Timeline

1936

April 25 – Organizational Meeting – Directors elected were H. O. Melby, R. M. Grimsrud of Westby, Melvin E. Olson, C. V. Gorman, Otto G. Henry and Nick Dorschied of Viroqua, Ray Clark of Cashton, A. J. Ristow of Genoa and J. M. Hora of Hillsboro.

1937

June – Office space rented in Westby-Coon Valley Bank Building (NW corner of Main St. & State St. ) – After first loan application approval by REA construction of lines was begun.
July 6 – N. F. Leifer hired as Project Superintendent and Manager.

1938

January 21 – Martin Schye, H. R. Vergeroot and Trygve Ostrem farms are the first to be connected to newly built energized power lines southwest of Westby.

First Home Economist in Wisconsin working for cooperative hired.

1946

Farm Wiring Advisor hired.

1947

Two-way base to truck radio communication started.

1957

December 7 – New Westby Headquarters building dedicated.

1961

N.F. Leifer and his wife, President H.O. Melby and Treasurer E.T. Smith killed in traffic accident enroute home from the NRECA Annual Meeting in Dallas, TX.

1961

Earl Jaeger hired as Manager.

1966

Garage/Warehouse building built for Hillsboro Service Area on the intersection of Hwy 82 & 33.

1969

First primary high voltage lines placed underground.

1970

May – Readstown Public Electric Utility purchased.

1987

July 1 – Merle Holden hired as Manager.

1993

Major flooding of the Mississippi puts many meters under water.

1998

July 27 – Worst windstorm in VEC history knocks power out from Stoddard to Cashton. Linemen work for 4 ½ days to restore everyone’s power.

2001

Mike McMahon hired as Manager to replace the retiring Merle Holden.
The Mississippi River reaches 16.41 feet at La Crosse causing damage and outages along the river.

2003

Installation of automated meter reading (AMR) begins and was completed in 2005.

2007

August 18-19 & 21-24. Some of the worst flooding ever seen in service area. New record for August rainfall. Widespread outages, some lasting up to 3 ½ days due to wind, flooding, lightning, down trees, washed out underground lines. Restoration efforts hampered by washed out roads, down trees & flooding. Crews from Riverland Energy, Adams-Columbia, Oakdale, Scenic Rivers and Richland Electric Cooperatives aided in the recovery.

2009

June 26th Vernon Electric Closes the doors at their Main St. office and out-buildings in Westby and moves to its new headquarters at the intersection of Hwy. 27 and Saugstad Rd.

2010

Mike McMahon retires as General Manager on May 17th and is replaced by Joe McDonald on June 1st.

2014

March 3 - SmartHub application introduced to allow members online access to their account using a computer, mobile tablet or smart phone.

June 1 - First Community Solar project completed in Wisconsin energized at VEC's headquarters. 1,001 panels owned by 113 members rated at 305 KW output at full capacity.

2016

Installation of LED (Light Emitting Diode) yard lights begins as replacements to the higher wattage high-pressure sodium yard lights. The LEDs use approximately 50% less energy, emit the same amount of light, and have a longer life span.

2018

August 28 - Sept. 5, rain storms created record flooding. Approximately 50 poles wiped-out in the Timber and Spring Coulee areas. Outages throughout the service area. Response slowed by flooded and eroded roads. Some members out for three days. Kickapoo River reaches new record levels.

2019

Craig Buros promoted from Operations & Engineering Director to General Manager & CEO, replacing retiring Joe McDonald.

March 18, 2020

Vernon Electric makes the unprecedented move to close its lobby indefinitely to help prevent the spread of the virus COVID-19. The pandemic and health emergency also forced a change of plans for the Annual Meeting scheduled for March 21 to prevent the gathering of a large group of people in one place.

On June 2, 2021 our lobby re-opens and all employees return to the office building following CDC and OSHA guidelines. Both the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Annual Meetings were held virtually.

The Electric Co-ops' Story (3:25 video)

Stats in ten-year increments

Year Miles of Lines # of Accounts kWh Used/ Acct./ Mo. kWh Sold Total Assets
1938 423 903 33 360,283 $532,696
1948 1,160 3,760 192 8,657,965 $1,461,925
1958 1,455 4,689 593 33,418,107 $2,834,201
1968 1,597 5,352 917 58,595,407 $8,503,877
1978 1,809 7,128 1,377 116,200,240 $10,440,648
1988 1,890 7,847 1,277 119,455,390 $17,531,493
1998 1,943 8,931 1,157 122,611,558 $26,805,415
2008 2,095 10,828 1,127 146,168,395 $43,596,804
2018 2,144 11,226 1,148 154,754,35 $62,215,592