CEO’s Message – June 2026

Ready to respond

Each year, we recognize our lineworkers for the work they do. Their jobs come with the most risk of any here at Wiregrass Electric Cooperative, but we understand it takes all of our employees to serve our members.

So, when we host a luncheon to mark Lineman Appreciation Day in April, we include all of our employees.

But with the 2026 hurricane season starting June 1, it seems appropriate to talk about how much we appreciate the folks who work here — the lineworkers, member services people, the accountants and billing personnel, human resources, the engineers, communications and dispatch, the information technology experts and the warehouse crews. Just one storm, after all, will mean all hands on deck.

Wiregrass Electric Cooperative is an at-cost provider. We exist because of our members, and we don’t take that for granted.

It takes every employee to ensure this cooperative works and the lights stay on for our members. I’m proud of our employees. They are some of the most dedicated, well-trained and talented individuals you can find anywhere.

We have storms year-round, but each year the Atlantic hurricane season is a time when we have to be particularly vigilant. The Wiregrass may not be on the coast, but we’re close enough to know how far inland a hurricane’s path can devastate people’s lives and the infrastructure that powers those lives.

And your cooperative is ready to respond.

Our lineworkers participate in regular safety meetings to ensure they not only respond as quickly as possible when there is an outage, but also as safely as possible. We monitor our system 24/7. In the weeks before hurricane season is upon us, we review our emergency response plans and update any contact numbers we may need. We work closely with local agencies when there is the potential for a tropical storm to threaten our area. And we have a network of electrical cooperative partners across the Southeast and the country ready to help if the need arises, just as we are ready to help them.

It’s been nearly eight years since the last major storm impacted the Wiregrass. Hurricane Michael made landfall as a Category 5 storm on Oct. 10, 2018. It was such a powerful storm we didn’t have to be in the eye’s direct path to feel the impacts — trees, utility poles and power lines down, homes and businesses damaged and outages that lasted days to weeks depending on your location in the storm’s trajectory.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy reports, there were 1.7 million electrical outages across six states due to Hurricane Michael. The cooperative had up to 16,000 outages at the height of the storm’s impact eight years ago. Keep in mind that today Wiregrass Electric serves around 27,000 meters for nearly 20,000 members.

We don’t want a storm, but we’re not afraid to respond to one when the time comes. We want our members to be ready as well. Take time to prepare when a hurricane becomes a threat. Make sure your family is ready to either evacuate or batten down the hatches to protect yourselves and your property.

If you experience an outage for any reason, report it by calling 888-4-MY-OUTAGE or 888-469-6882. Outages are recorded automatically based on the registered phone number at your location.

Wiregrass Electric Cooperative will be here, and we will respond as quickly as possible with the safety of our lineworkers and our members at the forefront. If we take a hit, we might need your patience and little bit of grace.

But we know the risk this time of year, and we’re ready.