May 2018 SECO News

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SECONEWS DUNCAN’S DI G EST

Founded in 1938, SECO Energy is a not-for-profit electric cooperative currently serving over 200,000 homes and businesses in Central Florida with affordable, reliable power. As a member, you depend on us during extreme heat, cold, inclement weather and especially during hurricane season.

Our newly produced “Rugged, Reliable and Ready” video on SECO’s YouTube channel highlights our gains in reliability and system improvements in the last ten years. SECO’s commitment to reliability is a key reason members have ranked SECO Energy a three-time J.D. Power award winner.

SECO is Storm Ready and prepared for the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season.

Storm Ready isn’t just a catchy marketing slogan. Storm Ready begins with expertly designed and well-built infrastructure that

Jim Duncan, CEO

is durable and able to withstand Florida’s daily summer thunderstorms along with the tropical storms and hurricanes that head our way.

Another component of storm readiness is our rigorous maintenance schedule. Our Operations folks investigate outages and perform infrared inspections to identify hotspots and potential equipment failures before they occur. Annually, SECO inspects thousands of poles and replaces poles that are weak or damaged, ensuring reliability and preventing outages.

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ARE YOU?

“HIDDEN” ACCOUNT NUMBERS 675902

SECO is Storm Ready and prepared for the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season.

Don’t forget to look for the last six digits of your account number in this month’s SECO News.

You can email us at customerservice@secoenergy.com or call if your number appears. Six winners will be drawn at random from all submissions. Winners receive a $25 restaurant gift card.

Continued from page 1 After lightning, trees are the second leading cause of unexpected outages on SECO lines. To combat tree-related outages, SECO spends $10 million annually on a robust vegetation management program. Since 2008, our investment in vegetation management has reduced the number of tree-related outages by 50 percent.

Call Center and Member Service Centers are staffed with friendly, local representatives dedicated to customer satisfaction. You can report outages with the click of a mouse at SECOEnergy.com and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to play trivia, enter bill credit drawings and find outage details. 335903

Over the last decade, SECO’s Board of Trustees has approved significant investments in storm hardening and system improvement. This pays dividends for you, our member, reducing outage duration times and the frequency of power outages.

Back in 2008, average power outages lasted more than two hours and were frequent occurrences. Today, outage durations are reduced to an average of 60 minutes and outage frequency has declined dramatically.

With Atlantic hurricane season just around the corner, now is the time to prepare and win a prize. Watch the “Rugged, Reliable and Ready” video available on SECO’s YouTube channel or the link via Facebook. “Like” our Facebook page and leave a comment on the video post to share the unique steps your family takes to be Storm Ready. The top three Storm Ready ideas will win either a $300 electric bill credit, a Honeywell Wi-Fi thermostat or a NOAA weather radio.

Storm Ready is also communicating with you when weather turns threatening, alerting you to system improvements in your area and keeping you apprised during planned and unexpected outages. Our

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Watch the video and share your Storm Ready ideas on our Facebook page before July 15. SECO is Storm Ready – are you?

JIM DUNCAN, Chief Executive Officer

Storm Season J U N E

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SECO IS LAUNCHING A BRAND-NEW STORM CENTER PLATFORM THIS SUMMER – just in time for hurricane season. The new Storm Center will feature an easyto-use interactive outage map. Members can report outages online via their smartphones and tablets.

Along with the new interactive outage map, members can subscribe to receive proactive outage notifications. Members will be able to choose to receive notices via voice, text or email, can set “do not

disturb” parameters and opt-out of notifications at any time.

Along with the new outage map and communications capabilities, members will have access to an area light outage reporting map that will help SECO stay on top of our commitment to repair lights within 48 hours.

These new Storm Center products are scheduled to launch for your use the first week of June – watch for more details.

Surge MitiGator™!

Surgeo, The MitiGator™

Do you want to take the bite out of surges that can come through power lines and into your home through the meter? Take Surgeo’s advice – enroll today in our Surge MitiGator™ program.

For a limited-time, members who enroll in SECO’s Surge MitiGator™ program online enjoy the benefit of free installation. If you’ve been contemplating surge protection, now is a great time to take advantage of this special offer and give yourself peace of mind knowing your large appliances are protected from damaging spikes and surges.

350011 Our proven, cutting-edge technology, made in the USA, is designed to protect your major appliances including your washer, dryer, stove, refrigerator, freezer, garbage disposal and air conditioner. The Surge MitiGator™ has a great warranty and a beastly reputation of superior product performance.

The Surge MitiGator™ is available for less than 20 cents a day at a lease rate of $5.95 per month, plus tax, conveniently added to your electric bill. Purchase prices range from $349.00 - $399.00 depending on your service size.

Visit SECOEnergy.com > Energy ......... Solutions > Surge Protection to enroll ........ in SECO’s Surge MitiGator™ program ... today. FREE* installation is available .... exclusively to members who enroll online for a LIMITED-TIME only. Valid through June 30, 2018.

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SURGEO

*Free installation, a $25.00 value, is available to members with standard (200-amp) residential service for a limited-time only with online enrollment only. For SECO members with services greater than 200-amps a reduced installation fee of $75.00 will apply. Surge MitiGator™ FAQs and warranty information are available online.

NATURE’S

Reflections Reflections

Florida Osprey THE FISH EAGLE – MASTER OF THE CATCH

The osprey (Pandion haliaetus), Florida’s fish eagle, gets its name from the Latin word for sea eagle. These eagle-like birds of prey catch fish with impeccable precision and finesse. Measuring 21 to 24 inches in length, ospreys have long, pointed wings spanning six feet. The head, throat and undersides are white; the back, nape, tail and back of the head are dark brown with a black stripe located behind the eye. Ospreys have a conspicuous crook in the wing and a black “wrist” mark in flight which differentiates it from the Bald Eagle. Its usual call is a loud, whistle: chewk-chewk-chewk.

Found throughout the world except in polar regions, northern ospreys migrate to warmer climates. A year-round Florida resident, ospreys are often sighted near large lakes and rivers.

Feeding almost exclusively on fish, ospreys capture a meal by nose diving into the water. Its feet are built to grasp and hold fish. Ospreys’ reversible outer toe can rotate and extend to the foot’s rear to grasp its prey with two front toes and two back toes by plunging its strong, hooked claws to grip either side of its prey.

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Osprey pairs breed at three years, and build a bulky nest of collected sticks and debris including seaweed, bones, driftwood, corn stalks and trash. It is a little smaller than a Bald Eagle’s nest. Ospreys have a fondness for high trees, towers and utility poles near the water’s edge and usually not far from where it was born.

Both parents incubate the clutch of two to three white, buff/pink eggs for 35 days.

The young fledge at eight to ten weeks.

Ospreys are not neat carpenters; the large nests often appear on SECO pole crossarms.

Nests, debris and often ospreys come in contact with electric lines resulting in power outages and possibly the bird’s death.

During rain, or when nest material is wet, the damp material conducts electricity to the nest site.

Strictly following the requirements and limitations of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, SECO exercises extreme care to protect these birds and their offspring by installing fiberglass nesting dishes to keep ospreys’ stick-built homes away from power lines in heavily osprey populated areas.

By placing the birds and nests out of harm’s way, SECO aids the survival of a protected species and helps prevent unexpected disruptions to your electric service. Ospreys enjoy having this secure nest and members enjoy watching the birds raise their families.

Installing nesting dishes near active osprey breeding sites is one of several initiatives to help protect our environment and the creatures that live within it.

Visit SECO’s YouTube channel to see osprey nest protection in action at the Dead River in Tavares.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Column & photo by Sandi Staton – sandi.staton@gmail.com

Jerry Hatfield President District 9

Richard Dennison Vice President District 4

Bill James

Dillard B. Boyatt District 2

Richard J. Belles District 3

Ray Vick District 5

Secretary-Treasurer District 8

Earl Muffett

Scott D. Boyatt

Robin Henion

District 1

District 7

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The Board of Trustees will meet on Monday, May 21, 2018 at 2:30 p.m. in the Corporate Offices at 330 South US HWY 301 in Sumterville.

A Trustees’ meeting will also be held on Monday, June 18, 2018.

District 6

SECO Energy is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

24/7 Job Hotline: (855) 483-2673 www.secoenergyjobs.com Report an Outage: (800) 732-6141 www.secostormcenter.com