Many people I know are eager to put 2021 behind us. It’s true the year presented many challenges, but I’d rather focus on Kankakee Valley REMC’s accomplishments during 2021. Our board of directors and our employees led our co-op through several long-term improvements that will benefit our member-consumers for many years to come.

For example, we made great strides toward completing our fiber optic ring project as our contractors added more than 53 miles of fiber. When this project is completed in 2022, we’ll have a high-speed communications backbone linking our substations and other infrastructure with our headquarters. Not only will that give us real-time information to enhance reliability, but it will also allow us to take advantage of “smart grid” technology in the future.

Speaking of infrastructure, we completed several projects to help us deliver safe, reliable, and affordable power to you and your neighbors. The most visible of these were upgrades to four of our 10 substations, along with major modernizations to the distribution system that delivers power to your home or business. At the same time, our contract crews were inspecting power poles and rebuilding lines to keep everything in top condition.

Closer to your home, we selected the new generation of electric meters and are planning to install them over the next two years. These new meters will allow us to create ways to give you more control of your energy information and use. We’re also working on an improved customer information system to help us better manage the co-op’s operations and make the best use of the new meter technology.

We’re also looking even further into the future through our support of beneficial electrification, helping people and companies learn about higher-efficiency electrical replacements for devices that would otherwise burn fuels like gasoline and propane. We’ll continue to encourage member-consumers to look for ways to reduce emissions.

Finally, our foundation in the seven cooperative principles includes a commitment to work for the sustainable development of our communities. In 2021, we’ve lived that commitment in a variety of ways. For example, our employees participated in the annual United Way Day of Caring by helping three local non-profit organizations with maintenance so they could focus on serving their clients. Through Operation Round Up, member-consumers, like you, helped us grant $80,000 to local organizations and $8,000 in scholarships to students in our communities. We’ll continue to invest in the well-being of our neighbors throughout 2022.

So let’s look back on 2021 as a year of many accomplishments and set our sights on an even more impressive 2022!