CHEC Hot Watts May 2021

Published monthly by Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative, Inc.

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MAY 2021

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WATTS WATTS INSIDE >> page 2

Can I save money by installing a solar system? >> page 3

Cookson Hills Connect: Stay in the know Cookson Hills Connect’s fiberto-the-home network will deliver world-class internet with symmetrical gigabit speeds - allowing you more flexibility for work, education and entertainment. Fiber internet opens up a world of opportunities for our community and to our members:

Meet the 2021 Youth Tour scholarship winners!

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Save the date for the 2021 Annual Meeting!

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Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Can I save money by installing a solar energy system?

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

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Joe Ogle, President Rocky Woods, Sr., Vice President Ronnie Pevehouse, Sec/Treasurer Dan Callahan, Trustee John Dillard, Trustee Dart Drummonds, Trustee Mike Rose, Trustee

District 6 District 1 District 7 District 2 District 3 District 4 District 5

STAFF Juli Orme, General Manager Chris Morris, Chief Financial Officer Jason Fontaine, Director of Engineering Mark Blaylock, Director of Operations — Stigler Marty Huff, Director of Operations — Sallisaw Ellen Mattison, Manager of Accounting Services Kristie Cash, Manager of Office Services

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.

>> Part 2 of 2 Check out the April Hot Watts for the first part in this series answering the question “Can I save money by installing a solar energy system?”

(PV) is $2.89/watt, or $28,900 for a 10-kilowatt grid tie-in system. In addition, there may be other costs to consider, such as liability, homeowners’ insurance and property taxes.

Given the information listed above, evaluate your situation to ensure installing a solar system makes sense financially for you. Talk to your electric cooperative to help evaluate your feasibility for solar energy.

Financial considerations When evaluating the potential of installing a solar electric system at a home or business, considerations should include: 1. Solar access: Oklahoma is fairly good in comparison to other parts of the country. Site specific access depends on installing the system so it is not shaded. See Oklahoma photovoltaic solar your location on the map below resource for average output.

The below map is measured in 2. Retail cost of residential kilowatt-hours per square meter per electricity: Oklahoma is low day (kWh/m2/day), which represents in comparison to many other insolation, the total energy on a parts of the country. A lower surface over a specific time interval. electric rate makes the return on Examples use the location’s solar investment length longer than a resource to determine average higher electric rate. [2948400] output and savings per year, and 3. Available incentives: Solar were calculated using the National solarqualify system for installations energyResidential systems may Renewable Energy Laboratory’s a federal tax2 credit of 30 percent (NREL) PV Watts calculator using Oklahoma photovoltaic solar resource kWh/m /day until 2019,7.026 percent 2020 theperdefault including 2/day), which represents This map isin measured in kilowatt-hours square metersettings, per day (kWh/m 6.5 insolation, the total energy on a surface over a specific time interval. of Examples the location’s and 22 percent in 2021. inverter efficiency 96 use percent.

6.0 solar resource to determine average output and savings per year, and were calculated using the 5.5 Renewable Energy Laboratory’sFor (NREL) PV Watts calculator using the default 4. The total cost of National the system: more information, visitsettings, 5.0 including inverter efficiency of 96 percent. For more information, visit pvwatts.nrel.gov.

4.5 installed cost of The average pvwatts.nrel.gov.

Your output may vary depending on site specific factors and regular maintenance such as washing the panels several times per year. Output also may drop about 1 percent per year residential solar photovoltaic through the average 20-25 year lifespan of most systems.

Example #1 - Northeast Northwest

Solar radiation (kWh/m2/day): 5.20 Installation & equipment cost: $28,9001

Average kWh/year: 14,187 Average savings/year: $1,4192 Estimated payback: 20.4 years3

Example #2 - Central

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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.

2 | May 2021

Solar radiation (kWh/m2/day): 4.89 Installation & equipment cost: $28,9001 Average kWh/year: 13,366 Average savings/year: $1,3362 Estimated payback: 21.6 years3

Example #3 - Southeast Solar radiation (kWh/m2/day): 5.15 Installation & equipment cost: $28,9001 Average kWh/year: 13,710 Average savings/year: $1,3732 Estimated payback: 21 years3

Source: This map was produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.

CHEC announces 2021 Youth Tour scholarship winners For decades, Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative (CHEC) has proudly sponsored the Oklahoma Rural Andie Jones Electric Youth Tour Contest for high school juniors. The Gans High School Youth Tour program is designed to educate students about the role of electric co-ops in the national economy, foster appreciation for the democratic form of government and instill invaluable leadership skills. Traditionally this contest not only awarded winners with scholarship money, but it also included an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. This trip of a lifetime has been an annual highlight for scholarship winners each year.

Unfortunately, the trip to Washington, D.C. was cancelled for 2021 due to concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Averie Amos “While the cancellation of the trip was disappointing Stigler High School for all of us, our general manager, Juli Orme and our board of trustees immediately came up with a plan to turn lemons into lemonade,” said Brad Martin, director of member/public relations. “CHEC decided to take the money designated to pay for the trip and use it to increase the total scholarship amount to award over $8,000 to these deserving students this year.”

Congratulations to the 2021 Youth Tour Scholarship recipients: Averie Amos from Stigler High School, Cale Abbott from Sallisaw High School, Andie Jones and Gabby Linares from Gans High School, Noah Thompson from Stigler High School, Kaly Winton from Sallisaw Cale Abbott High School, and Cason Wright from Vian High School. Sallisaw High School

Gabby Linares Gans High School

Noah Thompson

Stigler High School

Cason Wright Vian High School

Please avoid reporting outages on our Facebook page. We recommend calling our office or using your Smarthub app to report outages.

Kaly Winton

Sallisaw High School

www.cooksonhills.com | 3

Save the date for CHEC’s Annual Meeting CHEC’s board of trustees is happy to announce plans to hold the Annual Meeting are moving forward. Mark your calendars for Saturday, Oct. 2 and plan to join us to learn all about the exciting things happening at CHEC!

CHEC offices will be closed May 31 so employees can spend the Memorial Day holiday with their families. If you experience a power outage or see an electrical safety hazard, please call 800-328-2368.

Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cooksonhillsconnect 4 | May 2021