Dear Members:
The 2026 annual meeting is Thursday, September 10 at the Sierra Valley Grange Hall in Vinton. The August issue of Ruralite contained voting materials for the director election. Districts up for election this year are District 6, which covers the Grizzly Road area, Lake Davis, the north side of Portola, the north of Hwy 70 from Portola to Blairsden, along with the southern and western part of Plumas-Eureka Estates. District 6 is currently represented by Jerry Williams. District 7, represented by Nancy Miller, is also up for election. District 7 covers Highway 395 starting at Lassen County Road A-26 and all members west of A-26 and all members north of the intersection of A-25 and 395.
Additionally, we will broadcast the meeting via our YouTube channel. To join the meeting, visit psrec.coop and click the link in the banner at the top of the page. You can also find our YouTube channel by searching for Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative on YouTube.
We hope you will join us for an informative evening with updates, election results, and a Q&A session. We encourage you to submit questions in advance by emailing PSREC.
If you haven’t voted yet, you can still vote electronically via the unique code in your voting materials or via the SmartHub app.
Wildfire Season & Public Safety Power Shutoffs
As we get into the height of fire season, we want everyone to be prepared for potential outages. In the past, when PG&E had Public Safety Power Shutoffs and/or had their lines burned down, we were able to keep power on thanks to our backup power line to Nevada. However, this feed from the Nevada line from NV Energy is down for repairs throughout much of the summer and is only available for multi-day outages.
PSREC’s board and management are glad we’ve been working on a new interconnection with NV Energy out at the Fort Sage substation in Nevada, east of Herlong. This will allow us a much more robust connection to wholesale markets, as well as giving us better control over system reliability.
Be prepared for outages. We maintain our system as best as we can, but we are subject to outages caused by our transmission providers.
Telecommunications Expansion
Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications is pleased to announce it has accepted grant awards totaling almost $15,000,000 to bring high-speed broadband internet to areas in Plumas, Sierra, and Lassen counties.
The 4 California Advanced Services Fund grants will bring broadband to some of the hardest-to-reach areas of our region. The grants total $14.7 million and will bring fiber optics to more than 450 homes in underserved communities across Plumas, Sierra, and Lassen counties.
The approved projects include the Grizzly Road-Chilcoot Project, which will connect 205 unserved locations in and around Beckwourth, Chilcoot, Portola and Vinton. The Herlong Flats- East Milford Project will connect 72 locations in and around Herlong and Milford. The Mohawk Meadows Project will connect 83 locations in the communities of Blairsden, Greenhorn, Johnsville, Keddie, Mabie, and Whitehawk. The Sierraville Project will connect 100 locations in and around Sierraville.
We do get member concerns about neighborhoods that were not part of the grants. The grant process is complex. From the outside, it can look random, but choosing areas is based on eligible locations as defined by the Federal Communications Commission and the CPUC.
We then must analyze locations to put in the grant application to make sure the applications are funded. Over the past 5 years, we’ve been successful in getting grants to expand our system. We have also invested our own funds to expand the system with the grants. That’s great for the locations that are now to be served but painful for any areas that weren’t part of the grant.
PST crews and contractors are building out PST’s fiber network throughout its communities. Currently, Greenhorn, C-Road/ Mohawk Vista, Valley Ranch, Janesville/Milford, and Doyle/ Herlong are all areas in progress.
If you haven’t already signed up for service or want to be added to our interest list, call (530) 832-4261 or visit the PST website.
Why Choose PST as Your Internet Provider?
When you buy broadband/fiber-optic service from PST, there are multiple positive benefits to your service and the community.
With PST, your money stays local. Most of our staff live in our region, and our employees put money back into circulation locally. PST has created numerous jobs for residents, and we are proud that many of our employees volunteer for community organizations and coach youth sports teams.
Additionally, our fiber-optic system has made remote work possible and allowed more people to move to our region, bringing their jobs with them and improving the quality of life of their families.
PST also shares expenses with our electric cooperative parent company, giving PSREC a way to improve its economies of scale, keeping your electric rates lower than they would be otherwise.
With PST—and PSREC—you get real humans at our office, even for after-hours services.
PST and PSREC are owned by cooperative members. Your data is safe with us. We do not sell or share our electric members’ and telecommunication customers’ data. And lastly, fiber-optic service is simply fantastic.
We are upgrading our wireless access points anywhere we are serving areas that are not yet eligible for grants. The new service will operate at 100 Mbps with 100 Mbps service.
WRAP Program
Income-qualifying members can receive discounted rates through our Winter Rate Assistance Program. The discounted rate is available for November through April electricity use.
PST Low-Income Program
The PST Low-Income Program discount is $25 per month. For more information and to see if you qualify, visit the PST website or call (530) 832-4261.
Youth Opportunities
As part of our commitment to the communities we serve, PSREC and its subsidiary offer life-changing opportunities to local youth. 1 opportunity is our scholarship program.
Keep an eye out for the Youth Tour Scholarship application in the November edition of Ruralite. Area high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors have the chance to win an all-expensespaid trip to Washington, D.C., next summer to participate in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Electric Cooperative Youth Tour leadership program. 1 local winner will be among 1,500 high school students chosen from across the nation to tour Washington, D.C., in June 2027. Read more about these opportunities on the Scholarships page.
These programs provide enriching experiences to help young people discover themselves and their roles as citizens. They also introduce them to the cooperative way, teaching the value of involvement and commitment to their communities. If you have any questions, call (800) 555-2207 ext. 6076 or email Bob Marshall.
Sincerely,
Bob Marshall
General Manager