Category: News

Nominations are currently open for directors in three of Claiborne Electric’s districts.

Members in Districts Two, Four, and Five may nominate a member from that district to stand for election at the 2025 Annual Meeting. Nominations will be open for the entire month of January. Nominations must be submitted by close-of-business on Friday, January 31.

Willie Sensley, Jr. of Farmerville currently represents District 2.

Leroy Perritt of Arcadia currently represents District 4.

Ben Abshire of Homer currently represents District 5.

Article IV, section 4 of Claiborne Electric’s bylaws reads as follows:

“Nomination

Any three (3) members of record living within a district and acting together, may make a nomination for the Director from that district in writing during the month of January. Nominations will be due by close of business on the last business day of January. The Secretary shall post such nominations at the principal office of the Cooperative in both Union and Claiborne Parishes. If only one nomination is submitted, the Board of Directors will declare the nominated candidate as the winner and shall not hold an election for that district. If no nominations are submitted, the seat will be considered a vacancy and will be handled according to Article IV, Section 6 of these bylaws.”

For specific information on districts or election rules, please reference Claiborne Electric’s bylaws. Bylaws pertaining to districts and director elections can be found in Article IV of the bylaws. A complete district map and district descriptions can be found here.

Claiborne Electric Cooperative will award twenty $2,000 scholarships during a drawing this spring. This drawing for college scholarships is open to high school seniors who are Claiborne Electric members or whose parents or guardians are members of Claiborne Electric.

Scholarship entries are due by Friday, April 4, 2025. Winners will be drawn at random, contacted individually, and announced on Claiborne Electric’s website and digital platforms.

Entrants simply need to complete an entry form. Entries may be scanned and emailed to emmalee@our.coop, mailed to P.O. Box 719, Homer, LA 71040, or dropped off at either office. Only one entry per student is permitted.

To be eligible for a scholarship, a student must meet the following terms and qualifications:

• Only high school seniors who have been Claiborne Electric members for at least one year, or students whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) are active members, will be eligible. Students must have been residing in the household with the member for at least one year at the time of the drawing to be eligible.
• The scholarships are only good for institutions of higher education in the state of Louisiana.
• Scholarship checks will be made out directly to the school and must be used within two years after being awarded for tuition, books, or room and board.
• Recipients will be eligible only once for the scholarship drawing.

Entries should be received at Claiborne Electric by Friday, April 4, 2025, to provide sufficient time for verification of eligibility.

Entering a new year is the perfect time to cut out mailbox clutter, and Claiborne Electric’s paperless option is a great way to get organized and reduce waste.

Claiborne Electric members can easily switch to paperless billing in the SmartHub app. Members can simply click “Settings”, then select “Paperless Billing”, and turn on paperless billing. SmartHub can be downloaded for free on any Apple or Android smart device.

Members who don’t use the SmartHub app and would like to switch to paperless billing can contact our office by telephone. A Members Services Representative will be glad to assist members.

Homer office: (318) 927-3504

Farmerville office: (318) 368-3011

The telephone number Claiborne Electric members call to make payments has changed. The new payment phone number is 855-937-1782. We are asking members who pay by phone to save this number. Members who use the previous payment number will receive a message with instructions to call the new number. The new payment system is easier to use, and we are proud to offer this service to our members.

Back-to-back hurricanes resulted in multiple Claiborne Electric crews responding to recent calls for mutual aid on the state and national level.

In mid-September, six Claiborne Electric employees headed to assist South Louisiana Electric Cooperative (SLECA) in Houma with restoration efforts after Hurricane Francine made landfall in their service territory, resulting in nearly 100% of SLECA’s members being without power. Foreman Rocky Lachney, Lineman Jeffrey Langford, Lineman Ryan Beach, Lineman Josh Dupree, Lineman Andy Mills, and Right-of-Way Specialist Chris Snell responded to help restore electricity for SLECA members.

In late September, six Claiborne Electric linemen headed to Quincy, Florida ahead of Hurricane Helene’s landfall to assist Talquin Electric Cooperative with restoration efforts after the hurricane. Talquin Electric Cooperative serves approximately 57,000 meters spanning from Florida’s Gulf coast to the Florida-Georgia state line, including portions of Tallahassee and the surrounding areas. Crew Leader Blake Robertson, Lineman Buddy Chandler, Lineman Dillon Walton, Lineman Clay Salley, Lineman Chuck Yocom, and Lineman Paco Allen responded to help restore electricity for Talquin Electric Cooperative members.

On October 11, six Claiborne Electric employees traveled to Florida to help restore power in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton. Our crews assisted Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative with restoration efforts. Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative’s service area is north of Tampa, and they had more than 32,000 members without power. Foreman and Crew Leader Rocky Lachney, Lineman Matthew Cathey, Lineman Chuck Yocom, Lineman Bradley Patrick, Right-of-Way Specialist Sam Hughes, and Lineman Josh McLeod helped with this restoration effort.

Hurricane Francine Crew (pictured above): Chris Snell, Josh Dupree, Rocky Lachney, Andy Mills, Ryan Beach, Jeffrey Langford

Hurricane Helene Crew (pictured above): Buddy Chandler, Dillon Walton, Blake Robertson, Clay Salley, Chuck Yocom, and Paco Allen

Hurricane Helene Crew (pictured above): Buddy Chandler, Dillon Walton, Blake Robertson, Clay Salley, Chuck Yocom, and Paco Allen

On October 11, Claiborne Electric Lineman Ryan Beach completed module III of the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives’ Lineman Training School.

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 III includes training in advanced safety practices, metering, system power flow, advanced transformers, maps and standards, system protection, National Electrical Safety Code, advanced OSHA training, and a course on special elements.

In early October, Operations and Maintenance Managers Grub Faulk and Daniel Kimbell, along with Foremen Caleb Temple and Rocky Lachney, attended the Eaton Voltage Regulator School in Houston, TX.

The three-day school included classroom and hands-on instruction and testing. Topics covered included internal and external features, regulator theory and application, safe bypassing, controls and features, software, retrofits, tap changer maintenance, troubleshooting, and schematics.

Left to right: Foreman Rocky Lachney, Operations and Maintenance Manager Grub Faulk, Operations and Maintenance Manager Daniel Kimbell, and Foreman Caleb Temple participate in a hands-on class during the recent Eaton Voltage Regulator School.

In early January 2024, Claiborne Electric notified members of an increased cost from the Cooperative’s wholesale power provider, which was related to critically low water levels along the Mississippi River.

This dramatically increased shipping costs for coal, resulting in a force majeure event beyond Claiborne Electric’s control, and the Power Cost Adjustment factor used to calculate member bills was increased to cover the charges. As a good faith effort to lessen the burden on member bills, these increased charges, while paid in full at the time by the Cooperative, where spread over months to Cooperative members.

Claiborne Electric is pleased to announce that the force majeure costs have now been fully recovered! Members will see lower power costs through a lower Power Cost Adjustment factor on current and future months’ bills.

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

DISASTER RECOVERY PROGRAM MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT SERVICES

Claiborne Electric Cooperative, Inc. (“Claiborne”) is soliciting proposals from experienced firms or professionals to provide Disaster Recovery Program Management Consultant Services in the event of named disasters affecting its service area and Claiborne Electric’s management declaring additional administrative assistance is needed.

The initial term of the contract resulting from this RFQ will be for a period of one year with the option of renewal for two additional, one-year terms. The contracted company will support Claiborne with disaster recovery efforts upon the execution of a contract task order issued in response to a declared disaster.

At its option, Claiborne may also utilize the successful respondent to manage various applications for Federal and State grant opportunities as they may arise from time to time.

A Request for Proposal can be obtained by:

• clicking here
• calling CFO Kathy Tanner at (318) 927-3504
• emailing kathy@our.coop
• downloading the RFQ package from Central Bidding, https://www.centralbidding.com

The deadline for submission of proposals is October 11, 2024.

Women- and Minority-Owned Businesses and labor surplus area firms are highly encouraged to submit a proposal in response to this RFQ.

Questions and responses related to CEC’s RFQ:

1) May proposers submit bids to Claiborne Electric’s physical address at 12525 Hwy. 9, Homer, LA 71040 with Attention directed to Kathy Tanner?

Answer: Yes, bids can be submitted to our physical address, but allow extra time for delivery.

2) Is there an incumbent? If so, who?

Answer: Yes, there is an incumbent, but we are not disclosing that information at this time.