N.F. LEIFER MEMORIAL JOURNALISM AWARD
Every edition of Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News contains each electric co-op's own, personalized pages. Found on pages 15-18, the local news is developed by personnel at each co-op. Local pages have been a part of the magazine since May 1950.
In the spirit of friendly competition and as a way to encourage local editors and reward their efforts, each year since 1966, WECA has presented awards to individual co-ops for excellence in presenting their local news. Annually we present an award for overall excellence--the N. F. Leifer Memorial Journalism Award, named for "Lefty" Leifer, former manager of Vernon Electric. Lefty was instrumental in the founding of the REA News back in the spring of 1940, making the statewide electric co-op publication the first of its type in the nation.
The Leifer Award winner is determined by an outside communications professional, who evaluates three chosen selections of each co-op’s local pages and determines which co-op was most successful in presenting local news.

Past Leifer Award Winners
1966 Crawford
1967 Crawford
1968 Crawford
1969 Richland
1970 Crawford
1971 Columbus
1972 Barron
1973 Crawford
1974 Rock County
1975 Eau Claire
1976 Barron
1977 St. Croix
1978 Crawford
1979 Buffalo
1980 Vernon
1981 Buffalo
1982 Grant
1983 Head of the Lakes
1984 Oakdale
1985 Barron
1986 Jackson
1987 Barron
1988 Barron
1989 Grant
1990 Vernon
1991 Adams-Columbia
1992 Oakdale
1993 Oakdale
1994 Grant-Lafayette
1995 St. Croix
1996 Oakdale
1997 Grant-Lafayette
1998 Eau Claire
1999 Vernon Electric Cooperative
2000 Oconto Electric Cooperative
2001 Adam-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2002 Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2003 Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2004 Vernon Electric Cooperative
2005 Dunn Energy Cooperative
2006 Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2007 Richland Electric Cooperative
2008 Richland Electric Cooperative
2009 Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2010 Adams-Columbia Electric Cooperative
2011 Richland Electric Cooperative
2012 Rock Energy Cooperative
2013 Clark Electric Cooperative
2014 Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2015 Jackson Electric Cooperative
2016 Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2017 Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2018 Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2019 Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2020 Eau Claire Energy Cooperative
2021 Oakdale Electric Cooperative