Read more… - Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative

Volume 60, #1
January 2009
Page 2
November Board report
Page 3
Helping you save money
Pages 4-5 GobNob construction photos
Page 6
News & Notes
Page 8
Marathon water heaters
GobNob wind turbine completed!
Winter weather doesn’t stop construction crews
e
n
a
Loc
ea
EWT model chosen was the third
Farmersville, Ill. has a new
to be installed in the U.S. Most of
landmark.
the thousands of turbines now in
The sleek, 230-foot tower on
operation are part of large “wind farm”
RECC’s GobNob wind turbine,
projects that sell electricity into the
sitting on a hill just a few hundred
transmission grid.
yards off Interstate 55, is a
Capable of generating some
monumental sight that can be seen
electricity in winds as light as 4 mph,
from up to 10 miles away. Oh,
the EWT reaches full capacity in
and it’s also a source of renewable
about 26 mph winds. The generator
energy for co-op members with
automatically rotates on top
no fuel costs, no pollution
C
the tower to face into
and no greenhouse gas
l
l ofthe
wind, and the blades’
emissions.
pitch is adjustable to
All of the
operate as efficiently as
electricity produced
possible.
by the wind
The turbine tower
turbine will be
was erected before
used by the 382
Christmas, but windy
R
consumers on
e
l
conditions
kept the blade
RECC’s Farmersville
newab
assembly from going up until
substation, and all RECC
Dec. 28. Internal wiring was
members will benefit from
completed in early January to get the
the savings in the co-op’s monthly
turbine “online.”
wholesale power purchases. The
RECC President/CEO David
turbine’s 900 Kilowatts is about 5
Stuva says the GobNob project is
percent of RECC’s peak demand,
the result of cooperation from many
and it’s expected to generate about
2.6 million kilowatt-hours per year. people and organizations. “First
of all, we’re grateful to the Illinois
RECC’s board of directors and
Department of Natural Resources
staff have been pursuing the wind
for granting a lease at the old Crown
turbine project for two years. This
I mine property,” he says. This is a
is only the second turbine in the
first for the state of Illinois, and it
country to be owned and used
by an individual co-op, and the
(Continued on page 4)
RECC’s GobNob wind turbine can be seen from miles
around on top of the coal waste pile at the former
Crown I coal mine just east of Farmersville.
Rural Electric
Convenience Cooperative
3973 W. State Route 104
P.O. Box 19
Auburn, IL 62615
217/438-6197
Fax: 217/438-3212
e-mail: [email protected]
Board Of Directors
Jimmy L. Ayers
Chairman
Chris Wilcox
Vice Chairman
John A. Beatty
Secretary-Treasurer
Cassie L. Eigenmann
Asst. Sec.-Treasurer
Thomas “Ted” Dowson
Lee W. Marten
Mel Repscher
Erv Shores
David E. White
President/CEO
David Stuva
Rural Hilights
(USPS 473-140) is
published monthly for
$3 per year by Rural
Electric Convenience
Cooperative Co.
Publication Office,
P.O. Box 19, Auburn,
IL 62615. Periodical
postage paid at Auburn,
IL and at additional
mailing offices.
Postmaster: Send
address changes to
Rural Hilights, P.O. Box
19, Auburn, IL 62615.
Dana Smith, editor
2
Board report
Regular Board meeting
November 24, 2008
The regular monthly meeting of the board
of directors of Rural Electric Convenience
Cooperative Co. was held at the cooperative
headquarters at 5 p.m. on Nov. 24, with
all members present. Also present were
President/CEO David Stuva; Manager of
Office Services Dean Fuchs; Manager of
Operations and Maintenance Lou DeLaby;
Field Engineer and Purchasing Agent Martin
Hinton; Administrative & IT Specialist
Sandy Lex; Senior Member Accounts
Representative Shelley Crocks; AIEC Vice
President of Engineering Carl Dufner and
Attorney Jerry Tice.
* The minutes of the Oct. 27 regular board
meeting, and special meetings of Nov. 10 and
Nov. 17, were approved as presented.
* CEO Stuva called on Dean Fuchs and
Shelley Crocks to present the delinquent
account write-offs for the year 2007. Ms.
Crocks reported management recommended
writing off $8,356.28 in delinquent
accounts, which represent .08 percent of the
cooperative’s 2007 electric revenues
* CEO Stuva introduced Carl Dufner from
the AIEC, who reviewed the proposed electric
rate changes for 2009. After discussion, the
board agreed to defer final approval to a
December board meeting.
* CEO Stuva introduced Sandy Lex,
who, along with Dean Fuchs, reviewed a
proposed “whistle blower” amendment to the
cooperative’s Ethics Policy. They explained
the general nature of the policy would provide
protection to co-op employees who report
wrongful or harmful conduct by management
or directors of the cooperative. They also noted
that a record retention policy is required, which
will be reviewed with the cooperative attorney.
* The Prairie Power Report was given by
Director White.
* CEO Stuva reported that there had been
no IMEA Directors Meeting since the last
meeting of the cooperative.
* The AIEC report was given by Director
Beatty, the alternate RECC director to the
AIEC board.
* The Attorney’s Report was given
by Attorney Tice. He noted no recent
communication had been provided from
the city of Taylorville regarding the co-op’s
franchise request.
President/CEO’s Report
CEO Stuva reviewed the following reports
which had either been mailed or distributed to
all directors and attorney: Member and Public
Relations, Job Training and Safety, Meters
and Outages, Operations and Maintenance,
Engineering and Construction, Cash
Disbursements Summary, and Check Listing.
The Board accepted the reports. Financial
and statistical reports for October 2008 were
reviewed and accepted.
CEO Stuva also:
* Reported that October 2008 kWh sales
were 29 percent higher than October 2007,
due to the grain drying season starting later.
* Reported that the wind turbine is
expected to be delivered on Dec. 15. Plans are
being made for the crane to erect the turbine
and other construction arrangements.
Board Action
The Board acted on the following:
* Approved the application for, or
reinstatement of, membership and electric
service for 21 persons.
* Approved delinquent account write-offs
totaling $8,356.28 for the year 2007.
* Approved the proposed “whistle blower”
amendment to the cooperative’s Ethics Policy.
* Approved an increase in the hourly fee
paid to the Cooperative Attorney.
* Voted to hold a special meeting on Dec.
18 at 6 p.m. to review the 2009 budget and
other items.
* Appointed delegates to meetings
associated with the NRECA Annual Meeting
in February 2009.
* Approved a Resolution authorizing a
loan from CoBank for the buyout from PPI
and the purchase of the nine substations
and associated transmission facilities serving
RECC’s members.
The meeting adjourned at 9 p.m.
Special Board meeting
November 10, 2008
A special meeting of the board of directors
of Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative
Co. was held at the cooperative headquarters
at 6 p.m. on Nov. 10, with all members present
except John Beatty. Also present were President/
CEO David Stuva; Manager of Office Services
(Continued on page3)
Dean Fuchs and Attorney Jerry Tice.
Consultant Martin Blake participated
by telephone.
* The Board entered executive
session to discuss RECC’s buyout
negotiations with PPI.
After the executive session ended,
the meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m.
Special Board meeting
November 17, 2008
A special meeting of the board
of directors of Rural Electric
Convenience Cooperative Co. was
held at the cooperative headquarters
at 5 p.m. on Nov.17, with all
members present. Also present
were President/CEO David Stuva;
Manager of Office Services Dean
Fuchs; Director of Member and
Public Relations Dana Smith and
Attorney Jerry Tice.
* CEO Stuva presented Work
Order Inventories for the period
October 2007 through August 2008
totaling $1,407,189.41 for approval.
He reported that RECC had a loan
application pending with RUS and
upon approval of the loan, RECC
would be able to draw funds in
2009 to pay $1,126,711.91 of the
foregoing work orders and draw
additional funds of $553,800.00
to reimburse the general fund for
previously approved work orders.
The board approved the work orders
for submittal to RUS.
* CEO Stuva presented the
2009 Capital Expenditure Budget
proposal for $20,000. He noted
that one large truck replacement
was being deferred for another year.
The board approved the Capital
Expenditure Budget as proposed.
* CEO Stuva reviewed the
process the cooperative has gone
through in investigating, reviewing
and negotiating its buy-out of
the wholesale power contract
with Prairie Power, Inc. The buyout cost as certified by PPI to
RECC on Nov. 17 in the amount
of $5,602,693.00 was reviewed.
This includes the purchase of
nine substations and 22.7 miles of
transmission lines serving RECC
members. RECC will be also
required to pay $183,350.93 to
reimburse PPI for its withdrawal
costs as required by the PPI
Withdrawal Policy. Attorney Tice
reviewed the proposed Withdrawal
Agreement and explained the
procedures for financing the
withdrawal, completing and signing
the withdrawal agreements, and
closing the transaction.
After discussion, it was approved
unanimously to accept the PPI
payment and terms for withdrawal
of RECC from PPI and termination
of the wholesale power contract and
transmission services agreement.
The meeting adjourned at 8 p.m.
We want to help you save money!
Some members have a hard time
believing that we’d like to help them
reduce their monthly electric bills.
After all, what business doesn’t want
to sell more of its products?
We do want to sell electricity, and
each kilowatt-hour sold helps pay
for the distribution system we use to
deliver clean, efficient electric energy
to more than 5,700 consumers. But
unlike most businesses, “profit” is
not our ultimate goal. Meeting the
needs of our member-owners is
what we’re really about.
So, we help you determine the
most efficient way to use energy
at home or work. For tasks such as
lighting, electricity is the obvious
choice of energy, but are you using
the best technology available?
We’ve encouraged more efficient
fluorescent lighting and highpressure sodium outdoor lighting
for years, and last year we gave
away more than 4,000 compact
fluorescent bulbs to our members.
For some tasks, such as water
heating, you have a choice of fuels.
We’ve promoted the most efficient
electric water heaters, educated
members on saving hot water, and
taken advantage of the storage
capability of water heater tanks
by cycling the heater elements
to reduce our peak demands in
our Dual Meter and Peak Switch
programs. This reduces the
operating cost for the owner, and
helps reduce our wholesale power
costs, which benefits all members.
For space heating, the proven
efficiency of heat pumps and
geothermal systems is saving energy
and money for hundreds of co-op
members. Equipment rebates and
our Dual Meter rate make these
systems even more affordable.
Member programs
RECC offers several programs
to save money, with our products as
well as others. Our Energy Resource
Conservation Loans at 5 percent
interest can be used for upgrades to
high-efficiency electric heating
systems, and to improve home
weatherization. We also offer
helpful information online and
in print for home energy audits,
appliance usage, home building
ideas and much more.
Allied programs including the
PNG long distance service, DTN
SpeedNet wireless Internet, and
membership program for Air Evac
Lifeteam offer more savings on
services that are important to our
rural area.
Another unique program
from RECC and other electric
co-ops across the country is the
Cooperative Connections card.
This free card gets you discounts
from many local, regional and
national businesses. It even saves
on prescription drug costs with
discounts at most pharmacies on
name-brand medicines.
It’s all part of looking out for
you, our members, for your energy
needs and beyond. We really do
want the best solution for you!
3
Construction completed
advances their goal of promoting
more renewable energy sources.
Our turbine will not affect the
seasonal hunting programs that the
Department of Natural Resources
offers at the site.
“We also needed the financial
assistance provided by the USDA
Rural Development program, Illinois
Department of Commerce and
Opportunity and the Illinois Clean
Energy Community Foundation.
Their grants helped reduce our
upfront expenses, and the remainder
of the project cost was financed with
(Continued from page 1)
a zero-interest loan through CoBank,
in the federal Clean Renewable
Energy Bond program.”
A dedication ceremony is
planned at the GobNob site in
February, with federal, state and
local officials on hand to celebrate
the project completion. Watch the
local media for details, or check
our Web site at www.recc.coop.
Photos of the construction process
are shown on pages 4-5 of this
newsletter.
GobNob… a reason to finally be
glad we live on the windy prairie!
The three 75-foot sections of tower were delivered a week before Christmas.
A bulldozer was on hand to assist trucks up the hill, or when slipping on ice or
mud at the top.
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Each section of tower was lifted by a
550-ton crane, and bolted into place
by the installation crews.
The main crane takes about eight
hours to assemble and disassemble,
with its complex rigging and multiple
cable pulleys.
The nacelle sits on top of the
tower, and will hold the generator
and blade assembly.
The generator, weighing 62,000
pounds, is prepared for lifting to the top
of the tower.
The three blades, each 80 feet long, are attached to the rotor hub on the
ground. The blades were lifted to the generator just after dark on Dec. 28.
Crews wait for the generator to be gently placed onto the nacelle, where it’s
securely bolted in the vertical position.
It’s a long way down on the 230-foot
ladder inside the tower! There are two
“floors,” at the tower joints, where workers
can stop to catch their breath when climbing. Fortunately, most of the electronics are
located at the bottom of the tower.
5
News & Notes
News
& Notes
Equipment
rebates still
available
We’re still offering rebates for
high-efficiency electric heating
systems, water heaters and
electric ranges and clothes dryers!
In addition to the cleanliness,
safety and convenience of electric
appliances, our rebates make
them even more affordable. The
list of rebates is found on page 7
of this newsletter. We also have
information on super-efficient
heat pumps and geothermal
heating/cooling systems, along
with a list of area contractors
with many good installations
under their belt. Give our office
a call for more details, at (800)
245-7322.
December bills
may be higher
Electric bills for December
2008 usage are out, and many
members may see an increase
from the previous month. First
of all, it’s not due to the coming
rate increases – that change
won’t be seen until the February
billing statements come out.
The Christmas holiday is one
frequent contributor to increased
energy use due to decorative
lighting, holiday cooking, more
company – even kids being home
from school means more TV
and appliances being used. Last
December was also pretty cold,
which means the heating systems
ran more and extra space heaters
may have been used. Look at the
actual kilowatt-hours used on
your bill, and compare it to last
year’s December usage instead of
to your November bill.
6
Youth Day/Youth Tour plans
RECC is sponsoring up to 10 area students for the popular Rural
Electric Youth Day in Springfield on April 1, and a chance to win
a free trip to Washington in June. The Youth Day program includes
touring the Capitol, the new Abraham Lincoln Museum and other
historic sites, and meeting with their state legislators. Two of those
students will be selected to attend the Youth To Washington trip, June
12-19, with about 1,000 other young people from around the country.
Any junior attending a high school in RECC’s service area
is eligible for these expense-paid programs. Application request
forms will be sent to our local schools later in January, or students
can call our office. We will mail a complete application kit and
background information directly to the student. The application
includes a summary of the student’s school and civic activities and
accomplishments, and a brief essay question pertaining to the rural
electric program.
Winter storm safety
We “dodged an icicle” in midDecember when ice storms hit
just north of us, while several of
our sister co-ops suffered extended
outages. Snow and ice storms are
an inevitable part of the winter
season, however, and they can
lead to downed power lines and
outages. Remember the following
tips to stay safe and warm should
you find yourself in the dark after
a severe winter event:
• Never touch a fallen power line, and assume all wires on the ground
are “hot.”
• In the event of an outage, an alternate heating source—such as
a fireplace, propane space heater or wood stove—may be used.
Extreme caution should be taken.
• Plan to stay in an area of the home where the alternate heat source
is located.
• Fuel- and wood-burning heating sources should be vented. Be sure
to follow manufacturer’s directions.
• Make sure carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors are
working properly.
• Do not use a gas-powered oven for heating. A gas oven may go out
or burn inefficiently, leading to carbon monoxide poisoning.
• If you use a portable generator to power a heating source, be sure
the generator is located outside your house for proper ventilation.
Do not use a generator in an attached garage.
• Never connect generators to power lines. The reverse flow of
electricity can electrocute an unsuspecting utility worker.
MEMBER RESPONSE PAGE
Please send me information on services from RECC:
_______Peak Switch
_______New Home Energy Guidelines
_______Dual Meter Heating Rate
_______Surge Suppressor Lease
_______Marathon Lifetime-Warranty
Water Heaters
_______Security Light Rental
_______Co-op Power Plus™ Visa
_______Long Distance Saving Rates
_______Convectair Heaters
_______DTN Wireless Internet
_______AT&T Wireless Cellular Phone
Savings
Electric heating equipment rebates
An electric heat rebate form must be completed. Minimum system sizes apply.
•
Geothermal System – $500/home
•
Air Source Heat Pumps – $500/home
(with electric back-up)
•
Air Source Heat Pumps – $200/home
(with gas back-up)
Electric equipment rebate request
Please include a copy of your sales receipt for your new electric equipment, purchased and installed within the past 12 months.
_______Clothes Dryer, Electric Replacement – $25
_______Clothes Dryer, New Home or Gas Conversion – $25
_______Electric Range, Electric Replacement – $25
_______Electric Range, New Home or Gas Conversion – $25
_______Water Heater, Standard Warranty – $200
(less than 10-yr waranty)
_______Water Heater, Life–long Warranty – $250
(10-yr or longer warranty)
This water heater is for: _______New Home
_______Gas Conversion
_______Electric Replacement
Member Name
Account No.
Mailing Address
Town
Phone
Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative
P.O. Box 19, Auburn IL 62615
Telephone: (800) 245-7322 (RECC) or (217) 438-6197 • www.recc.coop
Normal office hours 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
7
P.O. Box 19
Auburn, IL 62615
Marathon
water
heaters
Rural Electric Convenience
Cooperative proudly offers
the Marathon water heater
in 50 and 75 gallon models.
Why Marathon?
Because we believe, if you want your water
heater to give you years of service, you must get
one that will stand the test of time.
Marathon offers a lifetime no-leak warranty,
guaranteed to last as long as you own your home.
This will save you the future expense of buying a
replacement heater and paying to have it installed.
With a plastic inner tank and outer casing, the
Marathon will not rust or corrode.
Marathons also are among the most
efficient water heaters you can buy, with
foamed-in-place insulation that surrounds the
tank on the sides, top and bottom.
For more information, please call our office
at (800) 245-7322 or visit our Web site at
www.recc.coop, and look under the “Services
& Products” heading.
Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative
8