Share Your Bright Ideas

We want to know what topics you'd like to learn more about

We want your bright ideas

We want to know what you’d like to learn more about at your local electric cooperative. Please take this short survey to let us know what interests you the most and share your bright ideas! Be sure to visit this page often to view survey results and information about topics our members request to hear more about.

Click here to take the short survey

Since January 1, 2025, we’ve received 94 Bright Idea surveys. In those surveys, we got a lot of great comments and questions for a variety of topics. The information below reflects the questions and comments we received. We thank you for taking our Bright Ideas survey and providing us with feedback.

Renewable Energy & Power Supply

As a distribution cooperative we do not generate our own energy. To be the most mindful of our members’ money, it makes the most financial sense to purchase energy from a wholesale power provider. In our case, we purchase our power from Alliant Energy, who already has a variety of power generation facilities already in place.

The image below shows how Alliant Energy has transitioned their energy resources and their plans for the future generation. You can learn about Alliant Energy’s energy vision on their website. Remember, power generated from Alliant Energy ultimately is delivered to you, our members.

Since ACEC doesn’t own any solar generation, does that mean members aren’t receiving power from renewable resources?
Members still receive the benefits of clean energy as Alliant Energy includes solar into their energy mix. Since 2022, Alliant Energy has added nearly 1,500 megawatts of solar generation to their system between Wisconsin and Iowa. That’s enough to power roughly 300,000 homes.

When they produce solar power, they deliver that power to their customers (one of them being us), and in turn, we deliver that power to our members. We receive power from a mixture of energy sources.

What is ACEC’s view on our power sources and supply?
We have an “all of the above” view on power generation. We believe it’s important to have a mix of energy generation, including renewables like wind and solar, as well as sources such as coal, hydro, natural gas, and nuclear, that produce reliable power even when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing.

What new and upcoming technologies may impact ACEC’s system?
Alliant Energy has invested in energy storage, including battery storage systems and are exploring a first-of-its-kind in the United States energy storage project at the existing Columbia Power Plant in Portage. Visit their website for more details.

 

RATES

Why doesn’t ACEC have a “vacation mode” or “all electric” rate?
To answer this short, it isn’t equitable to the rest of our membership. All members pay a facility charge, which covers our fixed costs such as poles, power lines, transformers and all of the other pieces of equipment needed to bring power to your home.

Even if you don’t use energy all the time, that infrastructure is there to make sure it’s available when you flip the switch. Our fixed costs, or the cost of our infrastructure, are the same no matter how much or how often you use electricity. The equitable way to recover these costs is for all members to share in them through the facility charge.

Learn more about our facility charge and other billing questions on our website.

 

What can I compare the facility charge to?
The idea of a facility charge is very similar to costs associated with owning your vehicle. No matter how many miles you drive, you still have the fixed costs associated with your vehicle, such as insurance, loan payments, registration fees, and maintenance.

 

How are ACEC’s rates structured?
We structure our rates to ensure we are covering the costs we incur to deliver power to your home or business. We’re not in the business of making profits and we don’t charge any more than we need to operate the cooperative.

We strive to deliver safe, reliable energy to our members at the most affordable cost possible.

How is the facility charge determined?
We split our fixed costs among all members based on the infrastructure required to service them. As a cooperative, we only serve about 7 members per mile of line. When compared to an investor-owned utility, they typically have about 32 customer per mile of line.

This means that even though our co-op and investor-owned utilities have the same amount of material invested into one mile of line, we have 7 members to pay for one mile of line and investor-owned utilities have 32 members to split that cost.

Electric Vehicles (EVs)

Are there hidden fees with electric vehicles (EV)?
As with any other vehicle purchase, we encourage members to contact a car dealership with these types of questions. When it comes to charging your electric vehicle, contact us prior to purchasing an EV so we can ensure your electric service can handle the additional energy load. General information about EVs is available on our website.

 

Where are charging stations located?
Visit PlugShare’s website for an interactive map showing where charging stations are located.

 

How is ACEC supporting our grid for EVs?
Our engineering and operations team keep a close eye on our grid to make sure we have the proper equipment in place to provide the energy that our members need. This year, our crews are working on building a new substation just south of Adams, and in 2026, another substation will be added to our system in northern Adams County. These additional substations will help support the additional energy needs of our members and allow us more resources to ensure reliability.

Additional EV resources:

 

Incentives & Energy Savings

Interested in saving on energy-efficient purchases? Look no further than Focus on Energy! We partner with Focus on Energy to offer member-exclusive rebates and discounts.

 

How can I save and learn more about water heaters? 
Visit Focus on Energy’s website for an overview on the different types of water heaters, including heat pump water heaters, and discounts available when purchasing a water heater through one of Focus on Energy’s Trade Allies.

 

What other resources are available?
We offer a free list of energy-saving tips you can refer to when looking for ways to save energy in your home. Members can also claim a free energy-saving pack from Focus on Energy once a year. Shop for your free pack today.

 

Are there other resources can I use to monitor my energy usage?
SmartHub is a fantastic resource! In SmartHub, you can review your monthly and daily energy usage charts that show when you’re using the most energy.

 

How can I make my home a smart home?
Through Focus on Energy, members can save $50 when upgrading to a smart thermostat. With a smart thermostat, you can typically control the temperature of your home with a mobile device and program the thermostat to adjust to your life style while saving energy.

Although we don’t offer products or services for members to use in their homes, there is an array of options available if members choose to pursue these options. Shop at your favorite retailer and ask about their voice activated products to pair with an Amazon or Google device.

 

Reliability & Underground Power Lines

Did you know approximately 69% of our power lines are underground? Each year we budget for projects to convert overhead power lines to underground. It costs approximately $100,000 to complete the conversion of one mile of single phase line, and approximately $200,000 for a three phase conversion. To keep rates steady, we can only complete a handful of these projects each year.

You may wonder why you have a power outage if the power lines to your home are underground. There are a few different explanations for that:

  1. Underground power lines may have issues as the ground freezes and thaws throughout the year. The shift in the ground may cause strain on the power lines causing damage to them.
  2. At some point, before power lines are underground to your home, they are overhead. Your outage could be caused by any failure from the substation to your home, or could even be a transmission outage, meaning our substation is not receiving power.
  3. If underground facilities are not properly located, contractors or the general public may dig into our power lines causing an outage. It’s crucial to contact Diggers Hotline at 8-1-1 to locate underground facilities prior to digging.

To restore an underground power outage, crews use special tools and equipment to locate the problem, or fault as we call it. From there, they begin to dig to find our underground fault and make repairs.

 

Reliability Report
Each year we publish our reliability report in our monthly newsletter, The Wire. In February of 2025, we reported that in 2024 our members had power 99.998477% of the time.