Douglas Electric Cooperative

09/11/2026

BEFORE THERE WAS
COKE vs. PEPSI,
THERE WAS
REDDY vs. WILLIE.

A TRUE STORY!

Okay, maybe the rivalry wasn’t quite as intense as Coke vs. Pepsi. But there really was a fight between these two guys.

Reddy Kilowatt was created in 1926 and became one of the best-known mascots in the electric utility industry.

Then along came Willie Wiredhand, created to represent America’s electric cooperatives. His lower half was an electrical plug, his body was wire, and his name was a play on the idea of electricity as the rural farmer’s dependable “hired hand.”

Reddy’s owners apparently looked at Willie and thought, “Hold on a minute…” They sued.

The dispute ended up in federal court in the 1950s. Reddy’s side argued the characters were too similar. Willie’s side won, and Willie went on representing electric cooperatives across the country.

While they look like they could be cousins, they came to represent two different parts of the electric utility world.

Reddy was widely associated with Investor-Owned utilities.

Willie belonged to the member-owned cooperative movement.

So around here, we probably ought to remind Reddy that he’s visiting Willie’s house.

09/05/2026

7:35 PM - Power has been restored!

5:45 PM - Crews in the field estimate that they should have power restored in the next 2-3 hours. As always, they will work as safely and quickly as possible to make that happen.

5:00 PM Update – Crews have located a broken pole on the transmission line that feeds the Elkton and Scottsburg substations.

Unfortunately, the damaged pole is in a difficult-to-access location, so repairs may take some time and this could be an extended outage. Once the crew on-site has completed a more thorough assessment of the damage and what will be required to make repairs, we should be able to provide a more accurate restoration timeline.

We appreciate your patience and will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available

3:30 - We have lost trasnmission to our Elkton and Scottsburg substations. This means that all 1,100 members fed from those two substations are without power. As soon as we know more, we will update here. If you have information regarding downed lines or damaged equipment, please call us at 1-888-420-8826.

09/04/2026

This is going to be hard on us. 💔

But sometimes it’s good to miss someone a little. It makes the next time you see them that much more special.

We know how much you look forward to stopping by the DEC office on Mondays, and frankly, it pains us to take that away from you.

But by gosh, we’re going to do it.

DEC will be closed Monday for Labor Day, so our employees can stay home and miss you for a bit.

And we will miss you. Probably more than you’ll miss us.

Stay strong. We’ll get through this together.

Have a safe and relaxing Labor Day. We’ll see you Tuesday! 🇺🇸

09/03/2026

Big news!

Big news for rural Oregon. 🌲

We're excited to announce that DFN has been awarded a $31.5 million contract through Oregon's BEAD Program, and combined with our own matching investment, we're putting more than $42 million into expanding fiber internet across 24 communities in Douglas, Coos, and Lane counties.

That means 4,490 more homes will have access to fast, reliable fiber internet-- built by a local Oregon company that's been doing this for over 25 years.

Bandon. Creswell. Glide. Lowell. Reedsport. Yoncalla. And so many more.

This is what it looks like when a community invests in itself. We're proud to be part of it.💙

📡 More details at the link below!
https://dfn.net/douglas-fast-net-announces-42-million-fiber-expansion-across-rural-oregon/

09/03/2026

It’s not here yet. But with today’s rain and the drop in temperatures, fall has officially fired its first shot.

And I’m not mad about it. 🍂

At DEC, fall is our favorite two-week season between fire wagons and snow chains. 😂⚡🍁

09/01/2026

Wouldn't it be nice to get some rain? Maybe not great for Labor Day camping but its been a long dry summer and it would a welcome change. :-)

09/01/2026

10:15 AM - Power has been restored! While we have our protective devices set to their most sensitive settings, it only takes one contact to cause an outage and the culprit this time was an unfortunate squirrel that lived a little too dangerously. Normally, that would have just caused a small blink in your power and you may not have even noticed it. While we mourn the loss of the squirrel, we're thankful that it wasn't anything more serious. Thank you for your patience!

9:45 AM - About 570 services are out in the Melrose and Elgarose area west of Roseburg, including Elgarose Rd, Doerner Rd, Doerner Cutoff, Becker Rd, Flournoy Valley Rd, Callahan Rd, Snowberry Rd, and the side roads off them. Crews are on the way. We'll update here as we know more about cause and estimated restoration. If you have any information about downed lines or damaged equipment, please give us a call at 541-673-6616

08/27/2026

Anybody new reading this post, this was last night….

94% Outage tonight....on the moon!

If you happen to look outside around 9:12 tonight, you may notice we’ve scheduled a momentary power outage on the Moon.

Just kidding. That one’s not ours.

Tonight, Douglas County gets a pretty great view of a near-total lunar eclipse, with about 94% of the Moon covered by Earth’s shadow at the peak.

The Moon rises around 7:48 p.m. with the eclipse already underway. Look toward the east-southeast and, if you can, find a spot with a clear view above the hills and trees. By the 9:12 p.m. peak, the Moon will be about 13° above the horizon.

🌕 7:48 p.m. – Moonrise, eclipse already underway
🌘 9:12 p.m. – Maximum eclipse, about 94% covered
🌕 10:51 p.m. – Partial eclipse ends
🌙 12:01 a.m. – The faint penumbral eclipse ends

And if you want the deluxe version, Umpqua Community College’s Paul Morgan Observatory is hosting a free public viewing beginning at 8:30 p.m.

No outage report necessary. No linemen will be dispatched. And please do not call us to ask when we expect to have the Moon fully restored.

Enjoy the show!

08/26/2026

UCAN Energy Assistance is in Elkton tomorrow! Stop by the Elkton Community Education Center (Wellness Building) from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to connect with the UCAN team and learn more about energy assistance resources available in our community.

08/25/2026

Gross....We tried to get AI to make us a really cool graphic to go with this extremely well-written post.

This is what it came up with. Seriously....

Apparently, AI thinks high-speed fiber is best served in a bowl and eaten by a brain with a spoon.

We have some concerns. 😂 Don't worry, the machines are not ready to take over yet. We thought it was funny, so we are going to use it anyway.

DFN is pretty darn cool though...and you own it, so there's that!

Douglas Fast Net is a subsidiary of Douglas Electric Cooperative. That means when you choose DFN for your internet service, you’re doing business with a company that ultimately belongs to you.

DFN was built here, for this community, at a time when others weren’t willing to make the investment necessary to bring high-speed fiber to much of rural Douglas County. It is locally controlled, employs local people, and its decisions are made right here.

If DFN fiber is available to you and you choose another provider, that’s certainly your choice. But your dollars are going to another company, often one headquartered somewhere outside our community or even outside Oregon.

When you choose DFN, those dollars stay with a locally owned company that was built specifically to serve this community. And having two strong, locally owned utilities under the Douglas Electric umbrella gives us opportunities to share resources and operate more efficiently while keeping the financial responsibilities of the two businesses separate.

**So, DEC members, when you’re choosing an internet provider, remember: DFN isn’t just another fiber company.

It’s yours.**