Engbrecht tackles responsibility of educating community
How important is electricity in your life? If you are like
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Wes and his wife, Danay, are proud of their two children: Hailey and Parker. |
Wes Engbrecht was, you probably don’t give it much thought, although you use it constantly throughout the day: waking up to an alarm, cooking a meal, heating your home and sending an e-mail.
Wes, the director of communications and public relations for Capital Electric, says his own desire to learn more about affordable and reliable electric service led him to apply for the newly created position in January.
“There is a need to educate consumers about important issues,” he says.
One of those things is how the national power grid is being pushed to its limit.
“We don’t all have to be engineers to start fixing things,” Wes says. “No matter where you live, every person should accept the responsibility of practicing more conservation.”
Locally, electric cooperatives across the state are feeling national pressures. Capital Electric purchases a small percentage of electricity from the Western Area Power Administration (Western), which relies on water to produce hydropower. So far, the co-op has managed to absorb Western’s rate increases brought about by the drought. Capital Electric also purchases a larger percentage of electricity from Central Power Electric Cooperative and Basin Electric Power Cooperative. In the coming years, Basin will build more power plants and transmission lines to meet a continuous increase in demand.
“At some point, these costs will start trickling down to our own members and we need to start preparing ourselves,” Wes says.
The good news is that the more consumers know about industry issues, the more they can use that knowledge to help keep costs down. Wes says members can do little things that add up to make a big difference, such as turning off unused lights, using compact florescent light bulbs, insulating homes, buying energy-efficient appliances … the list goes on and on.
As the director of communications and public relations, Wes will be the voice of the cooperative. He will educate consumers, legislators and other key lawmakers on important industry issues, and promote the value of being a member- owned cooperative.
“Since 1948, Capital Electric has invested more than $68 million in plant and equipment to serve the people in our service territory. We’ve been a silent, yet vital part of this community, and it’s time to show we’re proud of where we came from and where we will go from here.
“It’s a big responsibility, but this is a different world and it’s time to make our voices be heard,” he says.
Becoming the face of the cooperative
Wes says he always knew he was more of a “people” person than a “numbers” person. Before graduating from Zap High School in 1982, he says he remembers thumbing through his first college catalog and gravitating to journalism.
But business seemed like good career choice in the ’80s, so he went to Bismarck Junior College (now Bismarck State College) and graduated with an associate’s degree in business administration. He continued his education at the University of North Dakota and graduated in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
He spent the next 13 years in the field of public accounting. He worked in the tax departments for Arthur Andersen & Co. in Minneapolis and later Charles Bailly & Co., a firm that merged with Eide Helmeke in 1995. In 1991, he took advantage of an opportunity to transfer to Bismarck so he and his wife, Danay, could start a family back home.
Tired of the long hours and stressful environment, he left his career as a certified public accountant to work as an account executive with iNet Technologies.
While he liked the diverse and creative work, he wanted something more finan- cially profitable to raise his family, which now included two children, Hailey and Parker. He went back to the financial industry and worked for two different local banks, first as a store manager and later as a relationship manager. Finally as a relationship manager, Wes was able to leave the desk job behind. He worked out in the community, checking on existing customers, visiting with potential customers, and hosting ice cream socials and barbecue picnics. Working out and about in the community, he became the face of the bank. And now, as the director of communications and public relations for Capital Electric, he’ll become the face of the cooperative.
Making the world a better place
Wes is encouraging other employees to become the face of Capital Electric, too. He’s currently organizing a team to participate in the Great American bike race, a second-annual spring ditch cleanup effort and a group to walk in the Fourth of July parade.
“Not only does our participation show we care about the people in the communities we serve, but it builds teamwork and morale within,” Wes says.
Volunteering in the community is nothing new to Wes, who gives time to the Bismarck Mandan Chamber of Commerce, Optimist Club, Charity Lutheran Church and United Way. He also used to serve on the Capital Electric Cooperative Nominating Committee, which is how he met the co-op managers and staff.
“From my coworkers to the small-town members, to the urban members to key decision makers, it’s just such a good cross section of people to work with and for,” he says.
“And that’s what a cooperative is all about—working with people; specifically, the member-owners. At heart, I’m a small-town kid from Zap, whose parents were served by Oliver- Mercer Electric Cooperative. I’ve worked for corporate cultures where managers were only concerned about the bottom line. Now, I have the chance to focus my attention on the people. And I’m going to do my best to educate them, to serve them and to help us all find ways to make this world a better place,” he says.