Remembering Customer Corner
By: Holly Haining – Zulieve
Undoubtedly, my most enjoyable project as a contributing writer to Mid-Coast Energy Systems (MCES) has been the Customer Corner feature in The Pipeline Newsletter. I have met some wonderful people and spotlighted some impressive projects over the last ten years. Behind all of the monotonous details of any mechanical installation lies the human story behind the story – and everybody has one. It’s always fascinating as to why someone chooses to live in Maine; and if they are relocated, what drew them here? I am a lover of real estate and architecture, so I never tire of hearing how a customer found a particular property, what they love about it and how they made it their own. An extra bonus is that I’ve also had the opportunity to meet a lot of great pets along the way. Perhaps most importantly from a customer service point of view is – I’ve learned how and why in a vast sea of HVAC contractors, these customers chose MCES.
I’ve interviewed customers who have lived all over the world, worked for the U.S. government, commanded nuclear submarines, taught school or were farmers. We’ve highlighted installation of everything from geothermal to generators, age-in-place bathroom modifications to water treatment and radiant in-floor heating to air conditioning.
Here are some highlights of past Customer Corner articles:
In July 2008, we featured a new propane wall-hung boiler installation in a historic house in Waldoboro. Cutting edge innovation at the time, today wall-hung boilers are routinely in use. In January 2011 we began introducing new mini-split heat pump air conditioners. What began as cutting edge technology and seemingly foreign then is now common place. MCES has installed thousands of units since 2011.
Anyone who has been reading The Pipeline regularly knows about the geothermal revolution that we experienced beginning in 2012. We highlighted geothermal projects in Madison, Brunswick, Cushing, Newcastle and Damariscotta. While solar and geothermal are interesting technologies, getting to know these customers and why they chose to install geothermal was even more interesting. 
One of the most meaningful stories involved one of my favorite people Bob Hardina -who founded MCES in the 1970’s and still remains involved today. Bob shared the story behind his master suite addition and how his new accessible bathroom has improved his quality of life.
