Our team at Hancock-Wood Electric is always looking ahead, exploring ways to innovate and utilize new technologies to improve our services. As our nation increasingly relies on electricity to power the economy, keeping the lights on has never been more important. We’re committed to powering––and empowering––our community at a cost local families and businesses can afford. 

I wanted to share with you– our members how we are working to ensure reliable and affordable power while adapting to a changing energy landscape and our community’s evolving needs. Our co-op invested more than $5M in 2025. This money has all been put into significant upgrades which in turn benefits all members.  

These projects include: 

• Rebuild of outdated system. This rebuild is scheduled each year and focuses on different sections all over our service area. Crews replaced 19.1 miles of obsolete overhead lines costing $1.6 M, which directly benefits members by reducing the likelihood of outages. 
• Proactive maintenance. Tested over 2,000 meters for accuracy. Inspected 15,826 poles for rot. Inspected over 600 miles of distribution line. Replaced 214 poles.
•  Outage Statistics. Outage performance of system ranked in top quartile for electric cooperatives. Crews responded quickly and safely to outages, with an average restoral time of only 46 minutes.
• SCADA upgrades. SCADA is a program which allows our crew to remotely switch services on and off. SCADA is operational at all substations and helps to reduce outage time due to transmission outages.
• Fiber communication upgrades. In collaboration with Amplex, fiber optics cable is connected at all substations, but two. Fiber optics communications allows for faster and more resilient communications.
• Technology Workplan (TWP). Completed a new TWP. TWP establishes a multi-year roadmap to modernize the distribution system, improve reliability, enhance member services, and strengthen operational efficiency. Focused on metering, reliability, communications, load management, and distributed generation.
• Cooperation among Cooperatives. Supporting neighboring electric cooperative Tricounty REC by providing IT services. Working with our fellow cooperatives allows us to share resources and control expenses.
• Landmark substation recloser replacement. This substation is located on the east side of Findlay. Reclosers are used to sectionalize the line during temporary and permanent fault conditions. This work was done to address aging equipment.
• Belmore substation regulator replacement. This substation is located between Belmore and Deshler. Regulators are used to maintain proper voltage to our members starting at the substation. This work was done to address aging equipment.
• Conductor Replacement not associated with our rebuild projects but was done due to the numerous poles that have tested bad and need to be replaced. 
• Sectionalizing install vipers. Vipers are 3PH electronic devices that we have deployed over 85 in the field that allow us to isolate, open/close and back feed from various sources from the office.  This helps with identifying, isolating and restoring faulted areas quicker and more efficiently.
• Safety Priority #1. Most importantly, your cooperative completed this work without any lost time accidents. 
  
  In addition to these projects, one of the best methods for improving our services to you is monitoring trends and leading practices from other electric co-ops in Ohio and across the country. Learning from other co-ops is one of the many benefits of the cooperative business model because for us, it’s about cooperation, not competition.   
  
  As we turn our focus to 2026, Hancock-Wood Electric will continue working to provide the reliable, affordable electricity you expect and deserve––for today and tomorrow.