Celebrating 78 Years of Electric Service

Happy Anniversary Mohave Electric Cooperative (MEC) members! On July 3rd, MEC celebrates 78 years of providing electric service to the area.

Summers can be tough in Arizona. Last year, we experienced temperatures of 110 degrees or hotter every single day for 31 days in a row. That’s hot even for here. The higher the temperatures, the greater the electricity use by our members. From a resource perspective, MEC tries to adequately plan each year for an increase in electricity demand. Unlike previous years, this summer we will have 2 battery energy storage systems (BESS) in place to help with our daily peak periods from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. In the future, the Mohave Energy Park natural gas generation project will be able to supply ample power for our members.

Still, MEC recommends taking cold showers, drinking lots of water, and closing blinds, shades, and curtains to reduce heat and remain cool in the summer. Additionally, keep your a/c vents clear of obstructions, change your filter once a month, and have an HVAC technician check your coolant levels, pressure, and electrical components.

Extreme temperatures can easily increase member electric bills. If you need bill assistance, please contact our Member Service Department at (928) 763-1100, or reach out to River Fund for bill and appliance assistance, or seek out designated Cooling Centers throughout Bullhead City and Mohave County.

In addition to high temperatures, summers can often bring monsoons that can be troublesome for the area. It’s always best to keep your trees trimmed and secure your carports and outdoor items such as patio furniture and awnings for high-wind events and gusts. Lightning, trees, and furniture are the top causes of outages during monsoons. For those who use generators during an outage, keep fuel in a cool, dry location, not in the home. Most importantly, those members who plug a generator directly into the home’s wiring through an outlet, be careful of backfeed. Backfeeding not only sends electricity to the house but back through the lines and can electrocute utility lineworkers and cause permanent damage to household electronic devices. For more tips on outage safety visit our website at the Outages Safety page.

Our commitment 78 years ago, today, and in the future is to our members. So let’s all stay safe and have a great summer.