WANTED: High school juniors
Perhaps CHEC’s best-known and most anticipated youth program, Youth Tour is a week-long, all-expenses-paid educational trip to Washington, D.C., in June of each year. CHEC annually sponsors four delegates — all high school juniors — from high schools within its service territory on Youth Tour. Students travel with the Oklahoma delegation (70+ students) to our nation’s capital, where they tour historic sites and national landmarks, meet Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, and more. Youth Tour has earned a reputation as “a trip of a lifetime” among former participants.
Not only are high school juniors in CHEC’s service area eligible for a free trip to Washington, D.C., but they could also earn scholarship money!
This opportunity is available to all high school juniors who attend a school or are home-schooled within CHEC’s service
territory. It is not a requirement for the student or the parent/ guardian of the student to be a member of Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative. If you have a family member who qualifies but does not live in CHEC’s area, it is likely they could enter the Youth Tour contest held by the electric cooperative that serves their area, as this is a nationwide program.
Check with your school scholarship coordinator, teacher or administrator and ask them about this great opportunity. The deadline to submit essays is Feb. 21, by 5 p.m. For additional information, entry forms and information, visit our website at www.cooksonhills.com/youth-tour or call Brad Martin at 800-3282368.
Good luck to all the juniors who choose to apply for this tripof-a-lifetime!
A fond farewell to Curtis Eppler
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Five ways to fight the winter chill and save energy
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WATTS INSIDE
FEBRUARY 2023 Published monthly by Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative, Inc.
DEADLINE TO ENTER: FEB. 21, 5 P.M. // WWW.COOKSONHILLS.COM/YOUTH-TOUR
Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Headquarters Office PO Box 539 • 1002 E. Main Stigler, OK 74462 • 800-328-2368
Branch Office
PO Box 587 • 1800 KOA/Power Drive
Sallisaw, OK 74955 • 918-775-2211
Pay-by-Phone: 1-888-678-1937 www.cooksonhills.com
Alternate Emergency Only: 918-552-0016
Curtis Eppler retires after 31 years of service
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Joe Ogle, President District 6
Rocky Woods, Sr., Vice President District 1
Ronnie Pevehouse, Sec/Treasurer District 7
Dan Callahan, Trustee District 2
John Dillard, Trustee District 3
Dart Drummonds, Trustee District 4
Mike Rose, Trustee District 5
STAFF
Juli Orme, General Manager
Chris Morris, Chief Financial Officer
Mark Blaylock, Director of Operations — Stigler
Marty Huff, Director of Operations — Sallisaw
Ellen Mattison, Manager of Accounting Services
Kristie Cash, Manager of Office Services
Rockey Oldham, Manager of Broadband Services
Jeremy Stubblefield, Chief Technology Officer
Brad Martin, Director of Member/Public Relations and Economic Development
Dallin Shaw, Director of Engineering
Russell V. Barber, General Counsel
Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative, Inc. welcomes members to submit photos, and articles which will be subject to editing. Cookson Hills reserves the right to publish or modify any article. Companies and individuals featured in the Hot Watts newsletter do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or view of Cookson Hills.
Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative, Inc. is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
If you find your account number hidden in this issue of the Hot Watts, you’ll receive a $25 credit on your electric bill.
Curtis parked his service truck and grabbed his climbing gear for the last time in January as he eases into retirement. Curtis began his career at CHEC in 1992 and has been a dedicated and integral part of the company ever since. We tried to find information on how many hours Curtis has logged with CHEC, but ironically Curtis has been with us longer than those records date back. Our best estimate would be that Curtis has clocked in some 64,000 total hours serving the members of CHEC. To put things into perspective, the following things happened the same year Curtis was hired:
• Compact discs surpass cassette tapes as the preferred medium for recorded music.
• A text-based Web browser is made available to the public; within a few years, millions of people become regular users of the World Wide Web.
• President Bush and Russian President Yeltsin proclaim a formal end to the Cold War
• About one million computers worldwide had Internet access, and there were 10 websites online by the end of the year.
• A dozen eggs were 93 cents
You get the point…Curtis has seen many significant changes in his career. We are thankful for his service, and he will be missed by his co-workers and so many members whom he has helped over the years. Enjoy your retirement, Curtis!
bit.ly/CHEConFB (case-sensitive) 2 | February 2023
Cookson Hills is celebrating 75 years of service to our communities
We want to celebrate 75 years of service by giving you a birthday present. Yep, you read that right…we are giving away a birthday present for our own birthday. We want to gift one of our lucky members with a $75 gift card.
The contest is simple. We will randomly select a member from our database and if the member has a SmartHub account, we will send an email to notify the winner. The member then has 48 hours to contact us, and in return, we will send them a $75 gift card. If you don’t yet have a SmartHub account, scan the bar code below with your smartphone’s camera or visit www.cooksonhills.com/smarthub on our website and enroll by 5 p.m. on Feb. 22. [976906]
SmartHub allows members to view their bills, make a payment, report a power outage and more. It’s simple, convenient, and could win you a $75 gift card!
Good luck!
www.cooksonhills.com | 3 Sign up for a SmartHub account and you could win a $75 gift card! New zones open now! Substation Feeder 2 – ENT 4 4 – TEN 1 5 – SAL 1, 2, 3, 4 6 – MUL 1, 2, 3, 4 12 – NIC 1, 2, 3 13 – VIA 3, 4 14 – LIB 1, 2 15 – AKI 1, 2, 3 Substation and feeder numbers can be found on your electric bill.
Five ways to fight the winter chill and save energy
By Abby Berry
We all have our favorite season. Some people love crisp, cool weather and bundling up under a favorite blanket, while others prefer the warm temperatures summer brings and all fun outdoor activities that go with it.
But there’s one thing we can all agree on: high winter bills are never fun. CHEC is here to help you find ways to manage your home energy use and keep winter bills in check.
Here are five tips to help increase your home’s energy efficiency this winter:
1. Mind the thermostat. This is one of the easiest ways to manage your home energy use. We recommend setting your thermostat to 68 degrees (or lower) when you’re home. When you’re sleeping or away for an extended period of time, try setting it between 58 and 62 degrees; there’s no need to heat your home when you’re away or sleeping and less active.
2. Button up your home. The Department of Energy estimates that air leaks account for 24% to 40% of the energy used for heating and cooling a home. Caulking and weather stripping around windows and doors is another simple, cost-effective way to increase comfort and save energy. If you can feel drafts while standing near a window or door, it likely needs to be sealed.
3. Use window coverings wisely. Open blinds, drapes or other window coverings during the day to allow natural sunlight in to warm your home. Close them at night to keep the cold, drafty air out. If you feel cold air around windows, consider hanging
curtains or drapes in a thicker material; heavier window coverings can make a significant difference in blocking cold outdoor air.
4. Consider your approach to appliance use. When combined, appliances and electronics account for a significant chunk of our home energy use, so assess how efficiently you’re using them. For example, if you’re running the dishwasher or clothes washer, only wash full loads. Look for electronic devices that consume energy even when they’re not in use, like phone chargers or game consoles. Every little bit helps, so unplug them to save energy.
5. Think outside the box. If you’re still feeling chilly at home, think of other ways to warm up––beyond dialing up the thermostat. Add layers of clothing, wear thick socks and bundle up under blankets. You can even add layers to your home! If you have hard-surface flooring, consider purchasing an area rug to block cold air that leaks in through the floor.
If you’re taking steps to save energy but continue to see major increases in your bills, give us a call at 800328-2368. CHEC’s energy experts can help identify areas and other factors impacting your home energy use and recommend next steps for savings.
Winter months often bring some of the highest energy bills of the year. By being proactive about saving energy, you can increase the comfort of your home and reduce monthly bills. Visit our website at www.cooksonhills.com for additional energy-saving tips.
4 | February 2023
Abby Berry writes on consumer and cooperative affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the national trade association representing more than 900 local electric cooperatives. From growing suburbs to remote farming communities, electric co-ops serve as engines of economic development for 42 million Americans across 56% of the nation’s landscape.
