Extreme cold could set a record high electricity use in Texas.

The next 4 days, is expected to bring extreme cold to North Texas, especially Monday and Tuesday. Severe events like this often result in accumulated ice on trees and power lines.  Additional problems occur if the snow is wet and sticks in trees. Lamar Electric has been preparing for this and will have linemen standing by to deal with any outages.

Current ERCOT demand forecasts indicate load will peak around 71,000 MWh on both days. This would be approximately 8% higher than the all-time 15-minute weather peak of 66,068 MWh reached on January 17, 2018.

What you can do now:

We encourage all Lamar Electric members to reduce energy usage on Monday and Tuesday (February 15 and 16) between 6:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.  Also, stay informed on current weather conditions. Take care of outside pets and disconnect all garden hoses.

What to do in the future:

Cold weather means more electricity is used, even if your main heat source is gas.  Be aware of how much electricity is used by logging into your Lamar Electric account. That would be the SmartHub app which is available for free from the app store.  Go to WWW.LamarElectric.Coop for more instructions on how to keep track of your electric usage.

If you are not already on the Level Billing/Average Monthly Payment plan, consider doing so.  This allows extreme electric usage in the winter or summer, to be spread over the entire year.  Most utilities, including Lamar Electric offer some type of Level Billing plan.

Lamar Electric Cooperative headquarters will open its new doors Monday, January 25th. The new site is located just west of Blossom, Texas on U.S. Highway 82, and is more central to many of our rural members.  The physical address is 5225 U.S. Highway 82 E, Blossom, Texas 75416. The Co-op will continue to use the P.O. Box 580, Paris, Texas 75461 for all mail items. The Drop Box will continue at the Paris location until February 26th then will close permanently. The hours will continue to be 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. Monday thru Friday.

The new building is a free-standing metal structure with brick and Texas stone on the front portion and sheet metal on the back side. The 14,000 square foot office building has a drive-thru lane that features a drive-up drawer instead of the previous tube for transacting business. This will allow better eye contact and easier communication with our cooperative members.  Highway 82 has a turning lane providing easier access for members to drive to the front of the building.  The entrance with the large sign is the member entrance. This entrance provides one lane for driving in and a separate exit lane.  The front door and meeting room is accessible without going through a gate or going behind a fence.

There is plenty of parking in front of the building for members. The building is completely ADA compliant with handicapped parking close to the front door.

The 4,000 square foot meeting room will hold about 250 people.  The meeting room is a benefit provided to our members free of charge other than a cleaning fee. Members will be able to use the meeting room for such things as birthday parties, baby showers, wedding receptions, anniversary celebrations and family reunions. The room can be reserved by a Co-op member who agrees to be responsible for supervising the event and be financially responsible for any damage done.

We look forward to seeing you!

Employees of Osmose Utilities Services have been hired to inspect and treat some of our utility poles.  Each Osmose employee will be wearing a hard hat and safety vest that identify them as Osmose employees.  Each vehicle will also be marked with the Osmose logo.

Lamar Electric has this inspection and treatment performed on several thousand of our distribution poles each year.  Inspection of poles is a critical action that allows for safer operations as well as reduced costs, allowing Lamar Electric to better manage the factors that determine pole performance and strength.  Identifying bad or weak poles in advance of failure allows for optimum conditions for replacement or repair and improves system reliability.

The employees of Osmose will be working in your area over the next few days inspecting and treating poles. The areas include electricity supplied from the Reno Substation to Reno, Mae Hill Road, Pinhook, E. Manchester, Blossom, Detroit and Kiomatia areas. Osmose is a very reputable company and its employees will show the utmost respect to you and your property.  Please extend the same courtesies to Osmose personnel as is given to Lamar Electric employees.

The pole inspection process involves using a hammer to “sound test” the pole, digging around the pole with a shovel, drilling inspections hole(s), wrapping the ground line area of the pole with a protective wrap, and backfilling the hole.

If you should have any questions about Osmose or their work, please feel free to call Scott Sansom at 903-783-4916 (Direct Line) or main line at 903-784-4303.

Thank you for your cooperation and assistance.