Keeping Lincoln Powered: An Inside Look at Les Lincoln

If you live in Lincoln, you probably talk to Les Lincoln all the time without even realizing it. Les Lincoln, whose official name is Lincoln Electric System, is in charge of giving our city reliable electricity at prices that most people can afford. But what is Les Lincoln, and how does this local utility keep the lights on? This article will talk about Les Lincoln’s history, how it works, and how it affects the community.

A Locally Controlled Utility

Unlike large investor-owned utilities, Les Lincoln is a public power utility owned by the city of Lincoln. This means that rather than being focused on profits and shareholders Les Lincoln is able to focus solely on providing reliable power to Lincoln residents and businesses at the lowest possible cost.

The Lincoln City Council chooses who serves on the Les Lincoln Administrative Board, which is in charge of running the utility. Because of this, policies and decisions can be made with Lincoln’s needs in mind instead of the shareholders’ needs in other countries.

Local control also enables Les Lincoln to be highly responsive to the community during outages and emergencies Crews are able to mobilize and restore power faster thanks to their close proximity and familiarity with Lincoln’s electrical infrastructure,

Keeping the Lights On: Les Lincoln’s Reliable Service

While we don’t often think about it electricity is an essential service modern life depends on. That’s why reliability is a top priority for Les Lincoln. Through proactive maintenance infrastructure upgrades, and prompt outage response, Les Lincoln maintains a high level of reliability.

The average Les Lincoln customer has less than two hours of downtime a year. Outages don’t happen often, but when they do, Les Lincoln works quickly to get service back up and running. Customers can easily report outages via phone, text, or online. Sophisticated systems leverage smart meter technology to pinpoint outage locations rapidly. Then, quickly, crews are sent to fix what needs to be fixed and get the power back on.

Les Lincoln also invests heavily in its electric infrastructure to minimize outages. Pole inspections, line upgrades, vegetation management, and substation maintenance are conducted on a regular schedule. These proactive measures keep problems from developing and reduce outage frequency.

Low Rates: The Benefits of Public Power

As a not-for-profit community owned utility, Les Lincoln is able to provide electricity to customers at very affordable rates. In fact, Les Lincoln’s rates rank among the lowest nationwide! This is a huge perk of having locally controlled public power.

By cutting out the profit margins of private shareholders, Les Lincoln is able to focus directly on providing low-cost service to Lincoln. Operations and infrastructure improvements are managed for maximum efficiency rather than maximum profits.

Les Lincoln also enjoys certain financial advantages as a public entity including access to low-cost financing. This enables major capital projects to be completed at a lower overall cost to the utility and community.

For customers, it all adds up to great rates and outstanding value. Les Lincoln residential customers pay an average of just $2.99 per day for their electricity needs. That’s less than a basic cup of coffee from the local café but with far more benefit and enjoyment!

Engaging and Supporting the Community

In addition to providing reliable electricity, Les Lincoln works hard to engage with and support the Lincoln community. As a community-owned utility, Les Lincoln strives to be a good community partner through outreach, education, local partnerships, and corporate citizenship.

Les Lincoln provides free educational presentations to local students and community groups. These programs help attendees of all ages learn more about electrical safety, energy conservation, and how Les Lincoln serves the community. Les Lincoln linemen even visit classrooms to educate kids directly!

The utility also partners with the City of Lincoln, LPSNRD, community non-profits, and local contractors through a variety of programs that benefit residents. Rebates encourage customers to install energy efficient appliances and HVAC systems. Income-qualified customers can receive financial assistance paying their electric bills plus energy efficiency upgrades to lower their costs long-term.

Les Lincoln also gives back to the community through event sponsorships, volunteer projects, and donations to local charities. As a community-owned utility, Les Lincoln is committed to enhancing the quality of life for all Lincoln residents.

Les Lincoln: Powering Lincoln’s Future

From local control to reliability to low rates, Les Lincoln delivers tremendous benefits to Lincoln thanks to its community-owned structure. While the utility has a rich 55+ year history of powering our homes and businesses, Les Lincoln continues to innovate and plan for the future.

Significant investments are being made in renewable energy, decarbonization, electric vehicle infrastructure, and battery storage. These initiatives will help ensure Lincoln’s power remains affordable, sustainable, and reliable for generations to come. It’s all part of Les Lincoln’s commitment to serving our community now and well into the future.

So next time you turn on a light, plug in your phone, or run the A/C on a hot summer day, remember that trusted homegrown utility making it possible: Les Lincoln. Our local publicly owned power system works hard every day to safely and reliably power our lives while keeping rates low and supporting the community.