Operations - Who We Are

Mike Eastridge
Vice President of Operations

We are located in one of the fastest growing regions in the state, and Warren RECC's growth rate is one of the fastest in the area. Our customer base increases approximately 1,700 members a year, resulting in growing pains that must be addressed. Substation sizes must be increased and lines must be upgraded to handle the additional load as well as the increasing number of line extensions to serve new members. This rapid growth, plus our continuing efforts to rebuild and upgrade our existing facilities, is definitely a challenge - a challenge our engineering staff and construction crews have become accustomed to. They continue to raise the bar by exceeding our own expectations.

Your cooperative serves all or portions of eight Kentucky counties, and has four district offices. Warren RECC owns and operates 34 substations and maintains over 5,000 miles of line. You can contact me at 270-842-5214, extension 2265, or email me at meastridge@wrecc.com.

Our office maintains 14 substations, 1,848 miles of line and serves 25,952 members.

Rapid growth in the Bowling Green area has fueled a need to upgrade lines in several areas. Larger conductors will be installed to handle the load in the Dillard and Pondsville communities. This will necessitate replacement of approximately 30 to 40 poles in each location. Larger conductors will also be installed in the South Industrial Park area.

Our office maintains seven substations, 1,425 miles of line and serves 13,661 members.

We will continue with pole changes across our system to improve the physical condition of our main and secondary lines. In the Hilton Mill Road and Noah Stevenson Road areas, we plan a three-phase line extension to better balance the load. This course of action will also limit the amount of exposure to outages. For better reliability, our action plan also includes installation of tap line fuses in the Bee Spring and Sweeden areas.

Our office maintains six substations, 1,078 miles of line and serves 8,563 members.

We now have a new payment center in Ohio County, located at the Main Street Market in Beaver Dam. Our crews and contractors will continue work in the Rosine substation area on line maintenance projects. Our contractors have cleared 112 miles of right-of-way in the Butler County area and 163 miles in Ohio County. We have also installed wildlife protection in the Morgantown and Aberdeen substations.  

Our office maintains five substations, 902 miles of line and serves 7,208 members.

Due to increased load, we have upgraded the transformer and regulators at the Franklin substation, and the regulators at the Salmons substation.  In addition to routine work, crews have been changing poles in Logan and South Warren counties, maintaining breakers in Logan, Simpson, and South Warren counties, and relocating lines near I-65 in Simpson County. In addition, line fuses are being installed in Logan County for improved reliability.

Operational Services
and Meter Reading

Do you ever get tired of having to stop at a gas station to fill up, or taking your vehicle in for maintenance, or worse yet, paying for costly repairs for an unanticipated breakdown?

Although on a much larger scale, these are the same problems we at Warren RECC encounter on a daily basis. Our fleet maintenance division is responsible for over 100 vehicles. Collectively, these vehicles are driven approximately 1.6 million miles each year. We strive constantly to find ways to reduce fleet costs, as well as improve reliability. Here are some of the things we are doing:

• Adding a fleet maintence software package to improve tracking of repairs and required maintenance.
• Increasing our time and mileage intervals on oil changes.
• Investigating the use of bio-diesel and hybrid vehicles.

For outage problems, call (270) 843-9710 or outside of Bowling Green call (888) 604-4321.

In an effort to provide reliable service to our members and to ensure the safety of our facilities, it is imperative that we maintain our utility right-of-way. Our goal is to clear approximately 1,200 miles of right-of-way each year. This includes trimming or removing trees in and around our power lines. By doing this, we lessen the cause of blinks and outages.

We utilize contractors chosen through a bid process. In June 2006, A&G Contracting crews will be clearing right-of-way in the Rockfield area. During the months of August and September, they will continue their work in the Morgantown Road and Hadley areas.

Two weeks before we start a project, our Telelink telephone service will notify members in that particular area. If we are unable to make contact by telephone, they will be notified by postcard. Members in Warren County may call our Telelink number at 842-3234 to update their telephone number, or 1 -866-319-3234 (toll-free outside of Warren County.

Terry Price
Superintendent   

If you have any questions or concerns, please call me at
(270) 842-5214, extension 1106.

Safety Mission Statement: To promote a high level of safety awareness among employees and ensure compliance of federal, state, and local regulations.

Warren RECC has implemented a comprehensive program of work practices - uniform work rule infraction penalties, rewards program, work practice auditing, and employee training - designed to attain the main goal of total safety culture. Warren RECC has established a set of work procedures that are regularly reviewed which identify general work processes, allowing the most efficient and safe working environment for employees, the public, property, and equipment.

By July 2006, the Warren RECC Safety Team plans to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for all our offices. During the next few months, the Safety Team will be conducting facility and vehicle safety audits at all Warren RECC offices.

Kevin Shaw

Manager

The employees of Grayson County Water District have always risen to the task of taking care of business in an extremely professional manner. In the past few months, we have been recognized on four different occasions for these efforts. You could say we are the winners of the triple crown of awards in the water world.

As our first award, we received the Wooden Bucket award by the Kentucky Rural Water Association for outstanding system operations statewide. This award is presented annually to one water or wastewater system for excellence in system-wide operations.

The second award, from the Central Kentucky Water & Wastewater Operators Association, is for Outstanding Water Plant of the Year in the Central Chapter. The association consists of four chapters. Each chapter chooses an annual winner which is then submitted to the state association. From those four nominations, one is chosen as the plant of the year.

The third award was as the Outstanding Water Plant of the Year from the Kentucky Water & Wastewater Operators Association.

Last, but not least is the fourth award for second place in the Best Tasting Water in Kentucky contest. The winners of this award are chosen at an annual management conference of the Kentucky Rural Water Association. It is a real honor to be chosen by a panel of judges in a blind taste test as a top contender.