This month marks another birthday for Umatilla Electric - 87 this year! The cooperative was formed in June 1937, the exact date depends on who you ask...
Umatilla Electric is having our 87th birthday this month, even if the exact date is open to debate.
- It could be June 16, the day in 1937 when our first board members signed us into existence with our original “Articles of Association.”
- It could be June 18, when they filed the articles with the state of Oregon.
- Or it could be June 19, when UEC held its first official meeting as 1 of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s early wave of rural electric cooperatives.
At any rate, we’re feeling chipper for our age, and still celebrating the milestones along the way.
Last year, we achieved many accomplishments:
- 25,832 phone calls with members
- 7.1 billion kilowatt hours sold
- In 1939, in our first full year of energy sales, we sold a total of 132,000 kilowatt hours, about the same amount that 10 households would use today.
- 491 new services added
- 32.8 miles of overhead line installed
- 31.8 miles of underground line installed
- Nearly 300 miles of vegetation trimmed
- Over 24 million kilowatt hours saved through energy efficiency projects
- Over $400,000 in community donations
- $47,000 given in scholarships
- $14 million given back to our members in Capital Credits
- Our system operations team transitioned to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week operations
- UEC staff worked nearly 460,000 hours without a lost time accident
- We now have over 50 substations and switchyards, and
- 30 new employees were added to the team in 2023
It appears that you, our members, have taken to this electricity thing. Celebrate our birthday with us all month long!