A new year brings a renewed focus on continued improvement at Medina Electric Cooperative. We’re committed to serving our members and empowering our community through reliable, affordable and safe electricity. To achieve this, we’re investing in significant changes to our facilities, infrastructure and workforce; enhancing member resources; and optimizing our operations. These strategic initiatives will strengthen our infrastructure, improve service delivery and help us to better power our members for years to come.
For Medina County members who visit our Hondo area office, you’ve likely noticed ongoing construction. This work, which began in late 2024 and will continue through 2026, is part of a board-approved plan to build a new warehouse and remodel the office. As Medina County grows, so do our needs. The office remodel will optimize our workspace allowing us to better serve our growing membership with a larger, more efficient space.
In an effort to better serve our southern members and growth in the Laredo area, we are actively continuing our search to acquire property and eventually build a larger yard for our crew and materials.
This year, we’ll continue the deployment of our state-of-the-art supervisory control and data acquisition system. This in-house solution will improve our operations by enabling faster fault detection, contribute to quicker restoration times, and provide advanced analytics to proactively identify potential issues. Additionally, by allowing remote control of circuit breakers and other equipment, we’ll enhance safety for our linemen, first responders and the public as well as improve overall system reliability. This multi-year project benefits our members with a more robust and local electric system.
To match the cooperative’s continued growth and efficiency, we are adding seven new positions to our team. These additional positions will help ensure we maintain reliability and better service to our members.
As part of our commitment to reliable service, we’ll inspect over 20,000 poles in 2026 and replace almost 1,100 from our 2025 inspections that didn’t meet our quality standards. With over 150,000 poles supporting our network, regular inspections and replacements are crucial for maintaining system integrity.
Additionally, our vegetation management program will clear the rights-of-way along nearly 500 miles of lines, mitigating risks from hazardous trees and other vegetation. This proactive approach enhances both reliability and safety.
This year will also be a year of internal change for the cooperative, as a few of our tenured employees leave to enjoy their retirement and we restructure to better serve our members and employees.
One of the biggest changes is the formation of the new Member Relations department. This new department, led by Katie Haby, will bring together communications, member services, and business development and key accounts into a single, cohesive unit. For members, this provides a unified approach to member support, community outreach, and service innovation. Whether you’re calling with a question, seeing us at a community event, or discussing service for a large facility, the experience will be more seamless and member-focused. These are not new teams, just a new structure to bridge their departments.
Our team works hard to consider the focus for each year as we develop business objectives and strategies to achieve them. Some efforts are more visible—like replacing poles and clearing rights-of-way—and others happen behind the scenes—like department restructures and hiring new employees. Our plans for the future are always geared toward providing safe and reliable energy while exceeding member expectations in everything we do.
Until next time,
Trey Grebe
