Commuting subsided during the pandemic, but many Bluebonnet-area drivers have returned to the weekday trek. Some of them never stopped.
Sharon Jayson l Photos by Laura Skelding
Rick Gaskamp is a Brenham native who loves his hometown so much that rather than move, he's spent the past 21 years as a weekday commuter to Houston. He's got 414,000 miles on his 2013 black pickup, which is just the latest in a series of trucks and vans he's driven to and from work most weekdays.
This October marks a decade since Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative began working to recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the communities it serves.
To bring attention to the cause, Bluebonnet has illuminated its five member service centers in pink, field crews have put on pink hard hats, service trucks have sported pink ribbon decals and employees have been wearing pink shirts on select days.
Being a cooperative member has its advantages
It's National Cooperative Month – a time to celebrate you, the members of the co-op!
A group of neighbors banded together and organized Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative more than 83 years ago. They worked together for the benefit of the whole community, and the newly established electric lines helped power economic opportunity in our community.
Haven’t spotted any of the highly anticipated Ford Lightning electric trucks on the roads? That’s because they’re very hard to get.
Ford unveiled the all-electric F-150 in May 2021 and began production at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Mich., in April 2021. A year later, the vehicle officially launched and the first deliveries began arriving at Ford dealerships in May 2022.
The Tesla backup switch — designed to simplify installation of the company’s Powerwall solar battery storage system — was tested by Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative in 2021.
Bluebonnet reviewed the device for use in conjunction with Bluebonnet meters. It switches automatically between using stored renewable electricity and Bluebonnet-distributed electricity. Bluebonnet approved the backup switch for use on its system last year.
That humming sound you hear might be the electric vehicle market buzzing all around Central Texas. Many automakers have added at least one all-electric vehicle model to their fleets and have plans to sell more electric vehicles than gasoline-powered ones by 2040.
Going solar or already gone? The next hot sellers in Central Texas homes are battery storage systems, which can conserve that power for later use.
By Alyssa Dussetschleger
It's been a long time coming, but home battery storage of solar-generated power has started showing up on the walls and garages of homes in the Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative service area.
Despite a year of surgery, treatment and tests, the 9-year-old from Rosanky keeps bouncing back
By Melissa Segrest
It's been a long year for 9-year-old Viviann Snow and her mother, Kelsey Snow.
There have been exhilarating ups and depressing downs, a successful surgery and return to Smithville Elementary School, but also medical complications — two serious infections and a second bout with COVID-19. There were seemingly unending days and nights in hospitals, and lots of waiting.
