NOTE: The following was emailed to all Tipmont members with a valid email address on file. If you did not receive the email, please log into SmartHub to update your contact information or call our office at 800-726-3953.
Dear Tipmont membership,
As the holiday season hits full swing, I wanted to share recent Tipmont success stories with our cooperative members.
In 2023, we maintained outstanding metrics for electric reliability. Our most recent reliability report indicated Tipmont service was active 99.98% of the time — essentially .01% off the highest possible score. Tipmont also saw a 53% decrease in the total number of minutes when members did not have service, the average outage duration hit its lowest point in six years, and we improved our time required to restore service outages by 30%. Please join me in thanking our linemen and operations support for serving you safely and swiftly.
To speak more about safety, Tipmont enhanced its focus in that area by welcoming a new full-time safety manager. We also filled crucial roles in operations and in our lineman shop, including a new foreman in Linden and a new position of general working foreman in Battle Ground. One of our linemen also earned a promotion to take on the role of distribution system operator.
Tipmont has also continued fighting for you to ensure a fair, flexible energy future. In Washington, D.C., the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently rejected – for a third time – an unfair Wabash Valley contract that your Tipmont board members have wisely refused to sign. We feel confident about the next steps working further in favor of members like you.
Tipmont also changed out 1,100 poles across its system in 2023. This improves the durability and resilience of our electric infrastructure and also supports the continuation of our fiber-internet build.
Each year, Tipmont sets a numerical goal for new connections to our fiber-to-the-home internet service. I’m pleased to report that we met our 2023 goal … in October. This was a result of strong collaboration, strategic decision-making and, most of all, the hard work of our Tipmont teams. More importantly, it reflects your satisfaction with the quality, reliability and superiority of Tipmont’s fiber service.
We have nearly cut in half our initial timetable to complete the fiber build. By the end of next year, everyone on Tipmont’s electric system will likely enjoy access to broadband.
To see where Tipmont is building fiber in 2024, visit our newly redesigned website or read January’s edition of the Indiana Connection magazine. (If you do not see your area in our 2024 plans and do not already have service, please take Tipmont’s Connection Conversations survey. You can look up service availability in your area using Tipmont’s fiber map.)
Wintek Business Solutions, which serves hundreds of greater Lafayette businesses, also hit its 2023 sales goal and continues encouraging economic expansion in the communities we serve. We look forward to debuting a refreshed WBS website in early 2024.
I hope you enjoyed seeing Tipmont’s well-lit bucket truck and some of the faces that serve you every day in the Lafayette Christmas Parade. It’s an honor to participate in such a cherished tradition. Through grant programs (like EnviroWatts and Operation Round Up), Wildcat Creek and Habitat for Humanity staff service days, and numerous sponsorship opportunities, we’re also proud to improve our region’s quality of life.
I hope you will join us to learn more about these topics, an exciting new energy transformation grant Tipmont received, and more at our upcoming Kilowatts and Brats events in early 2024. We welcome you and your family to enjoy a free meal. Keep an eye out for additional details.
At Tipmont, we never take for granted the trust you place in us to always look out for your best interests as a member. We take it to heart for each decision we make and direction we choose. On behalf of us all, my hope for your holiday season is that you can celebrate your own successes from the past 12 months, relax and rejuvenate with those closest to you, and make memories to cherish for years to come.
Thank you,
Ron Holcomb
President and CEO
