September 2026

Electronic Recycling

• October 14 – Wautoma Office
  N1519 State Rd 22
• October 15 – Pardeeville Office
  W6290 State Rd 33
• October 16 – Friendship Office
  401 E Lake St

To celebrate October Co-op Month, we’re bringing back our highly-requested electronic recycling events. The events will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day and will be drive-thru style. Members are asked to stay in their vehicles, and our employees will remove electronics and place them in the dumpster. We’ll accept up to five items per membership, including one TV or monitor. To view a list of items we’ll accept, visit www.acecwi.com/events.

Concern for Community is our seventh cooperative principle, and we’re asking members to donate diapers and wipes to distribute to programs in our service area for families in need. If you’d like to make a monetary donation, checks can be made payable to ACEC with “Diaper Drive” on the memo line, and mailed to PO Box 70, Friendship, WI 53934.

New SmartHub Features Coming Soon

We’re excited to announce new tools to analyze your energy usage through your SmartHub account.

These tools will be your energy dashboard to show your home habits and where energy is being used, giving you the power to understand, analyze, and manage your energy usage with intention.

Keep an eye out for more information about these new tools coming later this year in future issues of The Wire.

Grid Power Players

Electricity is available with the flip of a switch, but it travels great distances and is coordinated among multiple entities before it reaches your home or business. Take a look at the grid power players that ensure you receive reliable electricity.

1. Generation Owners & Operators
Power plants can be owned and operated by electric utilities, government entities, or other private companies. Power plants produce electricity by converting energy from various sources—like natural gas, coal, nuclear, or renewables—into electricity.

2. Transmission System Owners & Operators
The transmission grid moves large amounts of electricity over long distances using high-voltage transmission lines attached to large towers. Like power plants, these lines can be owned by a variety of public and private companies.

3. Organized Wholesale Markets
In many parts of the country, Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) & Independent System Operators (ISOs) coordinate the flow of electricity across regions by balancing supply and demand in real time and managing the dispatch of electric generation and transmission across large areas with the participationof generation and transmission owners.

4. Electric Utilities (That’s Us!)
Electric distribution utilities take electricity from the transmission system and deliver it to homes and businesses through lower-voltage distribution lines. They also maintain local power lines, poles, and other essential equipment.

5. End Users (That’s You!)
End users consist of the homes, businesses, and industries that consume electricity. Their demand drives how much electricity is generated and how the grid is managed in real time.

Other Key Players:
NERC: The regulatory authority that develops and enforces mandatory reliability standards for the North American bulk electric grid. (Standards are developed through a stakeholder process.)

FERC: Independent federal agency that oversees interstate transmission and wholesale electricity sales, ensuring fair access to the grid.

Money for Former Members

Some former members of our co-op have unclaimed patronage capital, and we need your help locating them. In many cases, the member may have moved off our lines and simply not informed us of their new address.

If you see a name you recognize, please ask either the individual member or the estate executor to contact us personally. Funds that are not claimed are used for our scholarship program and other charitable purposes.

Review the list of people who have money waiting for them.

Free Safety Program

Education, Training, and Information is our fifth cooperative principle, and we’re proud to offer our hotline demonstration trailer and safety presentation to schools, community groups, and organizations for free. Our safety presentation draws attention to the purpose of safety gear, how our equipment works, the harmful or potentially fatal effects of coming into contact with energized power lines, and much more.

Click here to learn more, or call (800) 831-8629 to schedule a safety presentation.

Enroll to Win a $10 Bill Credit!

Insulation and Air Sealing

Safety Message

• Think about how long it will take to get to your destination and add extra time for busy farm roads
• Give farmers plenty of room on the road
• When passing, be sure you do so in a passing zone
• Do not tailgate; the farmer often cannot see you
• Farm equipment makes very wide turns; give them plenty of time and room

Recipe

Chicken and Dumplings
Recipe from Dennis Clark of Greenfield, WI

INGREDIENTS FOR SOUP:

• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 8 c chicken broth or stock
• 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3c chopped cooked chicken
• 3 Tbsp butter

INGREDIENTS FOR DUMPLINGS:

• 2 lbs small curd cottage cheese, drained
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 c flour (approximately)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place the butter in the soup pot. Melt the butter over medium heat, then add celery and carrots. Sauté for six minutes or until tender. Stir in broth/stock, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat for the soup until it’s just simmering. Then mix the beaten eggs with the cottage cheese. Gradually add enough flour to bind the dumplings. Drop by the teaspoonful into simmering soup.
3. Simmer for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally. The dumplings are done when they float on the soup.