Chamber tours Cullman Electric Cooperative

Chamber tours Cullman Electric Cooperative

    Electricity, like many modern conveniences, is often taken for granted.
    Unless a storm knocks down a power line on our street or we get a bill in the mail, most of us rarely think of the companies that supply the energy to light our homes and run our appliances.
    As Cullman Electric Cooperative CEO Grady Smith recently told a Chamber of Commerce Existing Business and Industry Committee tour group, however, the cooperative is constantly thinking about its customers.
    "We've taken a lot of technology to try and improve the level of service we provide our customers," Smith said. "Twelve to 15 years ago, we wrote up tickets, and at night, we took calls at home ... now, we're state-of-the-art."

CEC Vice President of Member Services & Community Development Mike McWaters, at left; consultant Kevin Bonner, at right; and Customer Service Manager Kim Arndt, far left, explain the Cooperative's ongoing process to digitize its records to the Chamber tour group.

In speaking with the Chamber tour group, Smith referred to Cullman Electric Cooperative as "your cooperative." He wasn't merely being polite or metaphorical. Smith explained that the cooperative is a no-profit, member-owned entity and that by simply paying a membership fee and receiving electric service, one becomes part owner of the enterprise. A nine-member Board of Trustees is chosen from the membership by the members themselves each September.
Cullman Electric Cooperative CEO Grady Smith welcomes the Chamber tour group.	Covering the counties of Cullman, Morgan, Winston and Lawrence since 1936, the Cullman Electric Cooperative was the first electric cooperative in the state of Alabama to provide power to its customers and was the second cooperative organized.
	Currently, CEC is the third largest of 23 cooperatives in the state and serves over 39,000 customers. The Cooperative took in over $60 million in revenue in 2001, the profits from which are re-invested into the cooperative itself, according to CEC Vice President of Member Services & Community Development Mike McWaters.	CEC covers Cullman, Morgan, Winston and Lawrence counties. (Graphic courtesy of www.cullmanec.com.)

"We have non-profit status, which means our profits go back into the utility," McWaters said. "Our owners are our members, so we're not out to get rich."
The Cooperative has an employee roster of 84 persons who staff the administration, customer service, and dispatch/call center areas and who man the CEC's 30-truck fleet, physically maintaining the cooperative's power lines. Technology has played an important role in the evolution of the cooperative, McWaters noted. The customer service area boasts a sophisticated computer-based phone system, which logs calls and helps organize information concerning outages. As the cooperative processes over 20,000 payments each month and receives over 100,000 calls per year, the high tech system has become more than a matter of convenience. Automated assistance now allows CEC to handle a staggering customers-per-employee ratio of 505 to one, far exceeding the national average of 258 to one.		McWaters shows the CEC's customer service area to the Chamber tour group, explaining the sophisticated PC-based phone system that helps direct the high volume of calls the Cooperative receives each day.

Another major technological improvement is the computerization of the CEC's call center. The key component of the center is a large map display that covers an entire wall. The computerized maps are extremely accurate and contain detailed information that enables CEC dispatchers to correctly direct crews of linemen to repair outages.

Kyle Baggett, Vice President of Engineering, runs through
some of the features of the call center's mapping system
for the Chamber tour group.

     Each of the cooperative's 30 trucks contains a laptop computer that keeps crews informed with up-to-date information. The truck laptops are updated automatically each night when they are parked in through a wireless connection with the CEC's servers.
    Although the high tech system was costly - CEO Grady Smith estimated its total price tag at $1 million - it has become an invaluable resource for CEC employees.
    "It's important that we know where all our people are at to insure their safety," McWaters said. "Most people don't realize it, but a lineman's job is very dangerous. If a line is energized and linemen begin working on it ... it becomes a life or death situation."
    "We have more real-time information than ever before," McWaters said. "It's more efficient."
    McWaters said that efficiency allows the cooperative to have such low rates.

"We have lower rates than the national and the state averages, and we feel good about that," McWaters said. "We honestly believe there's not a package out there that has the total level of service we do," Grady Smith said of the cooperative's dedication to its customers. The Cullman Electric Cooperative is located at 1749 Eva Road in Cullman, Ala. For more information on the cooperative or its programs, visit www.cullmanec.com.
Rich Bunis, Chairman of the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce Existing Business and Industry Committee, and Chamber Executive Vice President Alan Arnett listen intently as CEC's Kyle Baggett explains the features of the cooperative's integrated map system.	Keith Jackson of the Cullman County Industrial Development Board watches as Mike McWaters explains the CEC's PC-based phone system.	The Cullman Electric Cooperative is located on Eva Road in Cullman.