Manager’s Message — June 2020

WEC Continues to Respond to COVID-19

During this ongoing health crisis, Wasco Electric Cooperative’s priority continues to be the safety and well-being of its members and employees. Keeping our workforce and key personnel—linemen, servicemen, engineers, and customer service representatives—healthy and available is imperative to provide safe and reliable electric service.

Following the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-at-home order, WEC is doing its part to protect its employees and members from contracting and spreading COVID-19.

We hope that as you read this, we are getting our staff back to the office and field full time. However, whether we are working remotely or rotating staff within the office, we will continue to practice good hygiene by continually washing our hands, covering our cough or sneeze, and practicing social distancing.

We have also asked any employees who are feeling sick or taking care of a sick family member to stay home.

To help in our efforts, in addition to our janitorial service disinfecting our office throughout the business week, employees are strongly encouraged to frequently do the same with their workstations. Outside employees—including line crews, servicemen, and engineers—are also following social distancing measures, including traveling in separate vehicles to job sites. Preferred communication with members and contractors is by email or phone. Any in-person meeting strictly follows social distancing guidelines.

As a safety precaution, we closed our lobby to members, vendors, and public traffic March 23. Although we do not know when we will open to the public, we are still here for members to discuss accounts, make payments, discuss payment arrangements, plan a new service or reconnect a service, among many other services provided.

With our lobby closed, we encourage members to consider different payment options.

WEC understands and recognizes the financial difficulties the current health crisis imposes on members throughout our communities. To help keep the lights on, WEC is doing everything it can to work with you, including making payment arrangements and providing available resources for assistance.

During this time, we have suspended disconnections and late fees. With these adjustments, it is important to remember you are still responsible for paying your electric bill. We strongly encourage you to set up a payment plan to prevent accumulating an unmanageable balance.

If you are looking for ways to help the many members in need, please consider donating to our WECare program. The program helps our members with their electric bills when they encounter financial difficulties. To donate, you can either send in a check, noting “WECare Donation,” or call our customer service representatives and donate with an e-check or debit/credit card. All donations are tax-deductible.

As we navigate these unprecedented times, we want to thank our members for their continued support and patience as we continue to provide safe and reliable electric service.

For more information about the cooperative, visit our website, follow our Facebook page, or call (541) 296-2740.

Jeff Davis
General Manager