Category: News

Claiborne Electric Lineman Ryan Beach completed module IV of the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives’ (ALEC) Lineman Training School, which brings to completion his four-year line worker training.

This school is held in Baton Rouge at ALEC’s office. The complete program consists of four modules, with participants completing one module per year. The program requires more than 150 training hours of classroom instruction, independent study, and hands-on education.

Module IV includes advanced education and training in Level 4 Safety, Communication Systems, Special Elements 2, Vegetation Management, System Operation, System Automation, Overhead Line Design, Underground Line Design, Trouble Investigation, and Crew Leadership.

We congratulate Ryan on four years of dedication and hard work in completing this rigorous educational program in order to serve Claiborne Electric’s members.

In response to the growing threat of phishing attacks targeting services that accept online payments, including the electric utility industry, Claiborne Electric’s software developer is taking proactive steps to enhance the security of its SmartHub billing and payment system.

SmartHub has implemented optional two-factor authentication as an added layer of protection for your account.

Nationwide, the number of recent phishing scams are increasing at a concerning rate. Phishing attacks are a common tactic used by cybercriminals to trick account holders into revealing personal information. These attacks often involve fraudulent emails or text messages that appear to be from a legitimate organization, luring account holders to click on a malicious link or provide sensitive information.

Safeguarding account information is important, and we are committed to providing a secure online experience. Implementing two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to help prevent unauthorized access to your SmartHub account.

With two-factor authentication, members must provide two forms of identification before gaining access to accounts. This typically involves entering a username and passcode, then entering a unique, single-use code sent to a mobile device or email address. Many industries require two-factor authentication, including banks, credit card companies, email platforms, and retails establishments. This added security measure makes it significantly more difficult for cybercriminals to compromise accounts.

While this added security measure is optional, we encourage all members to enroll in two-factor authentication to further protect accounts from unauthorized access. This will allow us to increase our commitment to protecting your account while giving you the trusted confidence of secure transactions.

Find more information about SmartHub.

Members with questions or concerns about the addition of two-factor authentication are encouraged to contact a Member Services Representative by calling the Homer (318-927-3504) or Farmerville (318-368-3011) office.

In May, Capital One finalized its acquisition of Discover Financial Services. As with any commercial merger, some changes were inevitable.

Claiborne Electric was recently made aware that Capital One is transitioning current cardholders from Visa or MasterCard to its new Discover brand. When we received this information, Claiborne Electric was not able to accept Discover cards for payment. We recognized this created an inconvenience for many of our members who routinely pay with a credit card in person, online, or through our SmartHub app.

Our office staff immediately began working diligently to add Discover cards as an accepted form of payment. We understood the importance of this issue, and were able to expedite the process. We are glad to let our members know we have finalized that process and can now accept Discover card payments. Members can now pay with Discover in person, online, or through our SmartHub app. We are glad to offer this new option to our members.

We appreciate our members for their patience and support as we worked as quickly as possible to add Discover cards as a payment option.

In May, Capital One finalized its acquisition of Discover Financial Services. As with any commercial merger, some changes were inevitable. Claiborne Electric has been made aware that Capital One is now transitioning its current cardholders from Visa or MasterCard to its new Discover brand. Unfortunately, Claiborne Electric does not currently accept Discover cards. We recognize this has created an inconvenience for many of our members who routinely pay with a credit card in person, online, or through our SmartHub app.

Our office staff is working diligently to add Discover cards as an accepted form of payment. We understand the importance of this need, and we are doing everything we can to expedite the process. We appreciate your patience and support as we work as quickly as possible to add Discover cards as a payment option.

Beginning October 1, Claiborne Electric’s offices will be open weekdays from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., with offices closing from noon until 1 p.m. for lunch.

This change will bring consistency to office hours in both the Homer and Farmerville locations. It will allow our employees to have a consistent lunch break schedule and will streamline our end-of-day processes for Member Service Representatives and other employees in our Billing Department. We appreciate our members’ patience in adjusting to this change.

At the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives (ALEC) Annual Awards Banquet, held in late July 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.

Pictured: General Manager and CEO Michael Marcotte accepted the award on behalf of Claiborne Electric’s employees from ALEC safety trainer Mike Bergeaux.

Claiborne Electric is currently conducting a major service upgrade project for members in northeast Bienville Parish.   

Crews are working to replace equipment that has reached the end of its useful life due to time and age. This initial 4-mile project will replace all poles, wire, and insulators for members near Driskill Mountain.

As part of this first project: more than 80 poles will be changed and replaced with larger class poles and all wire is being changed to new, larger sized wire. This complete upgrade will result in a system that is better strengthened against harsh weather conditions. The project will also provide increased load capacity for these members. The total result will be increased reliability and better service.

“The equipment being replaced has reached the end of its lifespan,” said Claiborne Electric General Manager and CEO Michael Marcotte. “This equipment is outside in the elements and is constantly subjected to Louisiana weather conditions. This upgrade project will mean better, more reliable service for our members in the area, and that is always our goal.” 

Contract crews will be working for several more weeks on the project, which is expected to be complete this fall.  

Claiborne Electric Cooperative has begun construction of a major reliability improvement project to re-clear the existing rights-of-way and rebuild the existing primary lines and poles in Farmerville’s James Avenue area.

This dedicated effort will reduce outages and enhance the reliability of electric service for members throughout the James Addition.

Construction began on Monday, July 14, 2025, and is expected to be completed by Friday, August 29, 2025.  Work will take place weekdays (Monday – Thursday) from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM along James Avenue including the adjacent side streets.

During the construction period, members may experience temporary planned outages. Advance notices will be provided three days before each outage. Traffic around the work zone may involve lane closures and daytime noise from heavy equipment should be expected. We recommend that members charge essential devices before scheduled outages, follow posted detour signs, reduce speed in work zones, and contact our member services team with any outage-related questions.

We appreciate your patience and support as Claiborne works to ensure the most reliable electric service possible.

In mid-August, Claiborne Electric will begin using a new telephone system.

After the new system is implemented, members who call the office will choose from a menu of options, which will help direct calls to the appropriate place. Members will still be able to speak with a live Member Services Representative in a local office by pressing the “0” key on their phone.

One major change within the new telephone system is that MSRs will no longer be able to take payments by telephone. Members may make payments by telephone through an automated payment system by pressing “1” in the new telephone menu. Members will enter a Claiborne Electric account number and follow the automated prompts to make a payment in the new phone system. The new system protects personal and financial information.

As always, members may still make payments using a wide variety of methods, including in-person, by mail, through our free SmartHub app, online at www.our.coop, by automatic bank draft, or through payment systems at locations such as Wal-Mart, CVS, Dollar General, and Family Dollar. Payment options can be reviewed here.

Members may also report an outage by pressing “2” in the new system. This will allow members to report the outage directly to the dispatch center’s outage system.

Since January, we have been discussing resiliency and storm recovery planning through the use of an Emergency Reserve Fund, which will go into effect in the coming weeks.

As residents of north Louisiana, we all understand the year-round threat of extreme, damaging storms. Tornadoes, straight-line winds, tropical storms, ice storms, and even the occasional hurricane can cause millions of dollars in damage in a single day. As much as we wish we could control the weather and keep storms at bay, we know future harmful storms are inevitable.

In August of 2020, Hurricane Laura arrived in our service area as a category 1 hurricane and caused nearly $5.4 million in damage. We borrowed money to pay for that damage to our system, and we paid more than $237,000 in interest on that borrowed money.

Part of operating under the cooperative business model is that Claiborne Electric is not-for-profit. We only collect what is necessary to run the Co-op. We don’t have investors or shareholders; we are completely owned by and obligated to the members we serve. Each member pays their share of purchased power, along with the cost of operating and maintaining the Co-op each month.

When we borrow money after the fact to pay for storm recovery, there is a significant interest component in repaying those loans. That interest, like all costs of the Co-op, is eventually paid by every member along Claiborne Electric’s lines. Those costs end up in the rate you pay for electricity. Building an Emergency Reserve Fund will eliminate these interest charges and significantly reduce or eliminate our reliance on borrowed funds for storm recovery efforts.

In the next few weeks, members will see a line item on bills for this fund. The line item will be listed as Emergency Reserve Fund. For all residential accounts, members will contribute $2.50 per month. Small General Service accounts will contribute $5.00 per month, and Large General Service accounts will contribute $50.00 per month. The fund is not set up to be a permanent charge. The fund is set up to build slowly for 42 months, or until it reaches $3 million.

The current fund balance, along with any use of the funds from the previous year, will be stated in the Annual Report, which is distributed to members at the Annual Membership Meeting and made available on the Co-op’s website.

An Emergency Reserve Fund is an efficient way for members to jointly contribute to a fund that will provide a source of emergency funding when a storm happens. Ultimately, this fund will save members money and keep rates low by eliminating borrowed money and the interest associated with storm loans.

Planning for storms in advance and having a resiliency plan in place makes the Cooperative stronger and more prepared when inevitable storms occur. We believe this fund will help us responsibly deliver the best possible service to you, our members.