2014 October Orange County REMC Newsletter

NEWS FROM YOUR COOPERATI www.myremc.coop

October is National Cooperative Month

CONTACT US

Celebrate with Orange County REMC

OFFICE

812-865-2229 TOLL FREE 888-337-5900 BILL PAYMENTS 855-865-2229 CONTACT US BY EMAIL

orangecoremc@myremc.coop GENERAL MANAGER/CEO

Danny L. Arnold OFFICE HOURS

7 a.m.–5 p.m., Monday-Friday STREET ADDRESS

7133 N. State Road 337 Orleans, IN 47452 MAILING ADDRESS

P.O. Box 208, Orleans, IN 47452 EMERGENCY POWER OUTAGES

To report service interruptions, call: 812-865-2229 or 888-337-5900, day or night. Please have the phone number associated with your account ready when reporting outages. Please limit after hours calls to emergencies and outage situations.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Eugene Roberts, DISTRICT 1 Randy Roberts, DISTRICT 2 Danny Easterday, DISTRICT 3 Rodney Hager, DISTRICT 4 Ben Lindsey, DISTRICT 5 Brian Hawkins, DISTRICT 6 George Key, DISTRICT 7 REMC KEY STAFF

Marty Frank, OPERATIONS MANAGER Marcy Bennett, OFFICE MANAGER Larry Pinnick, STAKING ENGINEER Michael Roberts, STAKING ENGINEER Misty Tincher, ACCOUNTANT Billy Chastain, MATERIALS MANAGER Mark Belcher, MARKETING/MEMBER SERVICES MEMBER SERVICES

This is your invitation to celebrate with cooperatives in Indiana — and across America — during National Cooperative Month.

Every October, cooperatives like Orange County REMC are recognized for DANNY L. the qualities that make their ARNOLD business model unique.

Seven cooperative principles set us apart from other businesses: 1. voluntary and open membership; 2. democratic member control; 3. members’ economic participation; 4. autonomy and independence; 5. education, training and information; 6. cooperation among cooperatives; and 7. concern for community.

This Co-op Month, we’re focusing on the theme “The Electric Co-op Connection: Discover the meaning of membership.” Co-ops exist to serve their members, but they also play a major role in their local communities. In the 1930s, rural America needed electricity just as much as anyone else. Providing that service was a major challenge that big utilities weren’t interested in tackling. So, the men and women of rural America banded together and made it happen. And that’s why in October we celebrate the power of working together for the common good and bettering the quality of life for our friends and neighbors.

Cooperative membership is unique.

•Free energy analysis •Budget billing •Automatic payments •Security lights •Home security systems •Medical emergency monitoring •Air evac life team •Water heater and HVAC incentives (requires an EM switch) •Online bill payment options •Interactive Voice Response system . for payments and account inquiries via phone: 1-855-865-2229 •VISA, MasterCard and Discover accepted 4

ELECTRIC CONSUMER • OCTOBER 2014 • ElectricConsumer.org

Electric cooperatives are committed to providing members with safe, reliable and affordable electricity, but there’s more to it than that. We’re local, and that means we care about our community. This is why we participate in programs such as Operation Round Up, Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., Touchstone Energy Camp, and the Barnyard Carnival at Paoli. This is also why we offer programs to get high quality discounted services for our members on items such as Air Evac Lifeteam, home security and medical monitoring, and most recently, Excede satellite Internet service.

Orange County REMC is proud to be part of America’s cooperative network, which includes more than 47,000 cooperative businesses.

We provide power and other services for many Hoosiers (and a few Boilermakers) and, along with 38 other Indiana electric co-ops, we serve hundreds of thousands members. Nationally, Orange County REMC is one of more than 900 electric cooperatives, public utility districts and public power districts serving 42 million people in 47 states.

Please try to drop by the headquarters between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Oct. 31 to join us for Member Appreciation Day. Happy Halloween!

DANNY L. ARNOLD is general manager/CEO of Orange County REMC.

IVE Rate Schedule (for October, November and December of 2014) Figures needed to calculate your monthly bill Rate Schedule for Standard Service Standard Service Consumer Charge Standard Service Energy Charge Wholesale Power Cost Tracker Total bill x Indiana sales tax 7% Rate Schedule for ETS Service ETS Consumer Charge ETS Off-Peak Energy

26.00 0.1124 0.0031059

5.40 0.0691

Rate Schedule for Security Lighting Security Lighting- 100 W HPS (45 kWh) Security Lighting- 175W MV (80 kWh)

9.82 9.82

Example for 1,200 kWh Standard Service Consumer Charge $26.00 1,200 kWh @ .1124 $134.88 Wholeslae Power Cost Tracker @ .0031059 $3.73 Total $164.61 Indiana sales tax $11.52 Total bill $176.13 Example for 1,200 kWh (regular) and 750 kWh (ETS) Standard Service Consumer Charge $26.00 TOU-ETS Consumer Charge $5.40 1,200 kWh @ .1124 $134.88 750 kWh @ .0691 $51.83 Wholesale Power Cost Tracker @ .0031059 $6.06 Total $224.16 Indiana sales tax $15.69 Total bill $239.85 Visa, MasterCard and Discover cards accepted

Fall ETS Service Special Don’t wait for cold weather to find out your ETS units are not functioning properly. Call 812-865-2229 locally or 888-337-5900 (toll free) to schedule your ETS check-up.

REMC will lower the normal $25 service call to only $10 for the first unit and $5 for each additional unit. The ETS service call for the first unit is FREE, if you allow REMC to install an energy management switch on your water heater and/or HVAC equipment.

Join us for our annual Member Appreciation Day on Oct. 31 at the Orange County REMC office. We’ll have lots of treats, but no tricks!

ElectricConsumer.org • OCTOBER 2014 • ELECTRIC CONSUMER 5

Orange County REMC News

Operation Round Up

GRANTS AWARDED

T

he board of trustees of Orange County Rural Electric Community Fund, Inc. announced the next round of grants following its recent board meeting. Seven grants totaling $11,334.50 were approved for distribution to local organizations.

Operation Round Up® grants were awarded to Hoosier Hills PACT, Huron Volunteer Fire Department, Orleans Community Schools, Paoli Youth Football, Prevent Child Abuse Orange County, Springs Valley Blackhawk Brigade and Southern Indiana Center for Independent Living. This round of awards brings the total amount disbursed by Operation Round Up to $348,824 since the inception of the program in 2003.

The Orange County Rural Electric Community Fund, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization sponsored by the local electric cooperative through its Operation Round Up program. Orange County REMC members who participate in the program allow the REMC to round their monthly electric bills up to the next highest dollar. These small monthly donations are then combined together in a separate fund to support worthwhile causes inside the Orange County REMC service territory.

Recipients of the most recent round of Operation Round Up grants are pictured above. Front row: Gilbert Hudson, Round Up trustee; Katelyn Baker, Orleans Community Schools; Dr. Leah Morgan, Orleans Community Schools; Deb Newlin, SICIL; Tara Carlisle, Hoosier Hills PACT. Back row: Ian McMillan, Prevent Child Abuse Orange County; Bob Vaal, Springs Valley Blackhawk Brigade; Delma Moffatt with grandson Bently Moffatt, Huron VFD; Kelly Minton, Prevent Child Abuse Orange County; Ralph Purkhiser, SICIL.

The board of trustees oversees the collection and distribution of all Operation Round Up funds. The board will meet again on Nov. 10 to review new grant applications and determine which applicants will receive funding.

Grant applications are available at the Orange County REMC headquarters building located at 7133 N. State Road 337, Orleans. Any individual, group or organization is eligible to apply for a grant as long as they are located within Orange County REMC’s service territory consisting of Orange County and parts of Lawrence, Washington, Crawford and Martin counties.

The Operation Round Up program allows REMC members to reach out to worthy causes in their communities and work together to help others. Operation Round Up funds will not be awarded to pay utility bills or used as political contributions. The deadline for the next round of grant applications is Oct. 31. …

REMC sees big savings in Energy Management Switch program As the energy future continues to look more complicated, and potentially more expensive, Orange County REMC has thrown much effort into promoting the Energy Management Switch program as a way to reduce peak load and therefore lower annual power costs.

There are currently more than 1,450 member-owned water heaters and air conditioners that are making use of the Energy Management Switch. That translates to an annual power cost savings of $103,021 for the REMC — which ultimately means those costs don’t get passed on to the members.

Wes McFarland of Hoosier Energy explains how the program works. “Participating in the Energy Management program helps keep costs down. When the demand for electricity is at its peak during winter and summer months, the

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price of electricity mirrors those peaks. With members’ help, Orange County REMC can keep costs low during those few peak periods. That also helps Hoosier Energy, the power supplier for Orange County REMC, by lowering its need for expensive peak power.”

“We have been pleased with the willingness of our members to participate in this program,” said Orange County REMC General Manager Dan Arnold. “Orange County REMC ranks at the top in the number of switches installed on a per member basis, among all Hoosier Energy co-ops.”

McFarland agrees.“That says much toward the commitment of their membership to help keep electricity affordable. However, as good as those numbers seem, they only represent 11 percent of possible air conditioners and 17

ELECTRIC CONSUMER • OCTOBER 2014 • ElectricConsumer.org

percent of possible water heaters owned by Orange County REMC members that could be in the program. Participation by even more members will keep those peak power price fluctuations in check and continue to keep electricity prices from rising sharply.”

Members who are not yet participating in the Energy Management Program are urged to call 865-2229, or toll free 888-337-5900 to sign up. Members can also sign up for the program by visiting www.myremc.coop and clicking the “Participants Needed” button.

Once interest is expressed by the member, REMC personnel will schedule a time to install a switch on the member’s water heater and/ or air conditioner. The switch should not compromise the home’s comfort level or supply of hot water.

Speak up at Action.coop by Dec. 1

O

n Dec. 1, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will close a comment period on its most recent regulations dealing with carbon dioxide from our existing power plants. The EPA wants to hear from the public on these regulations, and we need your help. We are urging the EPA to reconsider its approach to these regulations and protect affordable electricity in Indiana.

We are encouraging every member to take action by visiting Action.coop by Dec 1.

Since neighbors in our community founded Orange County REMC more than 77 years ago, our primary mission has been the same: to provide safe, reliable and affordable electricity to our members. As we serve our members, we always work to lessen the impact we have on the environment. In recent years, together with cooperatives across Indiana, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in renewable energy and environmental improvements at our power plants as part of our commitment to the communities we serve. Even with these investments and our plans to do even more in the future, the EPA’s new regulations put our plans to keep electricity affordable at risk.

Your directors and staff live in the communities we serve. We believe in a common sense approach that balances affordable electricity and appropriate environmental regulations. Unfortunately, the EPA’s new regulations will make it very difficult to keep electricity bills affordable for every member while meeting the new standards. This is why we need you to speak up before Dec. 1 by visiting www.Action. coop.

We need you to join us in asking the EPA to withdraw these regulations and work with us to balance your energy needs with their environmental concerns.

By visiting www.

Action.coop and joining more than a half million Americans who have taken action, we can send the message that affordable electricity matters. We know many members joined us earlier this year, and we need your help again. If you have not visited Action. coop in the last three months, please head back to Action.coop and comment on these new regulations.

At Orange County REMC, we stand for affordable electricity. Stand with us so we can protect the environment for future generations while keeping bills affordable for your family and all of our other members. …

We need you to join us in asking the EPA to withdraw these regulations and work with us to balance your energy needs with environmental concerns.

Member survey planned Beginning around Oct. 13, you may get a call from a research company calling on behalf of Orange County REMC. This is a very important survey call, as it helps us provide better service based on feedback from our members.

The survey lasts 10-14 minutes and we encourage you to participate if you receive the call. Thank you in advance for helping your electric cooperative provide better service to you and all its members.

Heed tHese simple safety tips from yoUr remC: • Light your Jack O’lanterns with battery-powered lights or light sticks instead of candles.

• Only use outdoor fixtures that are rated as “water-resistant/ UL-approved for outdoor use.”

• Use only covered electric outlets with GFCIs. • Decorations don’t belong on utility poles, transformers or meters • Light stakes may look cool but when decorating with them make sure they’re not a tripping hazard.

• Keep cords away from sidewalks and pathways.

• All outdoor lighting – including low-voltage outdoor security lights and any Halloween lights – should be grounded.

• One good extension cord doesn’t deserve another.

Therefore, don’t plug one extension cord into another.

ElectricConsumer.org • OCTOBER 2014 • ELECTRIC CONSUMER 29