As I settle in my new position as operations manager, I would like to introduce myself to our membership. I know many of you, as I have called New England home and continue to with my wife Alicia and our two daughters, Taylor and Rylee. I began my career at Slope Electric Cooperative in 2006 as an apprentice lineworker and have had the opportunity to advance my career through the cooperative earning my journeyman lineworker certificate in 2010. Since 2017, I have worked as a senior staking technician, where I have been able to further my relationship with members across our service area.
I was fortunate to work with Dean Volk throughout my career who taught me many things about the trade. One of the things I learned from Dean, that I will keep top of mind, is his unwavering commitment to safety. When Dean was the lead lineman that I worked under, he helped me understand no matter the severity of a situation or the sense of urgency, the safety and wellbeing of his co-workers, the public and himself were number one priority. He would remind everyone to slow down and take one thing at a time, not to be in a hurry and never take shortcuts. He ensured everyone on the crew understands the scope of the work and that way everyone gets to go home at night to their loved ones.
As operations manager, I look forward to working alongside our great team of employees to provide excellent service to our membership, and to continually upgrading our electrical systems to provide the most reliable electrical service we can to our members.
Reflecting on 2025
This past year we progressed on various projects outlined in our work plan but also faced some unplanned instances. Here are a few projects our crews worked on to ensure safe and reliable electric services to you, our members.
Pole testing
Earlier this year, utility pole testing was conducted. Pole testing allows us to find poles that are an issue and replace them before they begin to fail. As of October, 153 utility poles have been replaced throughout our system with crews and contractors continuing to replace and update poles.
Underground conversion
Throughout 2025, Slope Electric installed 16 miles of underground utility cable. A major portion of that was converting 14 miles of aged overhead three phase lines to underground cable out of the Langberg Substation south of Rhame. Additional underground projects we worked on were new services, service upgrades, and underground cable replacement. Converting to underground cable allows for additional safety and reliability to our system.
Storm restoration
In June, our service area endured hail, thunderstorms and high winds that resulted in damaged infrastructure and power outages. The damage impact to Slope Electric’s system included 27 utility poles in Adams and Bowman counties that were replaced and a large number of broken power wires due to falling trees and flying debris.
Technology updates
In a step towards enhancing reliability for our members, Slope Electric has begun the planning process of installing supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) technology within our substations over the next several years. SCADA acts as a remote monitoring and control system within our substations allowing for enhanced service throughout Slope Electric’s service area for isolating issues, outage detection and enhanced safety.
Looking to the remainder of 2025, you may spot Slope Electric line crews conducting annual line inspection and working on projects as the weather allows. As a friendly reminder, if you see any cooperative equipment that looks unsafe and should be assessed by the cooperative, be sure to give the office a call at 701-579-4191 or 800-559-4191. We hope outages are few and far between this winter but want to encourage you to report outages through SmartHub or by calling the office. Thank you for your support throughout 2025 and we look forward to ensuring safe and reliable electric services for you all in 2026!