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December 2016 Share Package Utility Contacts
Pam Spettel, Blachly-Lane Electric Co-op, (541) 284-2147, [email protected]
Jeff Beaman, Central Electric Co-op, (541) 312-7753, [email protected]
Jeff Marshall, Clearwater Power Co., (208) 798-5204, [email protected]
James Ramseyer, Consumers Power, Inc., (541) 929-8531, [email protected]
Sharon Crisp, Copper Valley Electric Assoc., (907) 835-7005, [email protected]
Todd Munsey, Douglas Electric Co-op, (541) 673-6616, [email protected]
Corby Erwin, Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Co-op, (530) 832-6034, [email protected]
Steve Meyers, Umatilla Electric Co-op, (541) 567-6414, [email protected]
Sabrina Owens, Escambia Electric Co-op, (850) 675-7433, [email protected]
Nikki Dunn Cullen, Florida Keys Electric Co-op, (360) 816-1453, [email protected]
Denise Whitehead, Glades Electric Co-op, (800) 226-4025, [email protected]
8
Cut Your Utility Bills
To ask a question, write to James Dulley, Energy Report, 6906 Royalgreen Dr., Cincinnati, OH. 45244, or check his web page, www.dulley.com.Copyright 2016, James Dulley
James Dulley
8 JANUARY 2016
Above, shelled corn can be burned in corn stoves and some pellet stoves. Corn bought directly from the farm is one of the least expensive home heat sources.Photo by James Dulley
Top, a high-efficiency oil boiler for floor radiant or baseboard heating. Gas and propane models also are available. Photo courtesy of Burnham KO
Select the Best Heat System
for Your Home
Q: My heating and cooling system is 20 years old and it’s time to replace it. I am trying to decide which type of system is best. What do you recommend?
A: When changing the entire system, you have the option of many fuel types
for heating. Electricity is the only cooling fuel option for an air condi-tioner or heat pump.
Operating cost and comfort are the primary factors in selecting a new system. Efficiency and relative cost of the various fuels determine the operating cost. Fuel prices can
fluctuate dramatically, as we have seen recently with fuel oil and propane.
A geothermal heat pump is the most efficient year-round system because it heats and cools using stored heat from the ground. Select a two-speed or variable-speed model for the best comfort. It
continuously matches heating and cool-ing output to the house needs.
The initial cost of a geothermal sys-tem is substantially more than other complete systems, but the utility bill savings easily pays back its higher cost. There still is a 30 percent federal tax credit for geothermal heat pumps installed before 2017.
Install a heat pump instead of a stan-dard central air conditioner even if you plan to have a fossil fuel furnace (called a hybrid system). The installed cost of the system with a heat pump is not significantly more expensive, and your annual utility bills will be lower.
The advantage of a heat pump is it heats efficiently during mild spring and fall weather. During these times, it runs instead of the furnace burners to heat the house. When it gets much colder, the furnace takes over. A heat pump cools as efficiently as a central air condi-tioner during summer.
If natural gas is available in your area,
a condensing furnace generally is the most cost-effective choice. With the glut of domestic natural gas from frack-ing, there should be an adequate supply at reasonable prices for the foreseeable future. Efficiencies are as high as 97 percent.
Since natural gas is not available in many rural areas, a propane or oil fur-nace provides equally comfortable heat-ing. A propane furnace is almost identi-cal to a gas one, but propane is typically more expensive to use and can be in short supply as it was several winters ago. Oil is readily available, but oil furnace efficiency is not as high and requires more extensive maintenance.
Also consider alternative fuels such as firewood, corn, pellets, etc., for sup-plemental heating. Newer models are convenient to use, and the fuel is renew-able. For example, new dual-fuel wood furnaces automatically switch to gas or propane when the wood burns out dur-ing the night.
To compare operating costs, use the following heat contents and your local fuel costs: natural gas is 1,025 Btu a cubic foot; oil, 138,700 Btu a gallon; propane is 91,000 Btu a gallon; electric-ity is 3,414 Btu a kilowatt-hour; fire-wood, 22 million Btu a cord; and corn, 448,000 Btu a bushel. Divide your local cost per Btu by the various system effi-ciencies to compare operating costs.
When changing the entire system, you have the option of many fuel types
for heating. Electricity is the only cooling fuel option for an air condi-tioner or heat pump.
Operating cost and comfort are the primary factors in selecting a new system. Efficiency and relative cost of the various fuels determine the operating cost. Fuel prices can
fluctuate dramatically, as we
model for the best comfort. It
Tips for E� iciency Set your thermostat as low as is
comfortable—68 degrees while at home and even lower when out or asleep.
Keep the system clean. Dirty � lters, coils and fans reduce air� ow, decrease performance and can damage the system.
Weatherstrip ducts and windows. Check outdoor units and ensure
they are not covered by debris.
8 J A N UA R Y 2016
By Curtis Condon
Electricity is one of the greatest things known to man. If you don’t believe that, spend a weekend in January without it.
“What were you thinking?”That was my wife’s reaction when I told her I
had signed up my then 12-year-old son and I for an overnight campout in a snow cave.
I don’t remember my exact response—something about the great outdoors and father-son bonding time—but I didn’t realize the true value of the outing until after it was over.
The day we arrived on Mount Hood was superb. It was sunny and surprisingly warm for being above timberline at 6,000 feet. It was perfect conditions for hiking up the mountain, scouting a suitable campsite and digging snow caves until the waning light of late afternoon.
Nighttime was a different experience altogether.The temperature plummeted with the setting
sun. The wind—which had blown at a constant 20 miles per hour during the day—doubled in velocity and wind chill increased exponentially.
Our clothes were soaked through with melted snow and the sweat of our efforts. The smart thing to do was quickly cook dinner outside on a tiny, sputtering gas stove, then retreat to the relative comfort of the snow cave before we froze to death.
I never knew a cup of noodles could take so long to boil.
Finally inside, we changed into dry clothes and lay in our sleeping bags marveling at our handiwork.
It was a balmy 30 degrees inside. The cold sink, which was the narrow entrance tunnel below the sleeping area of the cave, kept the extreme cold outside. The domed ceiling glistened with condensation from our breath and body heat. An occasional drop of water ran across the ceiling and down the side of the cave rather than dripping on us. It was just the way the Boy Scout handbook said it was supposed to be.
But the novelty wore off quickly. When you think about it, there’s really not much to do in a cold, cramped space, with only 3 feet of snow
between you and subzero temperatures outside. No heat. No television. No microwave popcorn.
The only light we had was a battery-operated mini lantern. It was too dim to read by, but it provided enough light to play a dozen or so hands of cribbage before the batteries died and we were in total darkness.
“What were you thinking?”That was what I thought as I glanced at my
glow-in-the-dark watch and calculated 20 hours, 17 minutes, 39 seconds still to go in the campout.
I can’t say we slept much, but morning finally came after what seemed an eternity. That was soon forgot-ten in the chores and play of the new day, and the unceremonious destruction of our snow caves before loading up and heading home in the afternoon.
It was dark by the time we pulled into the driveway back home, the windows lit with a warm, welcoming glow. The motion-sensor carriage light clicked on as we wrestled our gear out of the truck and up the sidewalk to the front door.
My youngest son waited in the open doorway peppering us with questions. As we closed the door behind us, it was like entering another world. We were bathed in light, and warmth from the furnace and the smell of dinner cooking in the oven enveloped us. My wife worked at her computer while listening to one of her favorite CDs, and I could hear laundry tumbling in the dryer and see my son’s video game paused in a reflection in the living room window.
That’s when it hit me: Electricity really is one of the greatest things known to man.
How could I ever have taken it for granted?Electricity was at my disposal 24/7 for all sorts
of wonderful things: lighting, heating, cooking, laundry, housekeeping, work, hobbies, entertainment and more. Yet before my epiphany it seems the only time I appreciated it was when I needed it, but it wasn’t there. Or, worse yet, I complained unfairly about its price.
“What were you thinking?”That is what I ask myself now when I remember
those unenlightened times. Fortunately, I don’t take electricity for granted anymore, thanks to a frigid, eye-opening reminder about life without it. n
Taken for GrantedEvery now and then, we need to be reminded about the wonders of electricity
Curtis Condon is editor of Ruralite magazine in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Voice BoxCommentary on Power Issues
28 J A N UA R Y 2016
Power LinesEnergy News For Consumers
By Ted Case
The future of technology is not always easy to predict. Just ask the screenwriters of the 1989 blockbuster movie “Back to the Future 2.”
The movie depicted America in 2015, complete with flying cars, hoverboards and, perhaps the most outlandish of all predictions, the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series. Much of the technology in the movie does not exist today, and some on the screen—fax machines and phone booths—seems more like near
relics of an ancient civilization. If the movie is not a serious look at the
future, what lies ahead is a serious subject for the electric utility industry.
This curiosity inspired the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association in 2015 to develop an education program for its members to tackle the fundamen-tal question: What will the electric utility industry look like in 2040, a quarter cen-tury from today? Perhaps more impor-tantly, how will utilities—particularly small, rural utilities—survive what has been dubbed the technology tidal wave?
The electric utility industry has been around officially since 1882. It has shown a remarkable capacity to serve consumers with safe, affordable and reliable electricity, with only an occasional lapse in judgment.
(Thomas Edison once electrocuted an ele-phant in a public display to discredit the new alternating current technology being advanced by his competitor, Nikola Tesla.)
While the industry has experienced exponential growth, the business model has remained basically the same for more than 100 years.
Industry experts convened by ORECA at conferences and seminars throughout the year had differing viewpoints about the future, but there was unanimous agreement on one point: Rapidly changing technologies are providing utility members with more cost-effective energy supply choices than ever before.
Distributed generation such as solar and emerging battery technology have raised questions about the existing utility
Back to the FutureExperts give co-op leaders their views on the industry 25 years from now
John Saven, left, and John Prescott—electric industry experts in the Northwest—postulate on the future of electric cooperatives at the 2015 Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association annual meeting.Photo by Mike Teegarden
J A N UA R Y 2016 29
business model and whether it is in for a disruptive transformation similar to that of the communications industry, where nearly 40 percent of Americans now have no landline phone.
Using this example, ORECA asked its experts to answer the following questions: In the future, will customers disconnect from the grid in mass numbers, relying on solar panels and batteries, render-ing incumbent electric utilities obsolete? Will the power poles and wires stretching throughout America’s landscape become the next version of the phone booth?
Not so fast, said Tony Ahern, former CEO of Buckeye Power in Ohio and one of the foremost experts in the electric utility industry. Speaking at ORECA’s Director Education Conference in June 2015, Ahern noted, “Twenty years is simply too short for radical transformation of the electric grid.”
Ahern does not discount that battery technology and renewable energy are viable technologies. However, in his view, technology has not always lived up to the hype.
“We went to the moon with fuel cells,” Ahern said, “but we can’t use them to eco-nomically drive around the block.”
The Apollo space program is an oft-cited example of transformative technological advancement, a mere 66 years passing from the time Orville Wright flew 120 feet to Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon.
Other technological breakthroughs are equally astounding. In 39 years, the telecommunications industry went from the first handheld mobile phone to 4 billion mobile phones nationwide.
Now all eyes are on the new Tesla bat-tery plant near Reno, Nevada, which is slated to be operational sometime in 2016. Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicts the plant will cut the price of its batteries one-third, which could begin to revolutionize the automotive and electric utility industries.
According to Steve Collier, a vice president at Milsoft Utility Solutions and a nationally recognized grid expert,
cost-effective energy storage does not just change the utility ballgame.
“It creates a whole new sport,” he said.Collier spoke before Oregon electric
cooperative leaders not long after hearing Musk’s plans for the electric grid. While change is coming, Collier believes consumer-owned utilities are well-positioned—sort of.
“I believe there will be electric cooperatives 25 years from now,” Collier said. “Some that exist today may prosper if they overcome terminal incumbent monopoly complacency and embrace new technologies with the same enthusiasm that originally electrified rural America.”
Wallace Barron, a former utility execu-tive who teaches a technology class for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, agrees innovation is the key to survival.
“It will be a struggle for those who are business as usual,” he said. “There will be a shakeup in our industry. The paradigm shift train is coming.”
Another paradigm shift in the industry has nothing to do with lithium ion batteries: the retirement of experienced utility leaders.
For many years, several Pacific Northwest consumer-owned utilities have relied on two bona fide giants in the electric utility industry—Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative’s John Prescott and Northwest Requirement Utilities’ John Saven—to help plot their power supply future. Both men are retiring in 2016, exposing the generational shift underway
in the electric industry. In a panel discussion at the ORECA
annual meeting titled “Parting Shots,” Prescott and Saven outlined their vision of the future.
“The utilities that will thrive in the future are ones that are closest to the customer,” Prescott said. “This bodes well for consumer-owned utilities.”
Saven believes hydro-based power supply prevalent in the West will greatly benefit utilities facing a carbon-constrained world.
“You have a special resource that is non-emitting and has no fuel costs,” he said.
According to Barron, three major strat-egies will be employed by utilities in the new marketplace. Some will be partici-pants. Some will be spectators. Some will “fight it to the bitter end.”
For their part, Oregon’s electric cooper-atives have been early adopters of the new utility marketplace, leading the way with smart meter technology that allows for programs such as prepay metering, giving members the ability to buy their electricity in advance.
Carbon and renewable energy also are taking center stage in the utility debate. While those in the Bonneville Power Administration hydro system already offer an electricity portfolio that is more than 95 percent carbon-free, Oregon electric cooperatives have invested in renewable energy sources such as geothermal, landfill gas and wave power. Like their counterparts in other Western states, several Oregon electric cooperatives offer community solar programs to meet their customers’ needs.
Just as the “Back to the Future” screen-writers whiffed on the view of the future, there is no certainty ORECA’s panel of prognosticators will get it right, either.
No one knows exactly what the electric utility industry will look like in 2040, but experts agree that giving consumers what they want is a good recipe for success.
For those fans of the luckless Chicago Cubs, there is always 2041. n
“The utilities that will thrive in the future are ones that are closest to the customer. This bodes well for consumer-owned utilities.”
—John Prescott
As we board the bus on an early July morning, I see a lot of nervous smiles. In these moments, we’re still strangers. My goal is to get each person to laugh, to share and to think before we leave Nez Perce County. I know once that ice is broken, the remaining 250 miles will fly by! - said Jeff Marshall. This always proves to be easier than it sounds. The amazing young people who apply for the Youth Rally have already shown courage and character. Upon arrival, they’ll apply those qualities to a week-long leader-ship camp/scholarship competition.
The Youth Rally isn’t made for one kind of person. Some delegates are already on a path to a limitless future. Others have yet to venture far from their own home. Delegates who want a challenge are going to get one – others just want a chance to meet new people from new places and experience something far and away from their own home town. The bonding and the growth are extraordinary.
The six 2015 delegates are all from small towns; a few don’t even live in a “town” at all. Many have confided that it’s hard to relate to new people when you’ve grown up in such a small community. The Youth Rally is one place where everyone
understands rural living. Most of the utility sponsors serve very small or rural areas. Some much more isolated than our neck of the woods. One delegate won a Starbucks gift card, but since the nearest Starbucks was four hours away, he gave it to another delegate.
At the rally, 68 students were eligible for 19 scholarships. Impressively, all SIX Clearwater Power students were recog-nized with scholarships and cash awards totaling more than
$6,000 combined. In addition, Devin Richards tallied the highest score of all Idaho students and earned a trip to the national rally in Washington, D.C. next summer. This marks the fifth time since 2007 that a Clearwater Power student earned the top score!
Despite such achievements, the lessons these students learned from the activities, the speakers, the other kids, and ultimately about themselves were far more valuable
than the money and awards they received. A one-week camp can’t turn someone into a leader by itself. It can however, help build a foundation of success and confidence that will pay divi-dends throughout college and throughout life.
One delegate won a Starbucks gift card, but since the nearest Starbucks was four hours away, he gave it to another delegate.
Local PerspectiveFrom Clearwater Power Company
Out of the ZoneThe Power of (YOU)THWritten by Lori Mai with Jeff Marshall
4 J A N UA R Y 2016
I wanted to move out of my zone and meet a lot of new people at the youth rally. My favorite activity was having free run of the waterpark, but the main thing I learned was about relationships - that it’s ok to go up and make friends with somebody. Even if they’re a little di� erent, there are still things you can enjoy about them. And I learned that I have something to o� er other people too.
It was really cool to meet people from all over Idaho and other states and make friends with high-level kids who were striving to achieve something, who wanted to be there and learn to do something with their lives. It was nice step out of my comfort zone - we played a lot of games, and we learned to work as a team. It was cool to see that come together so fast!
I’ve been online schooled my whole life -I was stepping out of my comfort zone the whole time! It was de� nitely interesting to see the di� erent learning style. My roommate was from Alaska, and one night we had a thunderstorm, which she loved because they don’t have thunderstorms in Alaska. It gave me a nice perspective of how people are di� erent but still the same!
I don’t normally talk to that many people outside of my circle of friends, so it was really out of my comfort zone. I tried to sit at a new lunch table every day, talk to di� erent people and not just hang out with one group. It worked, because I got voted to be a returning director next summer!
Callee Beebe, Potlatch
Jenny McFarland, Peck
Rebecca Pierce, Sweetwater
Stephen Grobey, Nezperce
Devin Richards, Princeton
Going to the youth rally de� nitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. I was a little afraid at � rst, because I have a hard time meeting new people unless I’m forced to! But it was really cool to meet everybody because everyone was so di� erent and from so many di� erent places. There were about 100 kids there, and we literally met every single person
by the time we were done. I felt so outgoing, and that was di� erent
for me. I felt like a leader!
Kadence Lanier, Cavendish
I liked learning new things at the youth rally, like how a [melon] can cook from the inside with a direct [electric] current! We all got to spend the day hanging out and playing basketball with some kids who were in a juvenile detention recovery program. It was really interesting to see that we could learn from and teach each other about making choices. I would encourage other kids to get out of their zone and go to the youth rally and give it their all and I’m looking forward to the national rally in Washington, D.C.!
J A N UA R Y 2016 5
Your electric bill includes more than the cost of the energy you use. The equip-ment, materials, technologies and people it takes to deliver service is a major part of the cost, too.
Electricity Grid More Than Poles and WiresYour basic service charge keeps the power flowing
The electrical system includes more than 39,000 power poles. They are inspected and maintained on a regular rotation and replaced when necessary, sometimes unexpectedly.
If you strung the more than 3,100 miles of CPI electrical wire from Canada to Mexico, along the West Coast, you would make the trip more than two and a half times.
It takes more than 17,300 transformers to convert the high-voltage electricity on our system to the voltage levels that power your homes and businesses.
Consumers Power
4 J A N UA R Y 2016
Our crews undergo hours upon hours of safety and professional training each year. In fact our lineman consistently rank near the top when competing in international competitions.
Building, operating and maintaining our system requires the use of 60 vehicles, many of them with specialized uses. A 27-ton line bed truck can cost as much as $400,000.
Our information technology staff dedicates hundreds of hours to cybersecurity activities, protecting sensitive information and ensuring network reliability.
The co-op’s 26 substations are essential to moving electricity at different high-voltage levels across our distribution and transmission system.
Our customer service representatives help members by fielding hundreds of office visits and telephone calls every day. They provide assistance with account maintenance, billing inquiries, energy-effi-ciency programs as well as offer water heaters and light bulbs for pur-chase.
Clearing and maintaining the right of way is a never-ending cycle for CPI crews.
J A N UA R Y 2016 5
, . .BE A PART OF A YOUTH TOUR IN
HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS! SPEND A WEEK IN WASHINGTON, D.C., ALL EXPENSE
PAID, BY SUBMITTING AN APPLICATION TO UMATILLA ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
>Applications are avaliable at Umatilla Electric offi ces in Hermiston and Board-man, or online at umatil-laelectric.com
>Applications are due nolater than 5 p.m. � ursday, January 4, 2016.
> A high school junior during the 2015-2016 school year in Umatilla Morrow Counties.
>� e applicant’s parent or guardian must be a member of Umatilla Electric Cooperative (UEC).
WHO CAN APPLY?
>� e Washington, D.C. Youth Tour will take place June 9-16, 2016.>1,600 students from around the country will take an all expense paid trip to learn about our nation’s history, government and electric cooperatives.
THE TRIP
APPLICATIONS
J A N UA R Y 2016 29
w
By Todd C. Munsey
A few short months ago, Douglas Electric Cooperative wel-comed new General Manager Cameron Frasnelly. Cameron died unexpectedly December 3, leaving a beautiful family and a world of friends.
The Roseburg community has experienced more than its share of sadness and grief in recent months. Losing Cameron was shocking to so many who loved and respected him.
One of Cameron’s closest friends, Aric Fromdahl, captured it best: “I don’t think I could do justice to my friendship with Cam in words. Knowing and loving him since the first grade and spending the majority of my boyhood life with him, growing into young men together, and finally raising families together, ‘double dating’ every year while escorting our daughters to the Father-Daughter dance, is hard to compress into words. There is a per-vasiveness of Cameron in who I am.”
In a world where people typically have one best friend, Cameron had many.
A celebration of life was held for Cameron on December 19. To no one’s surprise, the hall was standing room only. Electric industry representatives, friends and family gathered to grieve, mourn and share, but ultimately celebrate the life of someone who had touched so many.
Oldest niece Kaylie shared how they decided to color the gray in Cam’s hair. The dye job lasted about a minute before he rushed to the shower to rinse it out. Niece Breann said she “blocked from my memory the birds and the bees” talk that Uncle Cameron shared with her.
Many light moments helped balance the emotional roller coaster of tears and grief. The man was truly loved by all who knew him.
Cameron was hired at Douglas Electric in 2012 as the direc-tor of information technology. He was named assistant general manager in April 2014, with the intent of replacing Dave Sabala when he retired last July. Cameron was named general manager later that year.
To a person, the cooperative employees, inside staff and out-side crews were excited to have Cameron as our new general manager. And to a person, we are incredibly sad that he is gone.
If there was one thing that stood out about Cameron, it was his sincere love and caring for his employees. He always made time for us. He always made himself available, if only for idle conversation.
We offer our thoughts and prayers to Cameron’s wife, Sheila, their children, Annika, Isabella and Jackson, and the family and friends he left behind. n
They Say There is a ReasonThey say there is a reasonThey say that time will heal.But neither time nor reasonWill change the way we feel.For no one knows the heartacheThat lies behind our smiles.No one knows how many timesWe have broken down and cried.We want to tell you somethingSo there won’t be any doubt.You’re so wonderful to think ofBut so hard to live without.
Remembering James Cameron Frasnelly
From left, Cameron, son Jackson, wife Sheila and daughters Annika and Isabella.
Douglas Electric
J A N UA R Y 2016 25
28 J A N UA R Y 2016
By Courtney Linville
The water heater is the second largest energy user in the typical all-electric household
“The average use is about 24 percent on your bill,” says Vern Rice, Central Electric Cooperative energy services supervisor. “And that percentage is actually increasing over time as houses become more effi-cient and space heating is shrinking.”
As more appliances have increased energy effi-ciency, it can be tough for consumers to decide which models best suit their needs. In the case of water heaters, there are three styles: traditional, heat pump and tankless.
Traditional Water HeatersThe traditional water heater is available in sizes smaller than 55 gallons. If you want something larger, you may still be able to find models larger than 55 gallons, but only until retailers’ existing inventory is sold out.
This limitation is due in part to changes in the federal standards for electric water heaters. As of April 15, 2015, heat pump water heaters are the only products to meet the standards for tanks larger than 55 gallons. This strategy helps reduce energy waste and save customers money.
In a traditional water heater, the water is con-stantly heated in the tank with heating elements at the bottom and top. When the hot water tap is turned on, hot water is released from the top of the tank. The water used is replaced by cool water entering the bottom of the tank. The tank is always full.
Heat Pump Water HeatersHeat pump water heaters are the most efficient model for consumers. They have about double the efficiency of standard electric tank-style heaters and are often more cost effective than tankless water heaters.
Heat pump water heaters pull air into them from the space around them, extract the heat from that air and exhaust the cold air. There are several types of heat pump water heaters: tiers 1, 2 and 3. Tier 1 units blow the cold air back into their location,
Water Heaters: Which One Should You Buy?
Central Electric
Heat pump water heaters have about double the efficiency of standard electric tank-style heaters.
4 J A N UA R Y 2016
while tiers 2 and 3 exhaust the cold air outside the house.
Vern says one misconception people have about heat pump water heaters is expense. With today’s CEC rebate and Oregon tax credits, he says consum-ers could get an efficient water heater at a greatly reduced cost.
“It’s a no-brainer,” Vern says. “If I had an electric water heater and I was going to upgrade, I would go with the heat pump water heater.”
Electric Tankless Water HeatersWhile the appeal of instant hot water has its place in the world, tankless water heaters are not as popular as you might think. Vern says the units are typically more expensive than traditional water heaters and have only a small increase in efficiency.
“The efficiency of an electric tank-style is about 93 percent,” he says. “The tankless electric is about 98 to 99 percent, so we are talking about 5 to 6 per-centage points, whereas heat pumps are 200 percent more efficient. It’s big savings versus little savings on
the tankless.”A tankless water heater does not store hot water,
but heats water as needed. Depending on the model, there is either one or a series of heating ele-ments actived when the hot water valve is opened. The unit only heats the water as long as the valve is opened.
Vern is quick to point out that often, unless the system is being installed in a brand new house, cus-tomers also will need to upgrade their wiring and circuit breaker because of the large amount of elec-tricity needed instantly to operate the unit.
“You really have to do your homework and care-fully consider a tankless unit to see what advantages it would provide,” he says. “In most cases, there are few advantages.”
Helpful AdviceIt still can be daunting to decide which model best suits you. Vern often tells members to plan for the future. If you plan to start a family in a few years or you will be downsizing, take into consideration how much hot water you will use.
If you have done the research and looked at all the facts and are still undecided, Central Electric members can contact Vern or CEC Energy Specialist Ryan Davies by calling (541) 548-2144.
“We love specifics because then we can really direct people to what is best for their individual situ-ations,” Vern says. n
Not Ready to Buy? Try These Handy Hints If you are not quite ready to pull the trigger on buying a new unit, there are several things you can do to help your current water heater.
First, make sure the temperature is not set higher than120 degrees. This can be done with a thermometer and the tap closest to the water heater.
Next, if you have an older tank in an unheated space such as a garage, consider an insulation blanket. Check your tank, because some manufacturers prohibit the use of blankets.
Finally, if you are going away for an extended time—more than a weekend—go to the circuit breaker and turn off the water heater if there is no chance of the tank freezing. Remember to turn it on immediately upon your return because it will take time to heat up.
Find more energy saving tips at www.cec.coop.
Tankless water heaters generally are more expensive than tradi-tional tank-style water heaters and have only a small increase in efficiency.
J A N UA R Y 2016 5
Blachly-Lane Electric
Businesses provide mem-bers and customers with goods—tangible items that meet the needs and desires of the buyer—and services—or intangibles. In the case of Blachly-Lane Electric Co-op, the goods are the power we provide members, and the services are everything else it takes to support getting the power to your home or business.
Your electric bill shows the cost of the energy you buy in the kilowatt-hour charge. The equipment, materials, technologies and people it takes to deliver service are the part of the cost captured in the facilities charge. The pho-tos here portray many of the items covered in your facilities charge. n
More Than the Electricity You Use:Blachly-Lane Has You Covered
Building, operating and maintaining our system requires the use of 19 vehicles, many of them with specialized features. For example, a six-wheel-drive brushing truck used in right-of-way work cost as much as $279,000.
The co-op’s eight substations are essential to moving electricity at different high-voltage levels across our distribution and transmission system. That is a lot of equipment and upkeep.
28 J A N UA R Y 2016
Changes in the electric industry are causing utilities to examine the ways they recover their fixed costs. Blachly-Lane continues to respond by adopting facilities charges that accurately reflect the costs of delivering power to members, and by adopting kWh rates that accurately reflect the cost of the power.
Top, Blachly-Lane delivers electricity using more than 6,500 power poles. Poles are inspected and maintained on a regular schedule and are replaced when necessary, sometimes unexpectedly.
Above, it takes more than 4,500 transform-ers to convert high-volt-age electricity on our system to voltage levels that power your home or business.
Left, Blachly-Lane’s 515 miles of distribution line reaches from the BLEC office to San Francisco when laid out along highway routes.
Our crews and other employees undergo a collective average of 844 hours of safety and professional training each year.
Each month, we experience about 27,000 unsuccessful cyberattacks against our network. Our information technology staff dedicates about 416 hours a year to cybersecurity activi-ties, protecting sensitive information and ensuring network reliability.
J A N UA R Y 2016 29
Copper Valley
Keep Your Information Safe OnlineBy Allison Goldberg
Keeping your personal information secure online might seem like a diffi-cult task, thanks in part to nearly con-stant news of breaches, bugs and hacks. Luckily there are steps you can take to increase your online security and decrease the likelihood that a malicious hacker will steal your private data.
Be skeptical. Bring the same skepticism you’d bring in the brick-and-mortar world to your experiences online. • You wouldn’t provide your credit
card number, Social Security num-ber and mother’s maiden name to a stranger on the street. Don’t do it online. Only provide it to trusted sources on secure sites. Look for “https” or a padlock symbol in the address bar.
• If you receive an email purport-ing to be from a known entity, like your bank or credit card, asking you to click through to log into your account, instead go directly to the site by typing the URL into the address bar. You can also call the number on your card or the official website to inquire about the email.
• Use a credit card with consumer protections to shop online instead of your debit card, which would give a thief direct access to your checking or savings account. Try to use only one card for all your online purchas-es to further reduce risk exposure.
Don’t overshare. Social media can be a fun way to share our lives, yet some things people happily post publically on social media can com-promise safety online and offline.• Your birthdate is key information
to accessing many accounts. If you want to share your birthday online,
consider not sharing the year.• Your mother’s maiden name, your
favorite pet, the street on which you grew up and even your favorite sports teams can be used to answer challenge questions to access vari-ous accounts. Keep this information shared with friends only, if possible, or pick non-factual responses to use consistently in response to security challenge questions. “Favorite pet? Abraham Lincoln.”
• Consider not using your full legal name on public social media accounts.
Arm yourself. It will be more difficult to keep your information secure online if your com-puter, tablet, smartphone, browser and home network are vulnerable.• Secure your wireless network—and
all your devices—with strong pass-codes that use a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols. Some security experts sug-gest creating a sentence with per-sonal meaning from which you can create an acronym. Change your passwords once every six months.
• Only use public wireless networks that are secure. If you must use an unsecured network, do not con-
duct financial transactions, such as accessing your bank account.
• Make sure your operating system and browsers run with the latest updates and security patches.
• Use security software on your com-puters and run regular scans.
• To keep digital documents safe, you can encrypt your computer, your tablet and even your phone. Alternatively, keep important or sensitive documents, like medical records and tax returns, on an exter-nal hard drive that isn’t connected to the Internet; plug into it only when you must access those documents.
• Keep information safe offline, too. Securely shred any bills, financial statements, prescription labels, health information, receipts and similar documents that you do not need or want to keep. The personal information in these paper docu-ments could compromise your iden-tity both on- and off-line. Consider opting-out of pre-approved credit offers that, if they fell in the wrong hands, could allow someone to apply for credit in your name. Go to www.optoutprescreen.com or call 800.5.OPTOUT.
Reduce, reuse, recycle and redact! Before donating your old electronics to charity or taking them to your local e-recycler, delete all data. Instructions and apps exist to walk you through wip-ing your electronics clean of all traces of you, and it’s an important part of keeping your personal correspondence and online identity out of the hands of strangers, ill-intentioned or otherwise. nAllison Goldberg writes and edits employee benefits-related materials for the Insurance & Financial Services Department of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Arlington, Va.-based service arm of the nation’s 900-plus consumer-owned, not-for-profit elec-tric cooperatives.
j a n ua r y 2016 25www.cvea.org
Plumas-Sierra REC
What brings a Japanese pro-fessor of geographical eco-nomics halfway around the world to Portola? The his-tory of Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative.
PSREC was pleased to host Dr. Nishino Toshiaki, direc-tor of the Institute of Regional Science in Takasaki City, Japan. He is on faculty at the Takasaki City University of Economics, and is a professor of geography.
Toshiaki has done much research on the mountain villages in Japan, and helps promote policy strategies for positive regional promotion.
Toshiaki studies the geog-raphy of an area to determine what kinds of businesses and industries could be sustained
based on local resources. Toshiaki’s passion is his
native Japan, where forests account for 68 percent of land area and mountain vil-lages comprise 47 percent of that. However, the popula-tion of these small villages has seen an alarming decrease in recent years, due in large part to advances in technology and a migration of younger gen-erations to more urban areas.
Prior to World War II, the main industries of the region included the production of raw silk, charcoal and timber.
In his research paper Toshiaki outlines the current conditions of the mountain villages.
The factors that contrib-ute to the decline of moun-
tain villages in Japan are as follows:
• Expansion of economic differentiation between city and mountain villages, which has expanded in the rapid economic growth.
• Heavy and chemical industries have established themselves in cities.
• Decline in the pro-duction of charcoal in the mountain villages due to the adoption of propane gas as an energy alternative.
• Production of raw silk has declined because restric-tions on imports had been relaxed and moreover, televi-sion, the electric refrigerator and electric washing machines began to spread to households in Japan at this time.
Story by Susan Hansen
Students at the Takasaki City University of Economics, where Dr. Nishino Toshiaki teaches, pose with a bag the professor brought back on his return from visiting Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative in September.
Communities Half a World Apart Share a Common Mission
Susan Hansen is married to District 5 Director, David Hansen. Susan and David live in Doyle, and have two grown sons who help operate the family tax service.
28 J A N UA R Y 2016
Interestingly, Lassen, Plumas and Sierra counties experienced similar challenges through the years, with cut-backs in the forest and timber industries. While agriculture still accounts for a large part of the region’s economy, gov-ernment regulations and a decrease in the availability of timber closed many of the sawmills, which were once a main source of income and jobs.
To sustain populations in this region, other sources of income must be found. Toshiaki was interested in determining what positive transformations have been made or could be made to create sustainable growth in the greater Portola region.
Toshiaki arrived at PSREC on September 1. Thanks to the cooperation of General Manager Bob Marshall, Marketing Manager Donna Mills, and board of directors member David Hansen, the professor was able to spend several hours studying his-torical documents, maps and board minutes dating back to the co-op’s inception in 1937.
There was discussion of how the availability of water, the railroad, sawmills, cattle ranching, farming and other industries shaped the eco-nomic development of Portola and surrounding areas in the early days.
There also were articles highlighting life in the region before electricity, when people relied on wood, butane, coal oil and windmills for heat, light and water. Everything from household chores to milking cows and lumber processing was done by hand.
The arrival of electric-ity to Lassen, Plumas and
Sierra counties brought with it indoor plumbing, hot run-ning water, modern house-hold appliances, refrigeration, milking machines, powerful irrigation pumps and com-mercial lumber mills.
Things have changed quite a bit from the early days in rural America. Many of the benefits PSREC delivers today were unheard of when pioneers worked tirelessly to bring affordable power to the region. But the mission to improve the lives of members and the rural communities in which they live remains the same.
Many of the rural areas of Japan are still without electricity.
In the end, Toshiaki noted unmistakable similarities between his mountain villages in Japan and the Portola area: loss of economic opportunity; a decline in youth popula-tion and an increase in aging population.
Later that evening, PSREC treated the professor and his assistant to a relaxed dinner at a local res-taurant, where there was much laughing and fellow-ship. He returned to the co-op the next day to continue his research before head-ing back to San Jose
that afternoon.Toshiaki stressed the
importance of restructuring the regional economy by capi-talizing on local resources.
In a follow up email to PSREC he wrote, “There is a possibility that the regional economy will develop in the future of Portola. Please take on the center function in society for area development.”
On comple-tion of his visit, Toshiaki expressed his sincere gratitude and desire to revisit PSREC.
While con-versation during the professor’s visit proved challenging at times, the common mission to improve people’s quality of life through sustain-able development was clearly understood. n
A Good Luck GiftJust as Dr. Toshiaki learned much about our area while he was here, he also provided insights into the city in Japan where he is from.
As is the Japanese custom, Dr. Toshiaki bestowed PSREC with gifts from his town: chopsticks,
cookies from a bakery in Takasaki and the
lucky “Daruma Dolls” that
provide significant income for the city.
The Daruma
doll—or Okiagari,
meaning to get up (oki)
and arise (agari) in Japanese—was
originally a toy for children. The Daruma has come to
symbolize the ability to have success, overcome adversity and recover from misfortune. As a result, the dolls are thought to bring the owner good luck, and are used as a means to keep track of goals or big tasks.
Daruma dolls come with the eyes blank. When the recipient makes a wish or a goal they fill in one eye, and then the other upon fulfilling the wish or goal. A one-eyed doll serves as inspiration to accomplish the task.
Takasaki is host to the annual Daruma Doll Festival, held in celebration of being the proclaimed birthplace of the Daruma doll. According to the Takasaki City website, “Over 400,000 people from all over the Kanto Plain come to buy new good luck dolls for the year.”
Takasaki City produces 80 percent of Japan’s Daruma dolls.Dr. Nishino Toshiaki stands by a sign in the Kanto mountain
region in the Gunma Perfecture, Japan.
J A N UA R Y 2016 29
Got cabin fever this winter? Spend time mak-ing your home more energy efficient and start saving for your summer vacation.
You can trim your electric bill by taking a few simple steps. Following are recommenda-tions for year-round energy and money savings from Escambia River Electric Cooperative and Touchstone Energy Cooperatives.
January: Lower your thermostat a few degrees during winter and save as much as $85 a year. Programmable thermostats make it easy to save by offering preprogrammed settings to regulate a home’s temperature throughout the year.
February: Adjust your water heater. Turning down the temperature gauge to below 120 F can heat up your savings.
March: Stop air from escaping your home and money from escaping your wallet. Head down to your home’s basement and seal those leaky ducts.
April: A little caulk can go a long way. Air
leaks add up. Caulking cracks and openings to the outside could save more than $200 a year.
May: Put your refrigerator on your spring cleaning to-do list. Throw out expired items, clean the refrigerator inside and out, and check the temperature gauge. For maximum effi-ciency, a refrigerator’s temperature should be between 37 and 40 F.
June: When was the last time you changed a filter? Replacing furnace and air conditioner filters regularly can have a big effect on a home’s energy use. Dirty filters restrict air flow and reduce the overall efficiency of your cool-ing system, forcing it to work harder on hot summer days.
July: Heading out of town on vacation? Unplug all of your electronic devices, such as computers, monitors, printers, TVs and cable boxes, DVD players and microwaves. Electronics with digital displays and instant-on features consume energy even if not in use.
August: Your home’s cooling costs can sky-rocket—right along with the temperature out-side—during summer. Keep your thermostat set between 78 and 80 F to save up to 8 per-cent monthly on cooling bills.
September: Be a “fan-atic.” While they do not replace an air conditioner or a heat pump, fans move the air so everyone feels more comfortable. On a milder day, a fan is a more energy-efficient choice than cranking up the air conditioning. Fans cool people, not rooms, so turn them off when you leave the room.
October: Get ready for winter by insulating your attic. Adding 9 or more inches of insula-tion could save $150 a year.
November: As the weather cools down, pull up your window shades. Keeping blinds open during cold weather lets heat from sun-light in, reducing the need to turn up your home’s thermostat.
December: Top your Christmas wish list with an Energy Star appliance. Upgrading appliances such as washing machines to Energy Star-rated models can save up to $140 a year. nDuring the spring, get out your caulk gun and fill cracks and openings to the outside world.
Plan for a Year’s Worth of SavingsUse Energy Wisely
Small changes add up to big savings when it comes to energy efficiency
Escambia River
8 J A N UA R Y 2016
Resolve to Eliminate Electrical Hazards
Protecting your family from electrical shocks, house fires and tripping hazards is easier to do than losing 20 pounds or quitting smoking, so make safety New Year’s resolution No. 1.
The Energy Education Council offers these simple ways to do that:
• Inspect your outlets. Loose-fitting plugs can surprise someone with a shock or even start a fire. If your wall plate is broken, replace it so wires are not exposed. Insert plastic safety caps into unused outlets if your family includes young children.
• Make peace with plugs. If a plug does not comfortably fit into an out-let, do not force it. Never remove the grounding pin (third prong) to fit a three-prong plug into a two-prong outlet.
• Be careful with cords. They are not designed to last forever. Discard frayed or cracked cords. Move them out from under carpets or rugs.
• Pack up extension cords. They are fine for connecting strands of holiday lights together and helping decorations reach plugs during December. But come January 1, pack them up and store them. Extension cords are designed for tempo-rary use.
• Watch your wattage. The light bulbs in your lamps and overhead fixtures
should match the specifications on those fixtures. A bulb whose wattage is too high can overheat.
• Upgrade the wiring. Faulty electri-cal wires start many house fires. If you hear popping or sizzling sounds behind the walls or if light switches feel hot, do not use those fixtures or switches until a licensed electrician replaces them.
• Find no fault. Ground-fault circuit interrupters are a must in every outlet in the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, base-ment, garage and outdoors.
• Fuss with your fuses. If you do not know whether your fuses are the right
size for the circuit they are protecting, call an electrician.
• Adjust appliances. If a circuit trips every time you plug in your hair dryer, or if your coffeemaker has ever shocked you when you plugged it in, you either have faulty appliances or an overloaded circuit. An electrician can identify and solve your problem.
• Get what you need. Unless you live in a new house, you probably use more electricity than the builder ever dreamed you would. Call an electrician to deter-mine whether your home needs more electrical capacity. n
Keep It Safe
Keeping You in the Loop … Tree-Trimming LocationsDuring January, Escambia River Electric Cooperative right-of-way crews will trim trees and clear vegetation from power lines on Highway 87 south to Whiting Field Circle. Thank you for giving crews and their equipment space to work safely and keeping yourself out of harm’s way.
Check your plugs, outlets, cords and fuses to ensure a safe living space
Escambia River
J A N UA R Y 2016 25
Look for Ways to ConserveChanging behaviors is crucial to saving waterBeing vigilant in inspecting equipment and changing behaviors can help you use less water. Consider these tips.
• Check faucets and pipes for leaks. A small drip from a worn faucet washer can waste 20 gallons of water a day. Larger leaks can waste hundreds of gallons.
• Check your toilets for leaks. Put a little food coloring in your tank. If the color appears in the bowl within 30 min-utes without flushing, you have a leak that should be repaired immediately. Most replacement parts are inexpensive and easy to install.
• Use your water meter to check for hidden water leaks. Read the house water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak.
• Put plastic bottles or a float booster in your toilet tank. To reduce water waste, put an inch or two of sand or pebbles inside each of two plastic bottles to weigh them down. Fill the bottles with water, screw on the lids and put them in your toilet tank, safely away from the operat-ing mechanisms, or buy an inexpensive tank bank or float booster. This may save 10 or more gallons of water a day. Be sure at least 3 gallons of water remain in the tank so it will flush properly. If there is not enough water to get a proper flush, users will hold the lever down too long or do multiple flushes to get rid of waste. Two flushings at 1.4 gallons is worse than a single 2.0 gallon flush. For new instal-lations, consider buying low-flush toilets, which use 1 to 2 gallons a flush instead of as much as 7 gallons. Replacing a 4.75-gal-lon-per-flush toilet with an ultra-low vol-ume 1.58-gallon flush model represents
a 70 percent savings in water flushed and cuts indoor water use by about 30 percent.
• Don’t use the toilet as an ashtray or wastebasket. Every time you flush, water is wasted.
• Insulate your water pipes. It is easy and inexpensive with pre-slit foam pipe insulation. You will get hot water faster and avoid wasting water while it heats up.
• Take shorter showers. Turn off the shower after soaping up, then turn it back on to rinse. Long showers use 5 to 10 gallons every minute.
• Install inexpensive water-saving showerheads and low-flow faucet aera-tors. Low-flow means it uses fewer than 2.5 gallons a minute.
• Turn off the water after you wet your toothbrush. There is no need to keep the water running. Just wet your brush and fill a glass for rinsing.
• Rinse your razor in the sink. Fill the sink with a few inches of warm water. This will clean your razor with far less wasted water.
• For optimum water conservation, use your dishwasher and clothes washer for full loads only.
• With clothes washers, avoid the permanent press cycle, which uses an extra 5 gallons of water for the extra rinse. For partial loads, adjust water lev-els to match the size of the load. Replace
old washers. Energy Star-rated models use 35 to 50 percent less water and 50 percent less energy per load. If you are in the market for a new washer, consider buying a water-saving frontloader.
• Minimize the use of kitchen sink garbage disposal units. In-sink “garbu-rators” require lots of water to operate properly, and add considerably to the volume of solids in a septic tank, which can lead to maintenance problems. Start a compost pile as an alternate method of disposing of food waste.
• When washing dishes by hand, do not leave the water running for rinsing. If you have a double-basin, fill one with soapy water and one with rinse water. If you have a single-basin sink, gather washed dishes in a dish rack and rinse them with a spray device or a pan of hot water. Dual-swivel aerators are available to make this easier.
• Most dishwasher soap manufactur-ers recommend not pre-rinsing dishes.
• Don’t let the faucet run while you clean fruits and vegetables. Instead, rinse them in a stoppered sink or a pan of clean water. Use a dual-setting aerator.
• Keep a bottle of drinking water in the refrigerator. Running the tap simply to cool it for drinking is wasteful. n
Source: www.eartheasy.com/live_water_saving.htm
Avoid letting the faucet run while cleaning fruits and vegetables.
Florida Keys
26 J A N UA R Y 2016
‘Currents Battle’ Paved the Way for Rural ElectrificationUnlike direct current, alternating current makes it possible for electricity to travel long distances
Long before Tesla was associated with high-performance electric vehicles and renewable-energy batteries, the name belonged to an unconventional inventor who transformed how electricity is used.
Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 in what then was the Austrian Empire and now is Croatia. After immigrating to the United States at age 28, Tesla began to work for the leading inventor of the time, Thomas Edison.
Edison tasked Tesla with redesigning the Continental Edison Co.’s direct cur-rent generator, promising Tesla a substan-tial bonus if successful.
Tesla completed the task, but when he sought his bonus, Edison told him he had been joking and there was never a bonus. Tesla left the company a short time later.
Edison was a proponent of direct cur-rent. We use direct current today in just about everything powered by a battery: cell phones, solar cells and our car’s igni-tion. But powering the nation with elec-tricity is a different matter.
Electricity generated with direct cur-rent is unable to travel long distances, so power plants had to be within about a mile of the end user.
Tesla—who was born into a rural fam-ily—recognized the limitations of direct current. After leaving Continental Edison Co. and starting Tesla Electric Co. in 1886, he patented technology using alter-nating current, which could travel long distances by being stepped up to higher voltages and then stepped down to safe, usable levels before it entered homes.
Tesla leased his patents to George Westinghouse in 1888 and began work-ing for him. With this new working rela-tionship, the two “currents” were on a collision course.
The Current BattleEdison launched a campaign against alter-nating current and spread misinformation to deter its adoption. According to Edison, alternating current was dangerous.
Undeterred, Tesla and Westinghouse continued their efforts.
The turning point came not in the United States, but in Germany in 1891 at the International Electro-Technical Exhibit where—using alternating current—motors moved and lights glowed, thanks to power generated more than 100 miles away.
By the next year, Edison—who then was working for General Electric—saw his direct current dream disintegrate when GE merged with Thompson-Houston and immediately invested in alternating current power.
ImplicationsEdison’s technology did not allow electric-ity to travel the distances needed to reach the countryside. It would have been pro-hibitively expensive to build power plants everywhere electricity was needed.
Thanks to Tesla’s alternating current victory, electricity can travel hundreds of miles before reaching its final destination.
Headquartered in Tampa, Seminole Electric Cooperative—the wholesale power provider for Glades Electric Cooperative—generates electricity that powers homes across Florida.
Seminole owns and operates the Seminole Generating Station in Palatka and the Richard J. Midulla Generating Station in Bowling Green. Electricity generated at Seminole’s facilities travels hundreds of miles across high-voltage transmission lines before reaching dis-tribution lines such as those operated by GEC, which carry safe, reliable and affordable electricity to your home. n
Above, Thomas Edison’s light bulb, circa 1879. Opposite page, a sketch from Life magazine shows Edison at work in his laboratory.
Glades ElectricNeighbors Working for Neighbors
4 J A N UA R Y 2016
J A N UA R Y 2016 5
Glades ElectricNeighbors Working for Neighbors
Statement of NondiscriminationGlades Electric Cooperative Inc. is the recipient of federal financial assistance from the Rural Utilities Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and is subject to the provisions of Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1975, as amended; Executive Order 11246, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; and the rules and regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which provide that no person in the United States on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, disability or handicap shall be excluded from participation in, admission or access to, denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any of this organization’s programs or activities.
The person responsible for coordinating this organization’s nondiscrimination compliance efforts is Jeffery R. Brewington, CEO of Glades Electric Cooperative. Any individual, or specific class of individuals, who feels this organization has subjected them to discrimination may obtain further information about the statutes and regulations listed above from, and/or file a written complaint with, this organization; or the secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250; or the administrator, Rural Utilities Service, Washington, D.C. 20250. Complaints must be filed within 180 days after the alleged discrimination. Confidentiality will be maintained to the extent possible.
Affirmative Action StatementGlades Electric Cooperative Inc. is an affirmative action organization and will continue to meet its nondiscrimination and affirmative action obligations by insisting that all contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and others who do business with the cooperative also adhere to strict nondiscriminatory and affirmative action practices.
Additionally, Glades Electric Cooperative will continue to insist on full compliance of its affirmative action plan in its hiring, promotion and other employment practices. The cooperative invites and encourages all minority individuals and groups to participate in all its membership activities, to be active in the vending of materials and supplies, and to enter bids on contracts for services needed by the cooperative.
Any minority individual or minority group interested in participation in any of these activities and needing more information about equal opportunities at the cooperative may contact Jeffery R. Brewington, CEO and affirmative action compliance officer, Glades Electric Cooperative Inc., by writing to him at Glades Electric Cooperative, P.O. Box 519, Moore Haven, FL 33471, or by calling him at (863) 946-6200.
By Adam Schwartz
It started as a simple idea 27 years ago at one cooperative in South Carolina. Just round up the member’s electric bill to the next dollar and use it to do good work in your community.
Today, hundreds of electric co-ops throughout the country—including Glades Electric Cooperative—use this idea to help members and organizations close to home.
All cooperatives adhere to the seven cooperative principles, including “Concern for Community.” The Operation Round Up program is the embodiment of this core principle. The average member donates $6, with a maximum possible contribution of
$11.88 a year. While this may not seem like much, when combined with 11,362 other GEC mem-
bers who participate in the program, it adds up to make a significant impact. Members
also have the option of making an even big-ger impact through Operation Round Up Plus by
increasing their contribution by adding whatever amount they choose to their normal contribution ($1 minimum).
Each cooperative decides how it wants to operate the pro-gram. Most have a board of volunteers that is different from the cooperative’s board of directors. The program is always volun-tary. At any time, members can change their minds about par-ticipating. Once folks see the good work the program does in their community, most keep contributing.
Through the years, millions of dollars have been collected and distributed for a wide range of activities: helping a family in need after a house fire, assisting the local food pantry, providing funds so the local domestic violence shelter can buy needed supplies and contributing to dozens of other humanitarian efforts that bring cooperatives even closer to the communities they serve.
While each cooperative must respond to the needs of its members, one of the great attributes of cooperatives across the country—and the world—is their willingness to share infor-mation about programs that have been successful. Operation Round Up is a perfect example of that cooperative spirit.
Glades Electric Cooperative is pleased to offer Operation Round Up and Operation Round Up Plus. We will continue to borrow ideas from other cooperatives and welcome your par-ticipation. Please share with us additional activities we should explore to serve you and your neighbors. n
For more information about Operation Round Up, to participate in Operation Round Up Plus or to make a one-time individual donation to Operation Round Up, call (863) 946-6200.
Cooperatives Leverage the Power of Pennies to Help the Community
26 J A N UA R Y 2016
