Case Study
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GO-Live Date
November 25, 2025
Trusted Web Experts
Caleigh Pickard
Web Solutions Consultant
Stacey Horton
Project Manager
Imelda Sotiri
Design Strategy
Emma Walsh
UX Layout Design
Nikki Vanderkooi
Content Strategy & Integration
Heather Clark
Quality Assurance
Mehran Aziz
Web Development
Zeeshan Aziz
Web Development
Lydia Burris
Footer Illustration
Leanna Thesken
Design Intake & Marketing
Deanna Frimann
Resource Allocation
Goals
Overview
A Forward-Thinking Website for OCEC
Okanogan County Electric Cooperative (OCEC) continues to evolve with the Methow Valley, offering electric and propane service and preparing to introduce broadband through Methownet. With this growth came the need for a refreshed website that supported clear navigation, transparency, and everyday convenience. By partnering with Powerful, OCEC created a streamlined platform that reflects their modern direction while honoring the cooperative principles at the heart of their mission.
Confident, Streamlined Member Experiences
OCEC serves the Methow Valley through two major services: Electric and Propane. Each one plays a unique role in the community, and both needed their own space to shine online. OCEC wanted a website structure that honored the individuality of each service without forcing visitors to hunt through electric-related content or click into an external propane subsite. Their goal was simple: clear, intuitive paths that support every visitor’s needs from the moment they arrive.
Powerful introduced a department header that gives Electric and Propane their own dedicated sections within the same website. Visitors can toggle between the two with a single click, instantly landing on content specifically for that service. This approach eliminates the need for a separate propane website and prevents propane information from being buried under Electric categories. Each service gets the visibility it deserves, while visitors enjoy a seamless transition from one to the other.
Both homepages follow Powerful’s Deschutes blueprint, which highlights essential tasks at the top of the homepage. The Electric homepage features buttons like Manage Account, Quick Pay, Start/Stop Service, and New Construction, set against a striking winter scene that feels local and relatable. Propane mirrors this structure with Pay My Bill, Request a Fill, Safety, and Contact Us, paired with a photo of OCEC’s propane team and delivery truck—giving the page a grounded, community feel. Subtle color differences—Electric’s bold blues and yellows versus Propane’s calm teals and navy—help visitors instantly recognize where they are.
The department header ensures visitors never feel lost or unsure where to click next. The design naturally guides people to the information they need. The unified structure also encourages more engagement with online tools, since the clearest actions appear front and center on both homepages. Members can move between Electric and Propane services without friction, giving OCEC a modern, visitor-friendly foundation that supports their mission of providing accessible, high-value service across the entire membership.
Transparency That Honors Democratic Member Control
Transparency is at the heart of the cooperative model, especially under the principle of Democratic Member Control. OCEC wanted their website to reflect this value by making board governance more accessible and member-friendly. Rather than relying on long lists of PDF links, Powerful implemented the Agendas & Minutes app, which transforms OCEC’s board meeting archive into a clean, intuitive, and engaging experience.
Powerful implemented the Agendas & Minutes app, which organizes board documents into a clean, easy-to-browse format. Instead of encountering a long stack of filenames, visitors see a structured list with dates, meeting titles, and icons representing agendas, meeting locations, and minutes. Members can quickly scan for the month they’re looking for, expand past years, and stay informed about cooperative decision-making without feeling overwhelmed. For OCEC’s admin team, uploading documents is straightforward. New minutes can be added in just a few steps, ensuring timely updates.
The result is a more welcoming and straightforward way for members to stay connected to their cooperative’s leadership. Information that once took effort to locate now appears in a format that feels approachable and organized. This reinforces OCEC’s commitment to democratic engagement and ensures members can follow key discussions and decisions with confidence. It’s a meaningful step forward in keeping the community informed and involved.
Challenges
For OCEC, the challenge was creating a website that could move their cooperative forward without losing sight of where they came from. Their service area is rich with natural beauty, tradition, and local pride, and those elements deserved to have a place in the design. At the same time, OCEC wanted a site that showed they are evolving, growing, and ready to serve members in new ways. Balancing these two goals—preserving heritage while signaling progress—became a key focus of the redesign.Solutions
To address this balance, Powerful introduced an illustrated footer that captures the heart and character of the Methow Valley. The artwork weaves together elements that locals know well—Liberty Bell Mountain, the flowing Methow and Chewuch Rivers, the valley’s alfalfa fields, and the mule deer that define the region. A nod to the Mule Deer Hot Air Balloon Festival adds a playful, community-rooted detail that feels unmistakably OCEC. Rather than sitting apart from the rest of the site, the illustration blends seamlessly with the established color palette, creating a cohesive visual anchor that appears across pages without feeling heavy or distracting.The footer also serves a purpose beyond aesthetics. It becomes a visual signature, gently grounding visitors in OCEC’s service area no matter where they land on the site. The combination of a clean, modern layout with a regionally inspired illustration allows the site to feel fresh and forward-thinking while still reflecting the cooperative’s long-standing presence in the valley. It’s a design approach that respects both where OCEC is headed and the community that shaped them.
Results
The illustrated footer gives OCEC a recognizable visual identity that feels both modern and deeply connected to the Methow Valley. Members instantly see familiar landscapes and symbols from their community, which helps the site feel personal rather than generic. This sense of place reinforces that the cooperative is rooted in the same valleys, fields, and rivers its members call home. It offers a steady visual reminder that their electric and propane services are supported by people who live and work alongside them.The new design also strengthens OCEC’s ability to present themselves as a forward-thinking organization. While the layout, navigation, and interactive features reflect current best practices, the illustration keeps the experience warm and grounded. Visitors encounter a site that looks polished and contemporary, yet still carries the cooperative’s character and history. The balance between these two qualities helps OCEC communicate progress without distancing themselves from the community values that define their work.
The updated design helps members feel more connected to the cooperative. It invites visitors to engage with OCEC in a way that feels natural, not transactional. Together, the design and illustration set the stage for a site that can grow with the cooperative while still honoring the community at its core.
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Quotes
Team Comments
The OCEC team came to Powerful looking for a website experience that was professional, friendly, and overall easy-to-navigate for their members. To help with that, they opted-in for our department header package, which allows their site visitors to easily toggle between the electric site and the propane subsidiary, all while being able to manage from one backend. Additionally, by adding a beautiful illustrated footer that showcased events and landmarks in their area, OCEC was able to make their members feel at home. This site turned out so great and I’m excited to see how the team settles in!
Project Manager
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