Inland Power is my cooperative!
September 2019
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10110 W Hallett Rd. Spokane, WA 99224 MAIN OFFICE
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Capital Credits
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Saying goodbye to gas
Energy September is EV Month
Returning money to you!
Y
ou own Inland Power, which operates on a not-for-profit basis as a cooperative.
Our sole purpose is to deliver safe and reliable power to you at cost. All revenue exceeding the cost to provide electric service is allocated back to you in the form of capital credits. Once allocated, your capital credits are held by the cooperative as a resource to replace aging infrastructure, maintain reliability and operate your cooperative. This system keeps your rates low and your service reliable. The amount of capital credits you are allocated each year is based on how much electricity you used during the previous year. In time, you will receive all your allocated capital credits. The cooperative’s board of trustees retires capital credits when finances allow, generally on an annual basis. Portions of all vintage years are retired each fall and may take up to 35 years to return all vintage year (prior to 2018) allocations to you. Starting in 2017, the board of trustees voted to allow members to receive their capital credit allocation payment early, but it must be equitable with those who wait for up to 35 years. In other words, $1 today is not the same as it will be 35 years from now. Therefore, any early payment must be discounted or reduced to a level that makes it equivalent to those members on a 35-year capital credit rotation.
Beginning with your 2018 allocation, the board of trustees voted to return all immediate prior year returns to the members at the discounted method that is equivalent to a 35-year rotation. The discounted capital credit payout will be applied as a credit to your November bill. Any member who wishes to opt-out of the discounted payout program may submit their request by Sept. 30 by returning the “Opt-Out Stub” found on our website at inlandpower.com, or call our member services department to have one mailed to you. By switching to the discounted payout method, members can participate in the benefit of being a cooperative member without having to wait 35 years for the full benefit. For those members who have unpaid capital credits from years prior to 2018, or who opt-out of the discounted program and have current year capital credits, their capital credits will continue to be retired at the regular interval and paid to you as the board of trustees approves the payments every year. Please continue to look for your capital credit checks from vintage years prior to 2018 which are typically mailed each December. If you have any questions, please visit inlandpower.com or call our member services department at (509) 789-4277.
Your Cooperative Returning money to you via capital credits EV Charging Is your home EV ready?
Inland Power’s Todd Williams (L) and Chris Cable (R) stand outside of Inland Power’s office with their EVs.
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lectric vehicles (EVs) are the latest trend of the auto world, with many auto manufacturers offering at least one model, and many committing to move all their models to electric in the future. EVs provide environmental advantages and, even though they may carry a higher price tag initially, tax credits and lower operating costs often balance out the initial investment. Inland Power’s energy services specialist Todd Williams drives a 2015 Fiat 500e and said he only has to add washer fluid when it comes to maintenance. “I may never have to replace brake pads ever in this car,” Williams said. “I only use actual brake pads from eight miles an hour, down to zero.” When a driver of an EV takes their foot off the accelerator, the regenerative system temporarily converts the electric motor that powers the car into a generator, which then
converts the kinetic energy of the car’s forward momentum back into electricity and feeds it into the battery pack. This is experienced from behind the wheel as the car decelerates as if the driver had shifted into a lower gear or braked moderately. While many drawbacks of EVs are gone, there is still a major concern surrounding range anxiety. This stems from the persistent limited range of all EVs. While Tesla provides 270 miles for their all-wheel drive model and 355 miles on their standard models, that pales in comparison to most internal combustion cars. Fortunately, advances in battery technology are hammering away at the range issue. Range is steadily expanding, and battery management systems are squeezing out more miles. At the same time, more companies are installing efficient charging stations at their places of business and in popular public locations.
As for power and speed of an EV, Inland Power’s IT and member experience director, Chris Cable said his Fiat 500e has more ‘get up and go’ than his traditional car with an internal combustion engine. “Until you drive an EV you don’t realize the amount of power it has,” Cable said. “It is instant torque to the ground. You hear about the Teslas and how fast they are, but even a little car like this will blow most cars off the line if you are sitting at a stop light.” Both Cable and Williams agree that their EVs have no issues driving in adverse weather conditions. “We’ve had quite a bit of rain for this area recently,” Cable said. “The EV plowed right through big puddles that came above the base of the car.” “My car handles the snow with no issues,” Williams said. “It has a very low center of gravity.” Continued inside