October 2015

CHELCO News
October 2015
Vol. 20 | No. 10
CHELCO honors members in November
On Nov. 2, CHELCO members will have an
opportunity to visit any area office, enjoy
refreshments, visit with CHELCO employees
and sign up for door prizes during a member
Inside
P2
P3
P4
appreciation event. One 7-inch 16 GB Kindle Fire
HD will be given away at each area office. The
Awareness: CHELCO
event will be 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Visitors to the
helps state parks raise
energy awareness
offices will also receive a promotional item.
Also, during the entire month of November,
Policy: Passing the
members who stop by the Santa Rosa Beach,
Savings Along
DeFuniak Springs, Bluewater Bay or Freeport
offices and learn how to use the kiosk, will be
History: Membership
entered in a drawing for a gift basket.
certificate shows second
member
OfficeLocations
Auburn
3097 Locke Lane
Crestview, FL 32536
Baker
1351 Locke Lane
Baker, FL 32531
Bluewater Bay
1401 Cat Mar Rd.
Niceville, FL 32578
DeFuniak Springs
1350 W. Baldwin Ave.
DeFuniak Springs, FL 32435
Freeport
112 Hwy. 20 W.
Freeport, FL 32439
Santa Rosa Beach
3906 Hwy. 98 W.
Santa Rosa Beach, FL
Enroll in bank draft program to win prizes
Simplify your busy life with CHELCO’s power
bill auto-draft program. It’s free, and it’s easy.
postage and checks, plus you’ll never worry
about a late payment or charge again.
Enroll anytime during the month of
November, and you’ll get a shot at being
one of 10 members to win a power bill credit
worth $50.
Also, you can go paperless and get your bill
notification via email.
This program is all about convenience and
hassle-free bill paying. You’ll save time,
Onlinenow
Sign up at chelco.com for automatic bill
drafting
Create an account at chelco.com with your
account number. View bills, make payments,
get alerts.
If this sounds like the deal for you,
contact CHELCO at 800-342-0990 or email
[email protected].
Get tips on preparing for the “H” word at
chelco.com.
Our mystery location content returns in
October. Search Choctawhatchee Electric on
Facebook.
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CHELCO helps state park raise energy awareness
When the Florida State Park Service staff at Rocky Bayou Fred
Gannon State Park wanted to save money by raising energy
awareness among campers and visitors, they called on CHELCO
for advice.
The result is a partnership between CHELCO and the Niceville
park that will put the park on the road to energy savings in the
campground.
Park Manager Dan Laird says the park’s average monthly
electric bill is $4,300. With budgets being cut, the park
management has to do more with less.
Park Ranger Jeff Jones and other park staff are currently
educating campers and visitors in conserving energy by placing
energy awareness clings on campsite power panels, in the park
office and in other buildings within the park.
The park program has already caught the attention of campers,
according to Jones, who says they have received positive
comments about the effort. The program also caught the eye
of the Governor’s office, and the park was selected to serve as a
model for all state park energy awareness campaigns.
In July, a group of VIPs, including some from the Governor’s
office, toured the park and learned about the partnership to
save energy. As a result of this
program at Fred Gannon State
Park, other state parks will be
encouraged to follow suit and
adopt similar energy saving
programs.
Jones says the park will do
whatever it takes to save energy
dollars and stay within the
budget. He estimates that saving
$1 per week per campsite will
save $150,000 annually.
To continue the push to save
energy, Jones wants to install
LED lights in the restrooms, as
well as occupancy sensors so
lights don’t stay on all the time.
He also asked CHELCO for an energy audit to determine other
areas where money could be saved.
If you want to learn more about the park, you can like them on
Facebook at Friends of the Emerald Coast State Park.
InBrief
Use cash or checks at kiosks
When paying your CHELCO bill at one
of our four kiosks, please plan to pay
with cash, check or credit/debit card. The
scanner at the kiosk recognizes cards,
checks and currency only. Money orders
cannot be accepted.
CHELCO announces more
scholarships given
Three students have been chosen as
recipients of CHELCO’s Northwest Florida
State College scholarships for 2015. The
students are Alisha Tincombe, Jacob
Woodhams and Carol Parker.
Tincombe, who graduated from
South Walton High, is a senior pursuing
a bachelor of applied science (BAS)
in supervision and management.
Woodhams, from Niceville High, is a
junior also seeking a BAS degree in
supervision and management. Carol
Parker, who has a GED, is a freshman,
pursuing a degree in radiography.
75th anniversary display update Visit CHELCO at the Fair
Throughout the remainder of the 75th
anniversary celebration, CHELCO’s history
display will be located in area museums
and libraries for members and nonmembers to view.
From Oct. 15-30, the display will be in
the Freeport Public Library. Some history
items will be displayed at the Walton
County Fair and at the Eglin Energy Expo
during October. The Baker Block Museum
will host the display from Nov. 4-20. The
display will be at the Heritage Museum
of Northwest Florida from Dec. 4 – Jan.
15, 2016. CHELCO will participate in
the Chautauqua Assembly in DeFuniak
Springs in January, also. Finally, the 75th
anniversary will wrap up at CHELCO’s
annual meeting in April
You don’t want to miss seeing the
display in the coming months or
attending the annual meeting celebration
of this important event for CHELCO and
its members.
The Walton County Fair runs Oct. 5 -10
at the fairgrounds on State Highway 83
north of DeFuniak Springs.
Look for the CHELCO booth, and visit
with CHELCO employees.
The fair is a grand fun opportunity that
features everything from art to animals,
food and rides.
Fall height of hurricane season
Don’t let your guard down just because
we haven’t had a hurricane or tropical
storm. The season began June 1 and
continues through Nov. 30, but the height
of the season is the month of October.
If you haven’t prepared yet, it’s not too
late. Be sure to have plenty of water and
non-perishable food on hand, as well
as batteries, a full tank of gas and some
cash in your wallet. Don’t forget your pets
in the event you have to evacuate, and
always let family members who live out of
the area know where you are.
This newsletter is published monthly to provide information on news, events, services, energy advice and safety tips to the member/owners of CHELCO.
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October 2015 CHELCO News
Insights
Passing savings along the co-op way
After a long, hot summer I know that
many of our members are looking
forward to cooler temperatures and
lower electric bills. While our rates
are very affordable, electric bills can
sometimes be high through the summer
months due to air conditioners running
excessively.
Sometimes when we receive bills for
services, the information can be a little
confusing. You often hear complaints
about phone bills, for example. At
CHELCO, we try to do a good job of
communicating what our charges mean.
We like to talk about these charges from
time to time because there is not space
on the bill to really explain some items.
Several months ago we renamed
a charge called the formula rate
requirement to distribution cost
adjustment (DCA). We thought DCA
provided a better explanation of the
fact that this charge accounted for
changes in the cost to distribute power
to members. Similarly, there is a line item
on the bill called the wholesale power
cost adjustment (WPCA), which reflects
increases and decreases in the cost of
wholesale power.
Let me provide some background to
clarify these terms and rates.
CHELCO is in the business of delivering
energy to its members. We buy electricity
at wholesale from PowerSouth, which is
a generation and transmission company,
and then sell and distribute the power to
our members’ homes and businesses.
Our retail rates are based on an
assumption of what we will pay per
kilowatt-hour for wholesale power.
Because CHELCO is a not-for-profit
cooperative, if the price of power
increases above that rate, CHELCO
cannot absorb the cost. Therefore, the
wholesale power cost adjustment factor
is used to account for these fluctuations.
We use a similar method to account
for shifts in the cost of distributing
power, and each spring we set a new
distribution cost adjustment factor.
Historically, members have seen the
WPCA increase as a general trend
because PowerSouth’s costs have
increased. The DCA was instituted in May
2013, so it is relatively new. However,
I am pleased to report that in recent
months there has been a moderation
in both of these costs, and CHELCO is
passing along these savings to you.
First, you might recall that at the end of
2014, CHELCO issued $600,000 in credits
to members using the DCA because we
had been so successful at reducing our
operating costs during the preceding
year. And then, in May of 2015, we
reduced the DCA from $.004 to $.00275
per kWh because of continued efforts
from our board and management team
to control costs and save money.
STEVE RHODES
Chief Executive Officer
January 2015 at 3.38 cents per kWh. This
is a savings of $12.30 on a 1,000 kWh bill.
If I were to offer one takeaway from this
trend, it is that your member-owned,
not-for-profit co-op is quick to pass along
savings when we experience them. We
understand our members’ desire to keep
electricity costs affordable, and we will
continue working hard to find and pass
along savings.
While we cannot predict the future
direction of the DCA and WPCA, it is a
priority to keep electricity affordable.
We are proud to serve you, and keeping
electricity rates reasonable is always at
the top of our minds.
A recent trend that we’ve experienced
regarding wholesale power costs is that
the WPCA has dropped to a rate not seen
in 2013 or 2014. The WPCA is 2.1502
cents per kWh. The WPCA peaked in
CHELCO is governed by a nine-member board of trustees: Pat Carlyle, District 1; Terry Pilcher, District 2; Jim Bishop, District 3; James Hagan, Assistant
Secretary/Treasurer, District 4; Ronald Jones, President, District 5; Gerald Edmondson, Vice President, District 6; Bert Prutzman, District 7; Gayle Hughes,
Secretary/Treasurer, District 8; Burt Cosson, District 9.
October 2015 CHELCO News
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POSITIVEEnergy
Energy Advisor
Kevin Campbell
When you want solar,
CHELCO can help
CHELCO members who want to invest in solar
generation or another renewable energy
source, may be interested in learning about
CHELCO’s net metering program. The program
allows members to connect renewable
generation with a maximum capacity of 25
kilowatts. You may also be able to sell power
back onto the grid at CHELCO’s avoided cost of
generation.
The average solar array distributed generation
system being net metered by CHELCO is 3.75
KW in size. The cooperative has 53 solar and
one other system in the net metering program.
The average system annually sells CHELCO
545 kWh per one KW of system. At an average
purchase price of about 7 cents per KWh, the
average array sells CHELCO about $143 of
power annually.
Any member interested in the net metering
program should first visit CHELCO’s website,
www.chelco.com. The application and
agreement for interconnecting are listed under
the net metering tab.
Additionally, once the system has been
installed, it must be inspected and a copy of
the permit must be submitted.
Individuals who are interested in the
interconnection of renewable generators in
excess of 25 KW must meet the standards set
forth in the Consumer Distributed Generation
Guide, as well as submitting the application
and appropriate fees.
CHELCO would like to remind members to
always do their research independent of a sales
person before purchasing any solar generation
system. For more information, contact
CHELCO’s Marketing Department at 850-8922111 or email [email protected].
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Membership certificate shows
second CHELCO member
CHELCO had its birth in the Circuit Court room in the Okaloosa County
Courthouse, Crestview, on Aug. 8, 1940. J.D. Stokes served as a trustee during
the organization, and county agents assisted the cooperative by collecting
the $5 membership fees and filling out the applications. Stokes received the
designation of CHELCO member number 2.
At the time of CHELCO’s
organization, the rural areas of
Okaloosa and Walton counties
were largely without electricity.
According to a newspaper article
published in the early 1950s
in the Okaloosa News-Journal,
Crestview, just 10 percent of
the population in the area had
electricity available. Within 10
years of CHELCO’s beginning,
3,129 families in rural Okaloosa
County had electricity.
At the time electricity came to
rural Okaloosa County, Stokes was
a rural route mailman in the Baker
area. He began work for the U.S.
Postal Service in February 1915, and he retired in February 1957. He delivered
mail to 60 families along an 18-mile route by horse and buggy.
Stokes is forever a part of CHELCO history along with all the other pioneering
rural folks who wanted electricity the same as city residents had and worked
hard to get it.
As CHELCO continues to celebrate the cooperative’s 75th anniversary, more
of CHELCO’s history will be shared with members in a number of ways.
There will be exhibits in local libraries, more stories in CHELCO News, a video
highlighting the history and more.
Tip of the month
It seems that hot weather will never end,
but cooler days are on the way. Have your
home’s heating system inspected now
to ensure it works properly when the first
cold day arrives.
October 2015 CHELCO News