Manager’s Message — August 2021
Hot Days of Summer
Dear Co-op Community Members:
I hope you are enjoying the beautiful days of summer. Whether you like to garden or spend time at a nearby lake or river, our community offers many outdoor activities during these summer months.
While summer brings joy to many, it also brings challenges, particularly this year. Summer weather started early in Oregon. While we enjoy these sunny days, there is also great concern across our state as we experience extreme drought conditions. There are worries about lakes drying up and high wildfire activity.
We want our members to be prepared as we continue to have warm, dry days in the upcoming weeks. Here are some things you can do around your home:
- Clear needles, leaves, and other debris from roofs, gutters, porches, and decks.
- Keep firewood piles at least 30 feet away from buildings.
- Keep lawns mowed and hydrated. Dry grass and shrubs are easily ignited by wildfire.
- Install metal mesh screening in attic and crawl space vents.
- Remove all flammable outdoor items from decks and porches, such as cushions, doormats, and portable propane tanks.
- Dispose of debris and lawn cuttings to reduce fuel for a wildfire.
- Make a plan. Come up with two ways out if a wildfire threatens your area, and plan for pets and livestock.
There are more resources to help you prepare and learn to mitigate your risk. Visit the Firewise page and the National Fire Protection Association website.
What can you expect from Lane Electric? Crews will continue tree trimming and safety inspections and, if necessary, implementation of Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS).
A PSPS would occur in response to severe weather. Power to your area would be turned off to reduce the risk of wildfire and keep our community safe.
Discontinuing service is not taken lightly. Our goal would be to impact as few members as possible. We would make the decision to discontinue electric service based on a red-flag warning, extremely low humidity, high winds, or extremely dangerous conditions observed by a Lane Electric crew. We would notify members as soon as possible via phone, email, text, social media, and local media should this need to happen.
If you have questions, you can visit our Public Safety Power Shutoff page.
At Lane Electric we want to keep our members and communities safe. Please join us in making fire prevention a priority by following the rules and regulations meant to protect our state’s many treasures.
I hope you enjoy the last weeks of summer.
Sincerely,
Debi Wilson
