2015 February Daviess-Martin Newsletter

NEWS FROM YOUR COOPERATI www.dmremc.com CONTACT US

Daviess-Martin County REMC TOLL FREE

800-762-7362

GENERAL MANAGER

Ken Frye

OFFICE HOURS

7:30 a.m.– 4 p.m., Monday-Friday STREET ADDRESS

12628 E 75 N, Loogootee, IN 47553 MAILING ADDRESS

P.O. Box 430, Loogootee, IN 47553 SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS

To report an outage or emergency, call 812-295-4200 or 800-7627362 day or night.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dean Harrawood, PRESIDENT John Edwards, VICE PRESIDENT August Bauer, SECRETARY Michael E. Arvin, TREASURER Terry Chapman Dale Marchino Steve Streepy BILL PAYMENT OPTIONS

Online bill payment Budget billing Auto bank draft Drive-through window Night depository Credit card payment (VISA, Discover and MasterCard accepted) Pay-by-phone MISSION STATEMENT

“Our mission is to provide dependable electricity and quality services for our members at reasonable cost.”

Like us on Facebook www.Facebook.com/Daviess MartinCountyREMC

TIP OF THE MONTH

Cold water cuts costs

Did you know that 90 percent of the energy used to operate a washing machine comes from using hot water? A simple switch from hot to cold can save a great deal of energy! Also, consider air drying or even line drying to save even more household energy.

— U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

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Help us preserve our service territory As you may have read in recent issues of Electric Consumer, we are working hard to preserve cooperative service territory by urging the Indiana General Assembly to change state law in 2015. We need you to KEN FRYE reach out and ask lawmakers to support Senate Bill 309, which would keep municipal electric utilities from taking electric cooperative territory after an annexation.

“We need you to reach out and ask lawmakers to support Senate Bill 309, which would keep municipal electric utilities from taking electric cooperative territory after an annexation.”

Why should this matter to you?

It’s all about keeping your bill affordable.

Indiana law allows a city or town with an electric utility to take over the customers and service area of an electric cooperative or investor-owned utility (IOU) after an annexation. Electric cooperatives and IOUs cannot do the same. This has become a significant problem because some cities and towns have progressed to “cherry-picking” the most populated, industrial or attractive areas cooperatives serve.

The larger employers, farm operations and neighborhoods we serve help balance our cooperative’s costs so we can keep rates as affordable as possible for all members. When municipal electric utilities take our territory and reduce the number of our members after an annexation, it increases the financial burden on every member left behind. That’s why we are fighting to change this law through Senate Bill 309.

The current service territory law is one-sided and unfair. It gives cities and towns with electric utilities in Indiana exclusive authority over their neighboring electric cooperatives and IOUs.

Our simple question Should state law give municipal elec-

ELECTRIC CONSUMER • FEBRUARY 2015 • ElectricConsumer.org

tric utilities an unfair advantage and the explicit right to take our territory and decades of cooperative investment made by our members?

How can you help?

As a member and owner of DaviessMartin County REMC, lawmakers need to hear from you. Contact your state senator and state representative and ask them to support Senate Bill 309, which would preserve electric cooperative service territory after annexations.

Find your state legislators online by visiting District.IGA.IN.gov and use the numbers below to ask for their support. k Indiana House of Representatives: 1-800-382-9842 k Indiana State Senate: 1-800-382-9467 We want all of the state’s electric utilities to operate under the same set of rules to provide safe, reliable and affordable electric service to all Hoosiers. Senate Bill 309 achieves that very goal.

Want to learn more?

Visit IndianaEC.org for more information about service territory preservation.

KEN FRYE is general manager of Daviess-Martin County REMC.

IVE REMC selects next general manager

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he board experience holding of directors a variety of leaderhas selected ship positions within David Sutter to the energy and utilsucceed Ken Frye ity industries. Most as general manrecently he served ager of Daviesswith Stanton County Martin County Public Power District REMC. The manlocated in Stanton, agement change Neb., as its general will occur when manager and chief DAVID SUTTER Frye retires, effecexecutive officer. tive May 15.

“I’m looking forward to “The board of directors working with the employees is pleased to announce that to continue providing reliDavid (Dave) Sutter will sucable and affordable power ceed Ken Frye as the general and services to the commumanager of our cooperanities Daviess-Martin County tive,” said President Dean REMC serves,” Sutter said. “I Harrawood. “We appreciate will carry on the commitment Ken’s 27 years of dedicated to cooperative values that Ken service and wish him the best Frye has maintained for many in retirement. We conducted a years.” nationwide search for our new An Indiana native and chief executive. It’s gratifying Purdue University graduate, that we could agree that David Sutter has obtained his proSutter is the right choice to fessional engineering license work with the board as we lead in several states as well as the co-op into the future.” numerous other certifications Sutter has over 30 years of and licenses. He is a proven leader and brings a multitude of experiences in problemsolving techniques, coupled with accounting, financial and customer service expertise.

Sutter and his wife, Bev, have four children and look forward to relocating back home in Indiana.

Frye is retiring after 27 years at the cooperative, including the last 15 as general manager. Starting at the co-op in the member services department in 1988, Frye was promoted to general manager in 2000, succeeding Robert Barron. …

“I’m looking forward to working with the employees to continue providing reliable and affordable power and services to the communities DaviessMartin County REMC serves.”

‘Win! Win! Win!’ Each month, Daviess-Martin County REMC asks our readers three questions to which the answers can be found in the articles of Electric Consumer. Follow these simple rules: 1.) Clip the coupon along the dotted line. 2.) Fill it out. 3.) Return it to our office with your monthly payment before the 20th of the month. (Delinquent payments are not eligible.)

Each month a winner will be drawn from the entries submitted. Make sure you bring or mail in your most recent coupon, as the coupons are dated monthly.

Members with automatic payment accounts will be entered in the contest as well. Copies will not be accepted, and coupons are not available at the office! Winners will be notified and their names published in the following monthly issue of Electric Consumer.

DECEMBER WINNER: Clyde Stoll, Odon

$50 MONTHLY DRAWING (FOR BILLS DATED FEB. 5; PAID BY FEB. 20)

1. This year we have added a new rebate for homeowners who upgrade the ___________________________ in their attic.

2. The deadline for the next Operation Round Up grant cycle is ____________________________.

3. Touchstone Energy Camp has educated students about safe electricity and provided enjoyable outdoor camp activities for the past _____________ years.

NAME: ____________________________________________________ ADDRESS: ________________________________________________ ACCOUNT NO.: ___________________________________________ PHONE NO.: ______________________________________________

GPS data collection begins Daviess-Martin County REMC and Alpha Engineering will be collecting GPS information for poles, transformers, security lights and meters supplied from the Bramble substation. This substation provides power to areas surrounding Bramble, Loogootee, Odon and Montgomery. The trucks will be labeled, and the employees will be wearing shirts with company logos.

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Daviess-Martin County REMC News

Opportunities FOR YOUTH Touchstone Energy Camp Over the past 13 years, Touchstone Energy Camp has educated over 1,000 seventh graders-to-be about how to stay safe around electricity, while also providing campers a chance to enjoy a wide variety of outdoor camp activities. Daviess-Martin County REMC is pleased to announce it will once again sponsor two students to attend Touchstone Energy Camp to be held June 3-6, at Camp Tecumseh in Brookston, Ind. “This is a fun and exciting way for students to learn about electric safety and the role of electric cooperatives in their community. On top of that, they get to experience all the fun of camp,” said Janet Chestnut, manager of communications/member relations at DMREMC. Campers will enjoy traditional outdoor camp activities, such as horseback riding, zip lining and swimming, while also participating in interactive lessons about safe electricity, working together in teams in a hands-on equipment connecting simulation, and wiring a table top demo to light up a bulb. Plus, they’ll enjoy the bird’s eye view of their friends during bucket truck rides.

Students who are currently in sixth grade (going into seventh grade in the fall) are eligible to attend. Interested students should fill out an application and return it

by Feb. 20. Applications are available online at www. dmremc.com, at local schools and the REMC office.

Hadley Faith, a 2014 sixth grader from Veale Elementary, enjoyed horseback riding at last year’s Touchstone Energy Camp.

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ELECTRIC CONSUMER • FEBRUARY 2015 • ElectricConsumer.org

Daviess-Martin County REMC 2014 Youth Tour delegates Audrey Sanders, Ashton Allbright and Ashley Jones are pictured above, in front of the White House in Washington, D.C.

Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. The Indiana Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., provides young Hoosiers the opportunity to visit the nation’s capital, experience American history and gain a better understanding about their electric cooperative and government.

The 2015 Youth Tour is June 11-18.

Indiana will send a delegation of approximately 75 students from throughout the state. The students are selected by their local electric cooperative. More than 1,600 students from 47 states will travel to Washington for the week-long experience.

Students participating in the trip will visit the Flight 93 and Pentagon 9 /11 memorials, the Gettysburg Battlefield, Arlington National Cemetery, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Mall memorials, and the National Museum of the Marine Corps. They will enjoy a night cruise on the Potomac River and much more! Students will also participate in a youth rally hosted by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, during which they will share their thoughts and opinions on a variety of timely issues.

The youth rally will prepare the students for a day on Capitol Hill, where they will have an opportunity to meet with Indiana’s congressional delegation.

Application deadline is Feb. 20. Applications are available online at www.dmremc.com, at local schools and at the REMC office. …

Organizations receive Operation Round Up grants

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apstone Ministries, Inc. received a $2,500 Operation Round Up grant to help purchase a newer, more reliable box truck for pick up, delivery and general use at the ReGeneration thrift store. Capstone Ministries is not the ministry of one single church; it is a non-profit Christian organization that partners with the town of Mitchell and surrounding communities to serve people in need. In September 2006, in order to create a revenue stream to help provide for the needy, Capstone Ministries opened ReGeneration, a thrift store located in downtown Mitchell. ReGeneration serves the community by making available low-cost clothing, furniture,

and household items. Since the store opened, more than $180,000 has been given to local food pantries and to help with needs in the community with an average of $32,000 per year over the past four years.

The Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) of Daviess and Martin counties was awarded a $2,000 grant to help fund the “Food for Friends” project which serves low-income families in Daviess and Martin counties. The program provides nutritious, appetizing, easy-to-prepare meals for families using the five area food panties in Daviess and Martin counties as well as the PowerHouse afterschool program and Victory Tabernacle Soup Kitchen.

RSVP purchases bulk ingredients and

volunteers compile them into full meals that are shelf stable and attractively packaged. The ultimate goal of the project is to prepare 1,000 meals at five different events for a total of 5,000 meals over a three-year period.

Each meal serves four people. To date, 2,000 meals have been prepared and distributed and three more events are planned prior to April 1, 2016.

Additional Operation Round Up grants awarded were: k Cannelburg Volunteer Fire Department, $1,700 k Boy Scout Troop 348, $1,000 k Barr-Reeve Band Boosters, $500 The deadline to apply for the next grant cycle is Feb. 27. …

Pictured at left are Theresa Showalter, Daviess-Martin County REMC administrative assistant, and Warren Crawford, vice president of the board of Capstone Ministries, Inc.

DaviessMartin County REMC administrative assistant Theresa Showalter, left, presents the award to Kim Herbertz, RSVP executive director.

Director petitions are available at REMC office

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embers of Daviess-Martin The districts with elections in 2015 County REMC interested are: in running for a position k District II: Daviess County – Van on the board of directors and who Buren and Barr townships reside in the district up for election, k District V: Martin County – Perry may pick up a petition at the REMC and Center townships office. k District VII: Lawrence County – The nomination process Marion and Spice Valley townships MICHAEL DEAN JOHN requires the candidate to live in Incumbent directors seeking reARVIN HARRAWOOD EDWARDS the district and to submit a petition election include Dean Harrawood of with the signatures of 20 members who reside in his or her District II, Michael Arvin of District V and John Edwards of district. Signed petitions must be returned to Daviess-Martin District VII. County REMC by 4 p.m. on Feb. 24, in order to be eligible for Directors are elected for three-year terms. Director elections nomination at the 2015 annual meeting. will be held at the annual meeting Thursday, April 9.

In lieu of a petition, incumbent board directors who wish Please contact the office at your earliest convenience if to seek re-election shall do so by filing written notice thereof you have any questions or concerns regarding the election at the office of the cooperative on or before the same date process or need clarification on determining the district in signed petitions for new candidates must be filed. which you reside. …

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