At the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperative’s (ALEC) Annual Awards Banquet, held July 22 in Baton Rouge, Claiborne Electric custodian Glenn Stewart was honored with the 2024 Color For Safety Award.

Each year, electric cooperative employees across the state are allowed to decorate their glove bag or have a loved one decorate it. This program is intended to help employees remember to work safely and go home to their families each night.

Stewart had his bag decorated in memory of his late nephew, Shayne Williams. Williams was a lineman for Echo Powerline. Stewart’s glove bag depicted Williams in his bucket truck.

At the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperative’s (ALEC) Annual Awards Banquet, held July 22 in Baton Rouge, Claiborne Electric and its employees were honored with a safety award.

Claiborne Electric employees were presented a plaque for working more than 691,000 work-hours without a lost-time accident. General Manager and CEO Michael Marcotte (pictured, center) accepted the award from ALEC safety employees Ricky Melancon (left) and Derek Seal (right).

Three Claiborne Electric linemen recently completed a portion of the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives (ALEC) Lineman Training Program.

Clay Salley, Charles Yokum, and Matthew Cathey (pictured below) finished Module One of the curriculum. ALEC’s Lineman Training Program is a four-year curriculum created to equip linemen for a career in utility line operations. The on-the-job course includes classroom and hands-on instruction. Module One includes education and training in power delivery, electrical systems, electrical theory, transformers, OSHA, applied mathematics, working in elevated positions, safety, first aid, and working with knots, splices, and rope.

Salley, Yokum, and Cathey are all previous graduates of Texas State Technical College’s Electrical Lineworker & Management Technology program.

Several employees also recently completed ALEC’s OSHA Accident Investigation and Record Keeping course. Grub Faulk, Daniel Kimbell, Penny Ferguson, Rocky Lachney, and Caleb Temple completed this course, which is specifically for employees with direct safety responsibilities.

Continuous education and training is a fulfillment of the fifth Cooperative Principle: Education, Training, and Information. Claiborne Electric believes continuing education is critical in every department for the cooperative to run at the most efficient level of business.

At the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperative’s (ALEC) Annual Awards Banquet, held July 22 in Baton Rouge, Claiborne Electric Office Manager Candy Hardy was awarded the 2024 Kevin Reeves Cooperative Spirit Award.

Each year, ALEC and the Louisiana Member Services Association (LMSA) present this award to an individual cooperative employee for involvement in community service. Each electric cooperative in the state holding a membership in ALEC can nominate one employee for this award. Nominee applications are scored based on the employee’s community service involvement, community impact, and time involvement.

As a Court Appointed Special Advocate, Candy works directly with children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect. Advocates work as volunteers to make sure the best interest of the child is represented in court and in the home the child is placed in, whether it be a foster home or a relative’s home.

Candy has served as a Advocate since 2019. Duties as an Advocate include monthly visits with the children assigned, with each visit lasting approximately one hour. She participates in all DCFS calls and meetings which pertain to her assigned children. She attends all court proceedings for her assigned cases and prepares a court report for the judge prior to all court hearings. For each child assigned, she logs all contact with the child, parents, DCFS, and the home where the child is placed. Each six months, Candy conducts a wellbeing assessment for each child, monitoring the progress of the child’s family, health, and education.

Candy currently has three assigned cases. Most cases have multiple siblings, so she routinely has several children assigned to her. She does this work on a completely voluntary basis, in addition to her full-time career as Office Manager at Claiborne Electric Cooperative. She said several years ago, she was given a CASA pamphlet that she put in her office drawer. Every time she opened the drawer, she saw the pamphlet and feel an urgency to get involved. After three years of looking at the pamphlet, she made the call to start her training and become an Advocate. Today, she urges others to get involved. She said the program has an enormous need for more volunteers to be come Advocates.

As the winner of the 2024 Kevin Reeves Cooperative Spirit Award, Candy received a plaque, a $100 award, and a $200 donation to CASA made in her name.

Claiborne Electric’s newly hired General Manager & CEO Michael Marcotte officially joined the Co-op on May 1.

Marcotte comes to Claiborne Electric from central Louisiana with more than 30 years of experience in the electrical utility industry. Most recently, he spent nearly 15 years as Director of Utilities for the City of Alexandria, the second largest municipal electric utility in the state. In that role, Marcotte managed all business units of the city’s Utility Division, which included electric transmission and distribution systems, a natural gas utility, water and wastewater systems, and a stand-alone broadband system.

In Alexandria, Marcotte oversaw more than 200 employees and managed an annual operating budget of $105 million. Within the city’s electric utility, he was responsible for nearly 33,000 meters across the 198 MW system. During his time at the city, he led several system-wide initiatives to improve electric system reliability and customer service.

Since joining Claiborne Electric, Marcotte has graduated from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s (NRECA) New Manager Training program. He has also spent time training with the Co-op’s management team and Board of Directors.

“I’ve spent most of my career in the private sector, but I’ve always admired how electric cooperatives operate,” Marcotte said. “I’m excited to join the Claiborne Electric team, and I’m eager to lead the Co-op, its employees, and the membership through many years to come.”

Marcotte and his wife, Stephanie, are both graduates of Louisiana Tech University’s College of Engineering. They have three children: Douglas, Abigail and Lillian. Douglas and Abigail are also graduates of Louisiana Tech’s College of Engineering. Marcotte is involved in various civic organizations, and in his free time, he enjoys refereeing youth and high school soccer.

Claiborne Electric members will notice a significant change in the way electric bills look beginning in mid-July.

Printed electric bills are changing to a new, modern bill format. For several months, the Co-op’s billing management team has worked to come up with a format that is packed with important information, while simultaneously being easy to read. The guide below will help members get acquainted with the new format.

Members who have questions about the new bill can call 318-927-3504 (Homer) or 318-368-3011 (Farmerville) and a Member Service Representative will be glad to help!

How to read the new bill:

Follow the numbers below as a guide to reading the new billing format.

1. Amount due on account.

2. Account number. Please refer to this number when calling in or making payments.

3. Billing Summary shows activity since last billing.

4. Message Center for important messages from Claiborne Electric.

5. Meter location and meter reading information.

6. By following the graph key, members can see monthly usage along with monthly high and low temperature information. Members can compare usage with the previous year.

7. Current detail of charges for electric use.

8. Account number and amount due. Return the stub with check or cash payment.

9. Payment options

If any personal information is incorrect on the front side of the bill, there is space on the reverse side to make corrections.