The Great Lakes Energy People Fund is accepting grant applications from non-profit organizations throughout its local service area. The upcoming grant application deadline is June 1. 

The People Fund is supported solely by Great Lakes Energy members who allow their electric cooperative to round up their bill each month to the next dollar. Since 1999 more than $2.2 million in grants have been awarded to charitable and community organizations throughout Great Lakes Energy’s 26-county service area, which stretches from Kalamazoo to the Mackinac Straits. 

“The People Fund is made possible by the generosity of our members who contribute a few cents each month by rounding-up their bill,” says President/CEO Steve Boeckman. “We encourage non-profit community organizations to apply so that the funds can be put to good use in our local service area.” 

Non-profit organizations can request a grant application through the People Fund by calling Great Lakes Energy, 1-888-485-2537, ext. 1313. Organizations that are unable to apply by June 1 will have another opportunity to submit an application this fall.

April 26, 2012

Great Lakes Energy will have a booth at the West Michigan Home & Garden Show this weekend. The event will be held at the Mason County Fairgrounds Friday, April 27-Sunday, April 29. Stop by the GLE booth to ride the energy bike and find out more about our products and services.

Nominating petitions are available for Great Lakes Energy members who would like to seek election to the cooperative’s board of directors. 

Four board positions, all for three years, will need to be filled. The terms of directors Paul Byl of Shelby, Mark Carson of Boyne City, Dale Farrier of Kalkaska and Robert Kran of Free Soil expire this year. 

Members will receive their mail-in ballots in the July/August 2012 issue of Michigan Country Lines. Winners will be announced Aug. 22 at the GLE annual business meeting. 

To get their names on the ballot, qualifying member-owners of the electric cooperative who maintain a primary residence within its service area must file a nominating petition with the co-op secretary. 

Petitions must be signed by at least 50 active GLE members. Cosigners of a joint membership count as one signature. For the signature to be valid, complete information about the member must be provided. The cooperative will verify the member information. Incomplete petitions will not be counted. All petitions must be signed no more than 90 days prior to submission to the cooperative.

Petition circulators are advised, but not required, to collect well over 50 signatures because some may not be valid.   

Signed petitions returned by mail or in person must be received in the co-op’s Boyne City office no earlier than Thursday, May 24, 2012, and no later than Friday, June 8, 2012. 

Petitions can be mailed to: Secretary of the Cooperative, Great Lakes Energy, P.O. Box 70,  Boyne City, MI 49712. They also can be dropped off at the Boyne City office during normal business hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Petition forms are available by contacting 888-485-2537, ext. 1331.

March 9, 2012

See the news story on our restoration efforts from the March 8, 2012 evening news on TV 7&4.

March 8, 2012

4:30 p.m.

An estimated 557 Great Lakes Energy members remain without power late this afternoon. Power has already been restored to an estimated 62,240 members since the storm that dumped wet, heavy snow hit Friday night. 

Most of the outages are in parts of Crawford (328 out) and Oscoda (119) counties.  The total also includes members affected by more recent outages that occurred within the last two days. 

GLE officials hope to get remaining members back on today, although there may be a few scattered individual outages that crews will not get back on until Friday.  Members without power by 9 p.m. Thursday may not have power tonight and may wish to make emergency arrangements for the evening. 

Current outage information by counties and townships that is updated every 15 minutes can be viewed on the Great Lakes Energy website, www.gtlakes.com, by clicking on Storm Central. 

Great Lakes Energy members are reminded to stay away from downed power lines for their safety and protection. 

Great Lakes Energy members can report their outage by using the electric cooperative’s automated, toll-free outage number:  1-800-678-0411.

March 7, 2012

11:30 a.m.

An estimated 3,892 Great Lakes Energy members remain without power late this morning after massive power line damage due to the storm that brought wet, heavy snow. Power has already been restored to an estimated 55,730 members since the storm hit Friday night. 

Most of the remaining outages are in parts of Antrim (1,104 out), Charlevoix (304), Crawford (971), Kalkaska (722), Lake (480), Oscoda (290) and Otsego (187) counties. 

Eight extra crews are on the job today which brings the total to 50 line and tree-trimming crews that are assisting all available Great Lakes Energy line crews in restoration efforts. The 50 crews include teams from other utilities in the state and private contractors. 

GLE officials are hopeful that the majority of remaining members will be back on by late tonight. 

The time it takes linemen to restore power to any given area is based on the number of other outage locations they must visit, the number of members affected at the other locations and accessibility to these trouble areas. Damages to the transmission lines, substations and trunk lines connected to the substations affect the greatest number of GLE members so repairs are made to this part of the system first. Smaller line sections or taps that serve fewer numbers of members are repaired next followed by individual outages that typically involve only a handful of members at any one location. This restoration strategy allows GLE to restore power to the greatest number of members in the shortest time possible. 

Current outage information by counties and townships that is updated every 15 minutes can be viewed on the Great Lakes Energy website, www.gtlakes.com, by clicking on Storm Central. 

Great Lakes Energy members are reminded to stay away from downed power lines for their safety and protection.

Phone lines may be busy due to the massive storm. Great Lakes Energy members who experience a busy signal when reporting their outage should continue calling the electric cooperative’s automated, toll-free outage number:  1-800-678-0411.

March 6, 2012

5:00 p.m.

An estimated 7,809 Great Lakes Energy members remain without power late this afternoon after massive power line damage due to the storm that brought wet, heavy snow. Power has already been restored to an estimated 50,262 members since the storm hit Friday night. 

Most of the remaining outages are in parts of Antrim (2,005 out), Charlevoix (733), Crawford (1,609), Emmet (339), Kalkaska (1,512), Lake (480), Oscoda (418) and Otsego (289) counties. 

Additional crews helped the cooperative reduce the total number without power by nearly half in the last 24 hours. GLE crews who finished restoring power in parts of the cooperative’s central and southern areas joined other crews today in a concentrated effort to get remaining members back on as quickly as possible. In addition, they were helped by 17 line crews from other utilities in the state and private contractors. Also, 25 contracted tree-trimming crews are assisting in GLE’s restoration efforts. 

Although crews are making good progress, the concern is warmer temperatures and windy conditions may cause additional outages as the heavy snow melts off the trees and power lines. It may be Thursday before the majority of remaining members are back on. Great Lakes Energy members who do not have power by 9 p.m. Tuesday night should make alternate emergency arrangements.  For information about local shelters available call 231-753-8891. 

The time it takes linemen to restore power to any given area is based on the number of other outage locations they must visit, the number of members affected at the other locations and accessibility to these trouble areas. Damages to the transmission lines, substations and trunk lines connected to the substations affect the greatest number of GLE members so repairs are made to this part of the system first. Smaller line sections or taps that serve fewer numbers of members are repaired next followed by individual outages that typically involve only a handful of members at any one location. This restoration strategy allows GLE to restore power to the greatest number of members in the shortest time possible. 

Current outage information by counties and townships that is updated every 15 minutes can be viewed on the Great Lakes Energy website, www.gtlakes.com, by clicking on Storm Central. 

Great Lakes Energy members are reminded to stay away from downed power lines for their safety and protection. 

Phone lines may be busy due to the massive storm. Great Lakes Energy members who experience a busy signal when reporting their outage should continue calling the electric cooperative’s automated, toll-free outage number:  1-800-678-0411.

March 6, 2012

11:30 a.m.

 An estimated 10,347 Great Lakes Energy members remain without power late this morning after massive power line damage due to the storm that brought wet, heavy snow. Power has already been restored to an estimated 47,366 members since the storm hit Friday night. Line crews are currently working to restore power in 18 of the 26 counties served by Great Lakes Energy. Most of the remaining outages are in parts of Antrim, Charlevoix, Crawford, Emmet, Kalkaska, Lake, Oscoda and Otsego counties.

GLE crews who finished restoring power in parts of the cooperative’s central and southern areas have joined other crews today in a concentrated effort to get remaining members back on as quickly as possible. They are being joined by 17 line crews from other utilities in the state and private contractors. In addition, 25 contracted tree-trimming crews are assisting in GLE’s restoration efforts. Crews will attempt to get as many members back on today as possible. The concern is that forecasts for warmer and breezier weather may cause additional outages as the heavy snow melts off the trees and power lines.

The time it takes linemen to restore power to any given area is based on the number of other outage locations they must visit, the number of members affected at the other locations and accessibility to these trouble areas. Damages to the transmission lines, substations and trunk lines connected to the substations affect the greatest number of GLE members so repairs are made to this part of the system first. Smaller line sections or taps that serve fewer numbers of members are repaired next followed by individual outages that typically involve only a handful of members at any one location. This restoration strategy allows GLE to restore power to the greatest number of members in the shortest time possible.

Current outage information by counties and townships that is updated every 15 minutes can be viewed on the Great Lakes Energy website, www.gtlakes.com, by clicking on Storm Central. Great Lakes Energy members are reminded to stay away from downed power lines for their safety and protection.

Phone lines may be busy due to the massive storm. Great Lakes Energy members who experience a busy signal when reporting their outage should continue calling the electric cooperative’s automated, toll-free outage number: 1-800-678-0411.

March 6, 2012

10:30am

All available crews continue efforts to restore power to just over 10,000 Great Lakes Energy members still without power today. Severe damage to trees and power lines has hindered efforts by crews who are calling this the most damaging snow storm that GLE has experienced in 30 years.

For more information on the status of your outage visit http://my.gtlakes.com and login to your account. You can also call our office at 888-485-2537 for more information. Please note that phone lines are very busy. Great Lakes Energy appreciates your patience.

March 5, 2012

4pm

An estimated 14,867 Great Lakes Energy members remain without power late this afternoon after massive power line damage due to the storm that brought wet, heavy snow. Power has already been restored to an estimated 42,392 members since the storm hit Friday night. 

All available Great Lakes Energy lineworker crews assisted by contracted lineworker and tree-trimming crews are currently working to restore power in 18 of the 26 counties served by Great Lakes Energy. Most of the remaining outages are in parts of Antrim, Charlevoix, Crawford, Emmet, Kalkaska, Lake and Otsego counties. 

Great Lakes Energy members who do not have power by 9 p.m. Monday night should make alternate emergency arrangements.  For information about local shelters available call 231-753-8891. Restoration efforts may continue into Thursday. 

The time it takes linemen to restore power to any given area is based on the number of other outage locations they must visit, the number of members affected at the other locations and accessibility to these trouble areas. Damages to the transmission lines, substations and trunk lines connected to the substations affect the greatest number of GLE members so repairs are made to this part of the system first. Smaller line sections or taps that serve fewer numbers of members are repaired next followed by individual outages that typically involve only a handful of members at any one location. This restoration strategy allows GLE to restore power to the greatest number of members in the shortest time possible.

Current outage information by counties and townships that is updated every 15 minutes can be viewed on the Great Lakes Energy website, www.gtlakes.com, by clicking on Storm Central. Members can also login to their electric account to view outage information for their specific location. 

Great Lakes Energy members are reminded to stay away from downed power lines for their safety and protection. 

Phone lines may be busy due to the massive storm. Great Lakes Energy members who experience a busy signal when reporting their outage should continue calling the electric cooperative’s automated, toll-free outage number:  1-800-678-0411.