Wireside Chat

It's that magical time of the year again — no, not the holidays, but time to return capital credits to our members! This year, we've made an important change to the way capital credits are being distributed. Manager of Member Services Jennifer Gillan joins this month's podcast to discuss that and much more.

It's the time of year when we collectively stop and reflect on all the things for which we're grateful — even if sometimes we aren't feeling it. In this month's episode, host Nathan Grimm highlights some of the things he's giving thanks for this year, from roller hockey to musical theater and, of course, electric cooperatives.

The Southwestern Electric crew returned to this year's Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC) Lineworker's Safety Rodeo with double the number of competitors — and with its own friendly intracompany competition between the two teams. In this month's episode, hear from the apprentice linemen who took part in this year's event, what they gained from the experience and who holds braggin...

On Sept. 6, 2025, Southwestern Electric Cooperative held its 87th Annual Meeting of Members at the American Farm Heritage Museum in Greenville. In this month's podcast, hear the addresses from CEO Bobby Williams and Board President Jerry Gaffner in their entirety.

In conjunction with our third-annual Safety Day event for Southwestern Electric Cooperative employees and their families, the cooperative was able to raise $3,370 for two Court Appointed Special Advocate organizations that operate in our service area. Tawny Rodriguez, the Bond and Madison County Volunteer Coordinator for CASA of Southwestern Illinois, joined this month's podcast to tell members ab...

A lot about September's 87th Annual Meeting of Members will look the same, but one thing will be different — the person running the show. Manager of Member Services Jennifer Gillan joined Southwestern Electric Cooperative in May, meaning this will be her first annual meeting in charge of the event. Jennifer joined the podcast to discuss her background, her acclimation to the cooperative and what w...

Electric cooperatives and the Future Farmers of America go hand in hand. Southwestern Electric Cooperative and the Illinois Association FFA are no exception, and the cooperative was recently recognized for 75 years of support for the statewide organization. In this episode, go inside the 97th annual FFA State Convention in Springfield earlier this month and hear from Southwestern CEO Bobby William...

Cooperatives are guided by a set of seven principles that help shape their actions and policies. In this solo episode of the podcast, host Nathan Grimm details those seven cooperative principles and how they relate to Southwestern Electric and its members.

For the third consecutive year, Southwestern Electric Cooperative sent a few select high school-aged members to Springfield, Illinois for the Illinois Electric and Telephone Cooperatives Youth Day. Southwestern Executive Assistant Brooke Scott served as the chaperone for the trip this year, and she joined the podcast to discuss the experience.

On September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Gulf Coast and quickly made its way across the Southeastern United States. In total, seven states felt the effects of Helene and another 17 states provided mutual assistance to those affected. Among those affected was Satilla Rural Electric Membership Corporation, an Alma, Georgia-based electric cooperative that's one of the biggest east...

In March, Southwestern Electric will switch over its software platform provider, a change that means members will have a new account management system as well. Vice President of Information Technology Glenn Williams joins this month's episode to talk about the system, SmartHub, and what members can expect with regards to the change.

As a new presidential administration prepares to take office, the electric cooperative industry is focused on how the new regime might approach the burdensome regulations that are poised to threaten reliability as early as this winter. Host Nathan Grimm discusses both the national concern about reliability and how even locally leaders are expressing worry about the future. The letter from NRECA CE...

In what's becoming an annual podcast tradition, Southwestern Electric employees give reasons why they're thankful in 2024.

Every year, the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC) puts on a Lineworkers' Safety Rodeo for lineworkers to get together, share trade secrets and compete — safely, as the name suggests — in a variety of events. Hear from CEO Bobby Williams and the team of linemen that represented Southwestern Electric in this month's episode.

On Sept. 7, 2024, Southwestern Electric Cooperative held its 86th Annual Meeting of Members at the American Farm Heritage Museum in Greenville. In this month's podcast, hear the addresses from CEO Bobby Williams and Board President Jerry Gaffner in their entirety.

Southwestern Electric recently held its second annual Safety Day event for employees and their families. Among those who volunteered to come out for the event was Southwestern's own Purchasing Agent Tracy Kuttin-Ferguson, one of the volunteers that makes up the St. Clair Special Emergency Services Association. Tracy took time to join the podcast to discuss her beginnings with the group and her pas...

Southwestern Electric Vice President of Member Services Susan File returns to the podcast to discuss the upcoming 86th Annual Meeting of Members. Topics include this year's venue, the uniqueness of this year's board of directors election and what members can expect from this year's meeting.

May is National Electrical Safety Month. With that in mind, Southwestern Electric Maintenance Foreman Kyle Hails joined the podcast to discuss the live line demonstration he helps put on — why it's important, what he hopes to get across and what part of the presentation is his favorite, among other topics.

It's rare that someone knows what they want to do from a young age — and even rarer if they go on to live out that dream. That's what 2023 Power for Progress scholarship recipient Carter Bain did, though, recently graduating from the distribution line work program at Lincoln Land Community College with the goal of becoming a lineworker. Hear Carter's story in this month's episode.

The more things change, the more libraries do, too — which, to be clear, is a good thing. In advance of National Library Week, this month's episode looks at the ways in which libraries are changing with a changing world, while also remaining constant in their usefulness to the local community.

When the weather gets cold, like it did in mid-January, everything is affected — including electric vehicles. Southwestern Electric Energy Manager Julie Lowe discusses her experience driving the cooperative's Tesla Model 3 during the drastically low temperatures, as well as her view of the EV market in general, in this month's podcast.

The new year is a time to both reflect on the year that was and project ahead to the year to come. Southwestern Electric CEO Bobby Williams joins the podcast to discuss some recent topics as well as what's on the horizon for the cooperative.

CEO programs in our local communities are helping broaden the horizons for high school students. Facilitators from two area CEO programs, Erin Niebrugge of the Fayette County CEO program and Amanda Dussold of the Bond County CEO program, join the show to discuss the goals of the program, their roles within it and what kind of students are good candidates for the program.

Southwestern Electric employees gave reasons why they were thankful in 2022, and we liked the idea enough that we're doing it again in 2023.

Capital credits. It's a difficult concept to understand for the uninitiated, and even more confusing when a cooperative makes changes to the way they return them to members — as Southwestern Electric is preparing to do after the new year. Fortunately, Billing Manager Veronica Forbis is well versed in the topic, and she joined the podcast to explain capital credits and what the new policy means for...