Grayson Collin News
You may not think you need to have an understanding of energy demand and purchasing, but do you ever look at your energy bill and wonder what it all means? If your answer to that question is “yes,” then you might be interested to learn how demand impacts your utility bill.
To start, it is important to understand how electricity is made and how it is delivered to your home.
Before Grayson-Collin Electric Cooperative can send electricity to your home, that electricity needs to be generated by a Generation and Transmission cooperative (G&T). Once the electricity has been generated, it travels over high-voltage transmission lines to substations, where the voltage is reduced to a safer level. The electricity then travels over distribution power lines and finds its way into your home. So, while you pay your bill to us – your electric distribution cooperative – we don’t actually generate the electricity you use. That is the job of the G&T.
We do help to determine how much electricity our members need to power their homes and businesses, and you play a big part in determining how much electricity the G&T needs to create in order to keep the lights on in our community. That is where these terms “consumption” and “demand” come in.
Consumption is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh). Demand is measured in kilowatts (kW). A lightbulb “consumes” a certain number of watts, let’s say 100 watts per hour. If that lightbulb stays on for 10 hours, it “demands” a certain number of kilowatts (in this case, 1 kW) from the generation station producing electricity. Now, if you turn on 10, 100-watt lightbulbs in your home for one hour, you are still consuming the same number of kW. However, you are placing a demand on the utility to have those kW available to you over the course of one hour, instead of ten. This requires the generation and transmission plant to produce more power in less time in order to meet your demand.
Grayson-Collin Electric Cooperative purchases kilowatt hours from the G&T based on the average demand of our members. Peak demand refers to the time of day when the demand for electricity is highest. This is typically during the evening when families return home from work or school, cook dinner and use appliances the most. Using electricity during this peak demand period often costs more to both Grayson-Collin Electric Cooperative and to our members.
Demand is the reason your electricity bill fluctuates season to season and even year to year. Generating and distributing power can be a tricky and complicated business, but rest assured Grayson-Collin Electric Cooperative will work endlessly to meet the necessary demand to provide safe, reliable and affordable electricity to your family.
Recent News
Grayson-Collin Safety and Loss Control Prepares for the Future
Grayson-Collin Safety and Loss Control Prepares for the Future
Nathan Tillett becomes a Certified Loss Control Professional
Madison, Wisconsin (August 2026): Grayson-Collin Safety and Loss Control, Nathan Tillett has completed an intensive program in electric utility safety and loss control. The certified Loss Control Program isa series of workshops offered by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association in conjunction with the National Utility Training & Safety Education Association. The program is designed to instruct participants in many areas related to electric utility industry safety.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, nearly 4 million injuries occur annually in the workplace. One of the goals of a Certified Loss Control Professional is to help ensure a safe work environment for utility workers and the public in general. Avoiding workplace accidents avoids down time and can ultimately lead to lower utility rates.
Nathan Tillett is one of only a few electric utility professionals in the country that will receive this certification this year. The program requires participants to complete a rigorous series of seminars and tests, a 30-hour OSHA course, and a detailed final course project.
Loss Control participants go through four week-long sessions that are designed to challenge and educate participants in new, innovative safety techniques. Participants must also maintain their certificate by attending courses every year to stay on top of changes in the industry.
Nathan Tillett has been with Grayson-Collin Cooperative for 22 years. Nathan began his career as a groundman, worked through 3rd, 2nd, and 1st class proficiencies. He worked as a foreman for several years before moving into the safety and training department, working as a safety coordinator and most recently became our Manager of Loss Control. We tip our hard hats to him and his dedication to serving our members and upholding a high standard of safety for our operations team.
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Possible survey in your upcoming Texas Co-op Power
We wanted to give you a heads up that you might be receiving a reader survey in the next few weeks. Some of our members may receive a questionnaire by mail and we just wanted to let you know it was legitimate in case our members had any questions. A crisp $1 bill is included with the survey and you may keep it even if you choose not to complete and return the survey—but we hope they will provide feedback as it’s extremely valuable to the Texas Co-op Power publishing team in Austin.
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