
Today's investments will help keep our members connected
Reliable electric service is something we all depend on every day. It’s also something that many of us may take for granted—until it goes away.
As your member-owned electric cooperative, we work hard not only to restore your power quickly and safely when an outage occurs but also to prevent outages from happening in the first place. One key piece of our reliability efforts is our vegetation management program. Through this program, we address trees or branches in the right-of-way when they become a problem, but we also invest significant time and resources into proactively keeping rights-of-way clear of these hazards.
Another important way we ensure our system’s reliability is by replacing aging infrastructure before it becomes a problem. Like other types of equipment, the components of our electrical distribution system also have a limited lifespan.
GLE’s Board of Directors has prioritized taking steps to ensure the long-term reliability of our system. To that end, last year the board approved a plan to significantly accelerate the rate at which infrastructure is being replaced across our distribution system.
As a result of this initiative, GLE plans to replace more than 300 miles of distribution line in the next three years. For about half of those miles, we will be converting lines that currently run overhead to underground.
Can you dig it?
As you might imagine, underground lines are far less susceptible to damage from falling trees and limbs, wind, lightning, and damage from other sources, such as traffic crashes. With the benefits also come some challenges that have to be considered including cost, location of the lines, and ability to find and repair faults during an outage. Our engineering and operations teams thoroughly analyze and consider all of these items before moving forward with infrastructure upgrades.
These are just a few of the many factors that play a role in our planning for upgrading our system as we balance our members’ need for electric and fiber internet service that is both reliable and affordable.
These infrastructure investments not only help prevent outages that could arise from the failure of aging infrastructure, but they also allow us to take advantage of new smart grid technologies that will further enhance the reliability and efficiency of our distribution system for many years to come.



How much more will this cost each member in addition to the ridiculous “readiness to serve” monthly fee????
When is the last time members received a credit on our bills?? Was this program discontinued??
Hi John,
The fixed monthly charge is comprised of operation and maintenance needs, support services, capital costs, and margins. As a member-owned cooperative, this monthly charge is in place to evenly distribute the cost of maintaining and carrying out our services across the entire member footprint.
This brochure explains each facet in greater detail: https://www.gtlakes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/0724-GLE-HowAreMyDollarsSpent_TRIFOLD-v1.pdf
Capital credits fall within the margins bullet of the fixed monthly charge and will be refunded each year that financial conditions allow us to do so.