Sparks Newsletter - July 2026 | High West Energy Cooperative

When the lights go out, we know how important it is to get accurate information quickly so High West Energy can respond as safely and efficiently as possible. Using the correct outage reporting methods helps our dispatchers and line crews locate the issue, understand how many members are affected, and begin restoration as soon as they can.

If you experience an outage, please report it using one of these official methods:

Visit our website: www.highwest.coop
Report the outage through your SmartHub account
Call our automated outage line: 1-888-619-0867
Call High West Energy’s main number: 307-245-3261, which connects you to our office during business hours or after-hours dispatch when the office is closed

When reporting an outage, please have your physical service address or account number ready.

This helps our dispatch team quickly identify your location, confirm the outage, and prioritize restoration efforts.

Using our official outage reporting methods helps us:

Log your outage quickly and accurately
Identify outage locations and system impacts more efficiently
Dispatch crews safely and effectively based on confirmed information

Even if you think we may already know about the outage, your report still matters. Multiple reports help us confirm the scope and severity of an outage and respond more effectively.

Please do not call individual High West Energy employees to report outages. The employee you contact may not have outage details and would need to make additional calls to dispatch or crews in the field, which can interrupt restoration work already in progress.

In some cases, employees may also be performing critical or hazardous work, so limiting interruptions helps support both safety and faster restoration.

Thank you for being a valued High West Energy member and for helping us keep our system running safely and reliably.

Over the next few months, you may notice someone inspecting utility poles on or near your property. Sundance PPI is working on behalf of High West to complete these inspections as part of our ongoing effort to keep our system safe, reliable, and well maintained.

These inspections help us check the overall condition and strength of each pole. Some damage, such as rot or decay, can happen inside the pole and may not be visible from the outside. To identify these hidden issues, inspectors may drill a small hole into the pole as part of the inspection process. They will also complete a visual inspection of the pole and the equipment attached above ground.

If a pole or any of its above-ground components shows signs of wear or damage, it may be marked for replacement. High West crews then use that information to plan repairs or replacements before a failure happens.

This work is also an important part of our wildfire mitigation efforts. Replacing weakened or damaged poles before they fail helps reduce the risk of downed lines and potential fires.

We understand that seeing inspection work near your property may raise questions, and we want you to feel informed and comfortable about the process. If you have any questions or concerns about pole inspections, please contact the High West office. We are always happy to help.

Silver pickup with 4wheeler ATV in bed of truck

Pole inspectors may be working in pickup trucks or using ATVs to access poles in the field.

NOTICE: TO ALL MEMBERS AND CUSTOMERS OF HIGH WEST ENERGY (“HWE”) with a portion of an electric system visible on their property on or before January 1, 2006 and for which there is no valid, existing, written agreement. The legislature passed Wyoming Statute 34-1-159, which goes into effect July 1, 2026. This statute was intended to clean up old, handshake easements. It does not create any new right to install lines, and it does not change any written agreement you may have for easements. Those are the two concerns we have heard most regarding this statute, so we want to put your minds at ease about those issues. Instead, this statute clarifies that electric utilities like HWE have an easement for systems that have been in place since sometime on or before January 1, 2006 and that are visible, so everyone know or should know that the system is already present. HWE will utilize this easement to keep such electricity systems safe and reliable to the extent reasonably possible. Per the language of the statute passed during the 2026 legislative session, HWE may:

reconstruct, re-phase, maintain, and repair the existing system and trim and remove trees and other vegetation hazardous or reasonably likely to become hazardous to the system;
access the easement; ingress and egress is limited to the extent necessary to permit the reasonable enjoyment of the rights and privileges granted by the statute unless access or ingress and egress to parts of the easement would be hazardous to or materially encumbered for the electric utility, in which case the easement may include other reasonable access that minimizes impacts on the landowner to the extent reasonably possible.

Please know that the width of an easement granted under this statute is consistent with the historical and traditional use by the electric utility of the system but shall not exceed thirty (30) feet in any direction from the location of the existing line or other physical components of the system. HWE may not expand its use of the easement beyond adjustments consistent with historic uses in a way that would materially increase the burden on the landowner’s property, except when needed to serve a reasonable expansion of use for neighboring or local land uses. Such exception does not allow industrial and manufacturing related increases in wattage.

The full text of Wyoming Statute 34-1-159 is available at HWE’s website WWW.HIGHWEST.COOP.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out at (307) 245-3261.

A programmable or smart thermostat can help you stay comfortable while using less energy during the summer.

Set your thermostat a little higher when no one is home.
Program a different overnight setting so you are not cooling the house more than needed while you sleep.
Have the temperature return to your normal comfort setting shortly before you wake up or get back home.

REPORTING POWER OUTAGES: THE FASTEST WAY TO GET HELP

SEEING UTILITY POLE INSPECTORS? HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW

A NEW EASEMENT LAW: WHAT IT MEANS FOR HIGH WEST MEMBERS

SUMMER ENERGY TIP: LET YOUR THERMOSTAT DO THE WORK