Today, electricity is something we seldom think about. With a flick of a switch, it’s readily available to power nearly everything in our lives.
In the 1930s, life in rural Montezuma and Dolores counties was different.
Farmers hauled water by hand to their livestock, mothers heated bath water for their children over a wood-burning stove and families ate by the light of kerosene lamps.
That all changed on Nov. 15, 1939 when Empire Electric Association, Inc. was organized nearly 75 years ago.
When the first electric lines were energized by Empire Electric, the year was 1941 and 257 customers were served. Today, Empire Electric manages lines that serve nearly 16,000 customers.
“Empire Electric Association, Inc., was built by the community, for the community. Today we take pride in providing support to our local communities,” said Neal Stephens, Empire Electric’s general manager.
Empire Electric travels to schools and events to provide education and career demonstrations. Empire Electric also offers scholarships and opens its meeting space up to the community, many of you may even vote there.
On Saturday, Sept. 13 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Empire Electric will host an Anniversary Celebration at the Engineering and Operations Facility , 23999 Road L.4 and the community is invited. There will be free lunch,safety presentations, a tour of the new facility and bucket truck rides.
The event is a bit of a swan song for Stephens, who will retire at the end of the year after working for Empire Electric for 35 years, 28 of which were as general manager.
“I’m going to move closer to Denver to be near my grandchildren,” he said.
Empire Electric Association’s board of directors announced last month that Josh Dellinger, currently Empire’s system engineer, will become the cooperative’s new general manager on Jan. 1.
“Josh Dellinger was our number one choice, and the vote was unanimous,” said Bill Bauer, Empire’s board president. “The board is confident that he has the qualities to carry out the difficult tasks that lie ahead. Josh has similar qualities to Neal Stephens and is going to be a great manager. The employees like him, and I’m sure that the members will also like him.”
Over his tenure, Stephens has seen a lot of ups and downs and a lot of changes.
For one, electric meters no longer have to be read.
The amount of electricity you use, can now be sent electronically over the lines.
An up, happened last month, when Empire Electric announced that 19,294 of its current and former members were eligible for refunds. Empire will pay $1,877,224.22 to current and former members who paid electric bills in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 2013.
“Our outage rates have also gone down over the years,” Stephens said, also credited to new technology.
Stephens said he hopes in the future that energy will be cleaner, which it has improved tremendously over the years, he added.
He also said he thinks he would like to see, prepaid meters in homes and families could look and see how much money they have spent over the month.
“That would be a big incentive if you can look over and see exactly how much power you have already used.”
Stephens recently gave a tour of the new Engineering and Operations Facility north of Cortez.
“This is all state-of-the art,” he said.
The $6.4 million facility is located north of Cortez. The company’s administrative staff is still located at 801 N. Broadway.
Tours will be offered Saturday of the new facility’s 16,600 square foot warehouse/garage, 9,300 square foot engineering/operations office, 8,200 square foot maintenance shop and 5,000 square foot garage as part of the anniversary celebration.