SVEC Newsletter Jan 2016

Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative Lighting the way since 1937

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Suwannee Valley

currents January 2016

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800-752-0025 SERVING RURAL AND URBAN SUWANNEE VALLEY OWNED BY THOSE WE SERVE 11340 100th Street • Live Oak, FL 32060

CEO’S COR NER

To a safe new year Michael S. McWaters Executive V.P./CEO

To start off, I’d like to wish all of our members a very happy and healthy New Year. I hope you’ve all recovered from the busyness of the holidays and are well on your way to kickstarting your New Year’s resolutions.

As a cooperative, the start of a new year is just as much a time for us to take stock and look ahead as it is for our members. We get a chance to celebrate everything we accomplished together last year while setting our goals we want to reach in 2016.

One of our greatest achievements of 2015 was finishing the entire year without a single injury to any member of our employees. As easy as electricity is to use these days, many people forget all the hazards it poses to those who work with it every day. Our linemen and dispatchers never forget, and their vigilance has paid off with a record of 433 days without injury as of Dec. 31, stretching all the way back to Oct. 15, 2014.

As remarkable as that milestone is, one of our resolutions as a cooperative is to do even better this year. We want to eliminate vehicle incidents as well, and to do that we’re establishing additional training programs that will keep our employees at the top of their game, which you can read about in this newsletter.

Those initiatives are about more than just keeping a good record. Safety on the job means our employees can go home healthy at the end of the day to see their families and be active members of their community.

Continued on back, see CEO

SVEC brings in the New Year with major safety milestone Electric power has given us the convenience of light in the dark and warmth when the winter months get cold. But with all its modern convenience, electricity can still be hazardous to those working with it.

No matter the job, safety is always the top priority at Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, and we do everything in our power to mitigate the hazards our employees face.

That’s why everyone at SVEC is thrilled to have finished 2015 with a fantastic safety record, clocking in at 433 days without a doctor-treated injury from Oct. 15, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2015. Going more than a year without any injuries just goes to show that we have some of the best employees in the country.

Their constant focus and willingness to communicate with each other every day is truly inspiring.

But above all else, what truly matters is that they’re safe when the workday is done.

“To work more than 14 months without even a doctor-treated injury is awesome,” says SVEC Safety Director Mark Mosley. “It means employees get to enjoy what they like to do after a day’s work because they aren’t hurt. Ultimately, a concerted safety effort by all employees ensures that they go home each and every day to their families.”

Of course, while making it through an entire year injury-free is a tremendous milestone, it doesn’t mean our work is done. We continue to look for ways to further improve our safety record, and a big part of that is our upcoming recertification with the Rural Elec-

tric Safety Achievement Program.

RESAP is a voluntary program that we participate in to increase safety awareness at all levels of the cooperative. It requires recertification every three years, which means bringing in outside safety professionals to inspect every corner of our organization. SVEC is due for recertification this year, which means every one of us will be interviewed concerning our responsibilities.

Part of that program is setting goals for the next three years, and we’re setting the bar even higher in 2016. In addition to another year without injuries, we’re aiming to eliminate vehicle incidents as well.

To do that, we’ve teamed up with North West Lineman College to establish two new training programs, a four-year apprentice program and a three-year meter tech program. Each one is not only structured to provide high-level training, but also to allow for sharing between utility employees so that we can learn from each other.

“These programs really show that our employees are dedicated and willing to go the extra mile for themselves, SVEC and our members,” says Mosley. “We are able to get our employees trained in the programs we feel are important, and we also have the benefit of seeing how other utilities complete the same job.”

Congratulations to everyone at SVEC for everything we achieved in 2015. We look forward to reaching even greater heights for safety in the new year! 

I

Keep your electric bill down this winter with these easy tips With temperatures rising and falling this winter, many people are constantly fumbling with their thermostat to stay comfortable. Heating and cooling can make up nearly half of your electric bill, so be sure to take measures that can save you money. When the temperatures drop, there are some simple steps you can take to ensure you are managing your energy use wisely.

Keep the fireplace damper closed when it is not in use. Keeping it open can bring cold air into the room.

Keep drapes or blinds closed at night and keep those that don’t get direct sunlight closed during the day, too. Open drapes that do let in direct sunlight during the day to let the sun warm your home.

Wrap exposed pipes and water heaters that are in unconditioned spaces. The less the water heater has to run, the more energy you save.

Change your air filter once a month. A clogged air filter makes it more difficult for your heater to do its job, increasing the time it has to run.

Caulk around the fireplace hearth, and caulk or weather strip around doors and windows.

This helps keep your warmed air in and the cold air out.

Dress for the weather, even if you are inside.

Wearing proper clothing like long sleeves and pants, or wrapping up in a cozy blanket will help combat the temptation of bumping up the thermostat.

CEO, Continued from front

That is our top priority, followed closely by providing our members better service each day. It’s a new year full of new opportunities, and I can’t wait to see the new milestones we’ll reach together. 

WHY IS MY BILL STILL HIGHER? Even when you conserve energy, your bill may be higher than normal in winter months. To understand why, it’s necessary to understand what exactly impacts your energy usage.

The weather makes a big impact on electric bills, accounting for nearly half of your bill. In hot or cold weather, your home’s temperature takes more energy to regulate.

Even those with the most efficient HVAC systems will see more use in extreme weather.

When extreme cold tem peratures hit, our heaters work overtime to keep us warm — especially if the “emergency heat” or strip heater is turned on. For ex ample, even if you set your thermostat to our recommend ed 68 degrees in the winter, when it is 19 degrees outside, your system has to work hard to make up that 49-degree dif ference.

As your heater works harder and cycles on and off more often, it makes your use much higher. That means your next SVEC energy bill will be higher as well. 

Try the new SmartHub app today and win!

SmartHub is an easy way to manage your account, track your electricity usage and pay your bill. To spread the word, everyone who signs up will be entered for a chance to win a $25 gift card! A new winner will be chosen each month!

The winners of last month’s drawing were Michael and April White. Be sure to sign up for SmartHub today and you could be this month’s lucky winner! You can log on to sveccoop.smarthub.coop for more information.