Published monthly by Cookson Hills Electric Cooperative, Inc.
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SEPTEMBER 2020
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WATTS WATTS INSIDE >> page 2
Taking care of our co-op and community during COVID-19 >> page 3
Gross receipts tax distributed to local schools >> page 4
Annual Meeting information
Annual Meeting: New location, new format CHEC staff has been hard at work preparing for an Annual Meeting in the era of a global pandemic. As a result, it will have a new location and a different format. For as many years as most can remember, the Annual Meeting was a place where folks gathered to reminisce, socialize and enjoy refreshments. The safety of our members and employees has always been a top priority at CHEC, but COVID-19 has forced us to become more creative in ways to help reduce potential exposure to the virus. As a precautionary measure we decided to change this year’s format
to a drive-thru meeting. That’s right! You can attend the meeting in the comfort and safety of your own vehicle. Members will enter the Stigler High School Parking area at 1235 NW 7th Street and drive through the designated meeting area as directed by a CHEC employee. Please visit www.cooksonhills.com for a map of the designated area for the Annual Meeting. Details of the meeting will be mailed to members around the middle of September, so keep an eye on your mailbox for the Official Notice letter. We hope to see you there!
Congratulations to 2020 Youth Tour winner Madison Walters from Muldrow for being selected as the 2020 Oklahoma Youth Leadership Council (YLC) representative! Madison competed with students from across Oklahoma to be selected as this year’s winner. YLC winners are invited to participate in ongoing leadership training and have the opportunity to volunteer their time and talents with electric cooperatives. Madison Walters will be a great ambassador for both CHEC and Oklahoma.
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
Taking care of our co-op and community during COVID-19 By Dan Riedinger
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 Vacant
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.
bit.ly/CHEConFB (case-sensitive)
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 | September 2020
In the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, it was clear that the pandemic would change our perception of normal. As concepts such as “social distancing” first circulated among health officials, electric cooperatives looked ahead to identify and confront the possible impacts of COVID-19. As co-ops responded to local concerns and circumstances, we worked to present a unified front to our political leaders in Washington and urged them to address the specific needs of our community and their cooperative. Working alongside the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), electric co-ops’ national trade association, we informed policymakers about the challenges being faced on the ground in Oklahoma. One of the first things we looked at was the projected economic impact of COVID-19 on co-ops and their consumer-members. NRECA projected that lost electricity load and unpaid bills would total a staggering $10 billion through 2022. [1784703] In response, electric cooperatives have worked to help their local communities by working with co-op members on extended payment plans. But the federal government has a role to play, as well. continued on page 4
Gross receipts tax distributed to local schools
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES WORD SEARCH The electricity that powers our homes is generated by a variety of fuel sources, including renewables. Renewable energy comes from natural resources, like the wind and the sun. Can you find all the renewable energy-related words in the puzzle below?
Did you know the “tax” you see on your electric bill is used to distribute to local schools in CHEC’s service area? Under Oklahoma law, all not-for-profit electric cooperatives like CHEC must collect a 2 percent gross receipts tax. Each year, CHEC pays two percent of the gross receipts derived by the sale and distribution of electric energy to the state. Ninety-five percent of the gross receipts taxes paid by CHEC to the Oklahoma Tax Commission is then distributed to the schools within CHEC’s service territory and is distributed based upon CHEC’s miles of power lines within each school district. For the 2019-2020 fiscal year for Oklahoma, CHEC paid $609,455.16 on 2,956 miles of line for 24 schools in the seven-county service territory.
You can now report an outage with the free SmartHub mobile app!
Scan this code with your smartphone’s camera to download CHEC’s SmartHub app! Visit www. cooksonhills.com for more info.
WORD BANK: • HYDROPOWER • GEOTHERMAL • WIND TURBINE • BIOMASS • RENEWABLE
• GENERATION
• SOLAR PANELS • SOLAR ENERGY • WIND ENERGY
z Pay securely z Monitor consumption z Contact Member Service z Manage email alerts z View bills & payment history
COO
KSO N COO HILLS E LE PER ATIV CTRIC E
z Update account information z Set up recurring payments
WWW.COOKSONHILLS.COM
www.cooksonhills.com | 3
Energy Efficiency
continued from page 2
Tip of the Month Clothes dryers make up a large portion of your appliance energy consumption. Clean the lint filter after each cycle, and scrub the filter with a toothbrush once a month to remove film and increase air circulation. Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy
Among the policy responses sought by co-ops is the ability to refinance loans from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS). Electric cooperatives deliver essential services in the most rural, and impoverished parts of the country. Many of them meet that challenge, in part, with low-cost financing from the RUS. However, the RUS does not permit borrowers to adjust existing loans simply to take advantage of lower rates, and penalties are significant in the narrow circumstances that allow for refinancing. NRECA and its members are pressing for legislation that would allow electric co-ops to adjust RUS debt to current market rates, providing greater cash-flow flexibility to meet the needs of rural consumers in these challenging economic times and allowing co-ops to be part of the long-term recovery. Electric co-ops could realize $10.1 billion in net present value savings from the repricing of $42 billion in RUS loans. One of the Seven Cooperative Principles—Concern for Community—is looming large right now in the minds of America’s electric co-ops. It has governed our response to the pandemic from the beginning, and will continue serving as our primary focus as we seek additional ways to help our co-op members. Dan Riedinger 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 percent of the nation’s landscape.
2020 ANNUAL MEETING October 3, 2020
Join us for a drive-through Annual Meeting at the Stigler High School parking area. Details will be mailed mid-September.