We're here for you

As we all deal with the new realities brought on by the coronavirus, I want to assure you that your local electric cooperative is here to help you. We have always had emergency plans that have served us well in a variety of circumstances, from ice storms to tornadoes to flash floods. The same applies to the coronavirus pandemic. Our goal is to ensure we can continue to provide the reliable electric service you have come to expect from your electric cooperative.

So far, that is exactly what has happened. We know that after a sufficient supply of food and water, electricity is the No. 1 necessity required to maintain some sense of normalcy as we hunker down in our homes. With that in mind, keeping the power flowing is paramount for everyone involved in maintaining the electric cooperative system.

That starts with our generation and transmission cooperative, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC), which has taken prudent measures to ensure its workforce is healthy and its power plants are functioning as needed. From the power plants to your local electric co-op, we are prepared to make sure your service remains the same, even though our daily lives have temporarily changed.

We thought you might want to know some of the steps we have taken in order to keep your power flowing. We’ve closed our lobbies to prevent the spread of germs. Instead, we are encouraging members to use our night drop, online, phone payment options, SmartHub and the U.S. Postal Service to pay bills.

If you call, the phones will be answered as always. Some of our employees are working from home. We’ve divided departments into shifts so that they can practice social distancing even when in the office.

Our line crews are still working but we have separated them from other employees and from each other to limit possible spread of the virus. New routines are in place for contractors working on our system in order to keep them away from employees as well.

Our management team and board continue to meet to fine-tune our response to COVID-19. We are in contact with the other electric cooperatives in our state and with our statewide service co-op, Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. (AECI), which is working with our national association, as well as state and local leaders.

We’ve done crisis management before, ice storms, tornadoes, floods and now a public health pandemic. No matter the emergency, rest assured that Petit Jean will be here providing you with reliable electric service. Nothing brings out the best in our cooperative family than a crisis situation.

Our focus here is on doing our part to keep your life as normal as possible through this situation and beyond. The cooperative way of doing business has brought us this far, and the cooperative way will help us through this crisis.

All the best to everyone.

Stay healthy, stay safe, and we will get through this together the cooperative way!

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