The summer season is upon us. It sure seemed like a long winter this year. Summertime in the Northwoods brings many of our favorite outdoor activities. Whether you’ll be out on the lake, enjoying a cookout with family and friends, or adventuring on the many trails in our area, there is plenty to enjoy. 

Summer is also the season for dangerous storms. As we experienced last year, a derecho, straight-line winds, and even tornados can pop up in our area. These weather events can cause destruction to our electrical system, and I want you to know that Beltrami Electric Cooperative crews are ready to respond should power outages occur in our area. We now have more than 76 percent of our distribution lines underground and our exposure to damage from severe winds is greatly reduced. Our vegetation management program also decreases the chance for service interruptions and provides the proper safety clearances needed for crews working in the right-of-way to perform maintenance or restore power. Keeping your power on is our number two priority behind safety. Despite our best efforts, power outages do occur for a variety of reasons, including strong seasonal storms, trees, squirrels, downed power lines, equipment failure and accidents.

When major storms knock out power, our line crews take all necessary precautions before they get to work on any downed lines. I encourage you to also practice safety and preparedness to protect your family during major storms and outages.

Annual and District Meetings          

This year’s annual meeting will be held Wednesday, August 12 at the Beltrami County Fairgrounds in conjunction with the Beltrami County Fair.  

As part of the election process, we will hold three district meetings in June, at which candidates may be nominated to serve on the board. Seats in District 2, currently served by Charlie Perkins, District 4, currently served by Craig Gaasvig, and District 6, currently served by Rick Coe, are up for election this year. All incumbents have indicated their intent to run for reelection.

Please see the detailed information such as meeting locations, dates and times here. If you are interested in learning more about serving on your cooperative’s board, please feel free to contact me to request a director candidate packet.