REC Section - Ravalli Electric

Ravalli Electric Co-op
Corvallis, Montana
NOTICE: Annual Meeting Date Change: Saturday, March 19, 2016
2015 LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE ANNUAL MEETING
WESCO
HDR
Western Glove Distributing Inc.
Carlson Sales Inc.
HD Supply Power Solutions
Zacha Underground Construction
Smith Janitorial Service
Custom Plumbing Inc.
NISC
First Security Bank
Family of Banks
Cheese Factory Garage
Titan Trucks
Gail Goheen
Mountain Broadcasting 102.5
OS2 Office Solutions & Services
The Ranch 107.1
The Ride 94.3
Missoula Broadcasting Company LLC
Corvallis Subway
Harper’s Bitterroot Valley Tire Center
Corvallis Auto Parts
Heberly and Associates
Border States Electric
Professional Impressions Printing
Town Square Media 94.9 KYSS FM
Bell McCall Co
Al’s Cycle
Ravalli Electric Co-op
Volume 28, No. 8
From the Manager’s Desk...
Ravalli Electric Co-op
What about the Hydro-electric Dams and Their Effects on Salmon?
Recently, I received a letter from
a member that attended our Annual
Meeting requesting an article on the
effects of the Columbia and lower
Snake River Dams on the salmon
runs in the Northwest in addition to
generating electricity. Salmon in the
Pacific Northwest have always faced
challenges to survive. As far back
as the mid-1800s, salmon faced issues of over fishing, mining and loss
of habitat.
The 1930s brought expanding
urban growth and the construction
of the dams on the Columbia and
Snake rivers. They too contributed
to reduction in salmon numbers
and loss of habitat that pushed their
stock toward extinction. These
same dams helped bring the Pacific
Northwest and the nation out of
the Great Depression, electrify and
power the rural communities of the
four state regions while providing
power to help the United States win
World War II, irrigation for farming
and recreation opportunities as well.
During these times the salmon faced
hard times.
Eighty years later things are
changing and there are more salmon
in the Columbia River now than
when the Bonneville dam was built
in 1938 on the lower Columbia.
Salmon runs are trending upward
due to increased hatchery production and harvest restrictions on wild
salmon populations. 2014 saw
salmon return to the Columbia River
in the highest numbers in 75 years.
Fall runs of salmon and steelhead
totaled 2.3 million. These numbers
exceeded the past record set in 2011,
when 2.1 million Chinook, sockeye,
steelhead and Coho salmon returned.
In ten years salmon return rates
have almost doubled. Good ocean
conditions are a primary reason but
changes in dam operations, new
technologies that were and continue
to be installed help salmon pass the
dams, improvements in hatchery
practices, and habitat restoration efforts are helping too. These changes
are part of the nation’s largest and
most expensive wildlife restoration project. Funded in part by the
members of REC and the citizens of
the Northwest!
Since 1978, REC members and
utility rate payers across the Northwest have contributed over $14
billion through their electric bills
to increase salmon runs. These increases could not have been reached
with out the collaboration of federal,
state, tribal and other river users.
All have helped ensure the safe
passage of salmon past the dams on
their way downriver to the ocean
and on their return journey.
Survival rates are averaging
approximately 97% for juvenile
salmon migrating past the eight
dams on the Columbia and Snake
River. Over the last ten years the
dramatic increases in fish returns is
demonstrating the health of the fish
runs. Between 2002 and 2011 wild
Chinook salmon populations have
more than tripled while the average
wild steelhead populations have
doubled!!
The numbers are impressive and
being a REC member it’s rewarding
to know that money from you electric bill has helped this remarkable
success story unfold.
126790
137380
The electric grid connects us all
By Justin LaBerge
milk your cows produce had to instantly
go from harvest to consumption. Lastly,
imagine that the demand for your product
never stops and varies wildly throughout
the day, but you always had to produce the
exact right amount with no shortages or
overages. That’s what electric cooperatives
do every day to keep the lights on.
To meet this challenge, power companies rely on a complex and interconnected
electric grid to deliver power to homes and
businesses across America the instant that
it’s needed. The electricity powering the
lamp that you’re using to read this article
was generated a fraction of a second before
it was delivered to your home – most likely
at a power plant far away from where you
live.
These same challenges are true for
people who want to generate electricity at
their homes or businesses through technologies such as solar panels, small wind
turbines and manure digesters that produce
methane.
It’s unlikely that the amount of available sunshine, wind or manure is always
perfectly matched to your immediate
energy needs. Sometimes the sun is shining
brightly when nobody is home, but most
people still want electricity after the sun
goes down. That’s where the electric grid
comes into play.
By staying connected to the electric
grid, your home is part of a larger system.
You can usually feed extra energy back
into it when you don’t need it, but more
importantly, the grid is there to make sure
you always have enough power when you
need it.
In addition, the interconnected nature of
the grid means that when there’s a problem
with a generator on the system – whether
that’s a homeowner’s rooftop solar array
or a large power plant supplying energy
to hundreds of thousands
– there are plenty of other
generation resources available to step in and quickly
meet the need.
In some ways, the
electric grid is the ultimate
example of a cooperative.
Every power company,
from electric co-ops to
investor-owned utilities to
government-run systems,
must work together across
state lines to ensure there
is always enough energy to
power our lives.
Electric cooperatives are
leaders in the renewable
energy revolution. Three of
the top four solar utilities in
America are electric cooperatives. The vast majority
of wind turbines in this country are built in
rural areas served by cooperatives. In fact,
America’s electric cooperatives support
an entire team of researchers who work on
issues related to renewable energy, power
reliability and future technology.
Great leaders always look to the future
but remain grounded in practical reality.
Great leaders look out for everybody they
serve and strive to ensure their actions will
serve the greater good. These are the same
qualities that make electric cooperatives
special. Though our nation’s energy future
is uncertain, there’s no doubt that America’s electric cooperatives are helping to
write it – and doing so with our members’
best interests driving every action we take.
Ravalli Electric Co-op
The energy industry is in the midst of
an unprecedented period of transition. As
this energy revolution unfolds, a modern,
interconnected and reliable electric grid
has never been more important.
In April, Elon Musk, the charismatic
billionaire CEO of Tesla, introduced a new
lithium ion battery called the PowerWall.
In typical fashion for this brash tech entrepreneur, Musk paints a rosy picture of a
future where homeowners disconnect from
the power grid and meet all their power
needs through a combination of rooftop
solar and battery storage.
It’s exciting to imagine a
future where renewable energy
systems will allow us to generate and store electricity in a
reliable and cost-effective way.
Though there are many working
hard to realize that goal – including electric cooperatives – it
is still a long way from reality.
Unlike gasoline or propane,
electricity is a form of energy
that is difficult to store in large
quantities. Batteries can hold
enough energy to power small
devices for moderate amounts
of time, but current battery
technology cannot practically
and economically store enough
energy to power larger items
like appliances and TVs for
longer durations.
We don’t know when the cost, size,
quality and reliability of battery storage
will improve to the point that it becomes
a viable option to help meet our energy
needs. If/when that happens, it has the
potential to transform countless aspects of
our lives, from our smartphones to our cars
to our electric system.
The lack of a viable option for largescale energy storage creates another
challenge for power companies. Electricity supply and demand must always be
perfectly matched.
If you’re a farmer, imagine what your
job would be like if you couldn’t store
your product – not even for a short period
of time until a truck could come to pick it
up. Imagine if the grain you grow or the
Ravalli Electric Co-op
Safety:
Members that live up the East
and West Forks know that as
summer winds down and the
weather heats up Ravalli Electric
Co-op (REC) will be notifying
them that as in years past since
the fires of 2000 we’ll be placing
our electrical power lines in their
area on ONE-SHOT protection.
We want to minimize the chance
of starting a fire
in the dry forested
areas and that is the
purpose of ONESHOT. We started
the ONE-SHOT
protection the beginning of July and
will continue into
the fall. Members
in these areas may
experience more
outages due to
this precautionary
measure. REC appreciates your help
and patience during
this time.
When the electrical system is on normal operation, we use mechanical circuit
breakers to detect electrical faults
and trip (open), which turns the
power off to that circuit so the
fault can clear and the power
will stay on for the members on
the affected circuit. The differ-
Ravalli Electric Co-op Preparing Lines for
Fire Danger
ence between the breakers we
use on the high voltage power
lines and the circuit breaker in
your house panel is our breakers
automatically turn the power off
and back on three times prior to
turning the power totally off. The
purpose for the multiple operations is to allow temporary faults
common in areas with trees that
touch the lines during high winds
or when they are loaded with
snow to clear by themselves. If a
fault is temporary, the power will
turn off and back on allowing the
condition to pass. If a problem
persists, the breaker will operate
Find the Hidden Number
We will hide three account numbers this month
in our “Watts Up? pages. If you find your account number call the office
at 961-3001 by the 20th of the
magazine month and you get a
$30 credit on you electric bill.
Good Luck!
through its full cycle (3 times)
and then turn the power off. In
this case, it requires a crew to
clear the problem and restore
everyone’s power.
In dry conditions, we do not
want these breakers cycling
through their complete cycle
so we remove the breaker and
install a fuse. The
fuse eliminates the
operation of re-energizing the power line
(allowing only one
shot) to minimize the
risk of starting a fire.
If there are ANY
Cooperative members that have trees
near or in contact
with the power lines,
please contact Ravalli Electric as soon
as possible. We will
remove any trees or
limbs that potentially
endanger the safe
operation of power
delivery at no cost to
the member.
If you have any questions
concerning ONE-SHOT, please
give us a call at 961-3001 ask for
engineering.
128140
Ravalli County Electric Cooperative, Inc.
P.O. Box 190
Corvallis, MT 59828
Phone (406) 961-3001
Fax (406) 961-3230
Mark S. Grotbo
General Manager
Board of Directors
Wayne Olson, President
Larry Trexler, Vice Pres.
Kevin Frost, Sec./Treas.
Dennis Schneiter, Trustee
Bob Bailey, Trustee
Bob Popham, Trustee
Rex Griffin, Trustee