Like many organizations in the region, the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative is taking steps to protect employee health and prepare for a local coronavirus outbreak.
AVEC has closed its Anchorage and Bethel offices to members and visitors, according to CEO Meera Kohler. People can still pay their bills online, over the phone, or at the kiosk in Bethel, which is located right outside the AVEC office in the Alaska Commercial Company store.
Employees will continue to travel to communities to repair and maintain equipment unless the state or local government bans travel. Kohler says that AVEC does not generally disconnect service during the winter if people cannot pay, and the utility revisits that policy continuously. Currently, most employees are working from home.
AVEC has canceled all out-of-state travel, and following Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s travel mandate, is requiring its employees who return from outside Alaska to isolate themselves at home for 14 days. The co-op is meeting to decide whether to reschedule its April annual meeting in Anchorage. Kohler said that the meeting is “tentatively cancelled” as of now.