get together, share trade secrets and compete — safely, as the name suggests — in a variety of events. Hear from CEO Bobby Williams and the team of linemen that represented Southwestern Electric in this month's episode.
info_outlineWhen an outage occurs, it takes a village — our Southwestern Electric village, specifically — to get your lights back on. Southwestern Chief Operating Officer Marvin Ayala joins the podcast to detail all the moving parts that set in motion when an outage strikes, and how each of them contributes to the larger goal of restoring power as quick and safely as possible.