October is National Co-op Month, and Dixie Electric along with electric cooperatives across the country are highlighting the many ways we “Power On.”

            Who would have believed before March, that the COVID-19 virus would amount to a test of our community and our nation? The changing circumstances due to the pandemic have created both challenges and opportunities. Over the past several months, we’ve all been challenged to operate differently, and Dixie Electric has stepped up to help our members and expand our services.

            As an essential service, and to ensure the reliability of your power supply, we modified our operations to safeguard business continuity. Our line crews and other employees began working on staggered schedules to maintain separation. In the office, we limited and modified meetings and gatherings to allow for safe separation. We also adjusted our walk-in office availability to ensure the health and safety of our employees and our valued members. These are certainly different ways of doing business, but we want to make every effort to protect the health of our employees and you. 

            In addition, we plan to host our annual meeting virtually this year. Our annual meeting will be held on Saturday, Oct. 24. In-person voting will be available by driving-through at our Laurel office, allowing you to stay in your car and vote. The annual business meeting will be available to view online at dixieepa.com. Online voting and mail-in balloting continue to be great options. Please consider these options to elect members of your board of directors and vote on whether or not to amend our Certificate of Incorporation to offer high speed internet services.

As you may know, Dixie Electric accepted a grant and formed a subsidiary company to offer a small-scale project for high-speed internet services within our service territory. The grant funding, allocated by the state legislature, provided the opportunity for us to offer a pilot project to assess a full-scale deployment for offering high-speed internet across our service area.

Remember to tune into our virtual annual meeting on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. We announce the winners of our prize drawing, the results of the board election and the results of the vote to amend the Certificate of Incorporation. 

In 1938, Dixie Electric was built by the community to serve the community, and that’s what we’ll continue to do – Power On.