The Delaware Electric Cooperative set a new reliability record.
The Co-Op announced this week that 2022 was its most reliable year ever.
Utility officials say Co-Op members lost power less often last year than they did in 2021 and, when the power did go out, it restored service in record time.
DEC president and CEO Rob Book says crews were able to reduce the number of outages per member by 20 percent in 2022 and they were also able to restore power five minutes faster.
The Delaware Electric Cooperative’s system suffered a catastrophic hit by an ice storm in 1994, leaving many members without power for more than a week. Since then, DEC has invested millions of dollars in system improvements that better protect electrical equipment from ice, snow, thunderstorms, high winds and animals.
Aggressive tree trimming over the years since that storm has also played a role in achieving record-breaking reliability; fallen trees from high winds are a leading cause of outages each year.
