Issuu

MAY 2023

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS

INSIDE: GREEN THUMBS Smart Garden offers growth for agriculture and education. STOCK UP Get ready for hurricane season with disaster prep tax holiday. AROUND THE COMMUNITY SVEC members gather for the 2023 Annual Meeting.

CEO’S MESSAGE

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS May 2023

Michael S. McWaters Executive V.P./CEO

Ready for the future Planning ahead comes naturally for a cooperative. Going back to our earliest days, SVEC’s founders laid out a roadmap for the cooperative but knew they couldn’t put it into practice until they had signed up enough members to make it work. Today, as a member-owned system, we sit down every year and map out what improvements we can make and what construction is needed to accommodate growth. Once a year, at the annual meeting, we give you an update on how those plans are coming along and what new ideas we have for the future. This year, for the first time since before the pandemic, we were able to gather together in person as a cooperative family. It was a thrill to see so many of your faces again, and I look forward to doing it all again next year. But our dedication to looking ahead doesn’t end with our power lines. We also want to make sure the community as a whole is as well prepared for the future as our electric system. That’s why we invest in projects like the Smart Garden at the University of Florida North Florida Research & Education Center. As a rural community, agriculture is a huge part of our local economy. I’d venture to guess the vast majority of our consumer-members have some personal connection to farming — whether

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they work the land themselves or have friends and family who do. The hydroponics and artificial lighting research being conducted at the Smart Garden could open up new possibilities for our local farmers to produce certain seasonal crops year-round. You can learn more about the new findings coming from the project in this newsletter, as well as an update on how much food has already been donated to the local food bank. Of course, here in Florida, being prepared means being ready for more than the next big thing in the electric or agriculture industries. We also have to be prepared for whatever Mother Nature might bring during hurricane season. While we can never know just how hard our area will be hit during any given hurricane season, it is always crucial that we prepare for the worst and hope for the best. With that in mind, keep an eye out for our annual hurricane preparedness issue of this newsletter next month. But you can also get a head start on your planning by taking advantage of this year’s Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday. On the next page, you can find out more about this opportunity to save money when purchasing eligible items. With smart planning and a strong community, we can weather anything the future might bring our way. Until then, we’ll keep bringing you the safe, affordable and reliable electric service our consumer-members rely on each and every day. 

WE BELONG TO THOSE WE SERVE Business Office: 800-447-4509 11340 100th St. Live Oak, FL 32060 Lobby Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday Drive-thru Kiosk Open 24 Hours 24/7 Power Outage Reporting 800-752-0025 svec-coop.com facebook.com/sveccoop @SVEC_COOP_FL Instagram.com/sveccoop SVEC is an equal opportunity provider and employer. On the cover: With the support of SVEC, the Smart Garden project is helping researchers better understand the future of hydroponics and indoor agriculture. See more, Page 4.

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DON’T GET LEFT IN THE DARK Register medical necessities with SVEC SVEC recognizes that many of our members have unique needs. In some cases, they may be immobile or reliant on medical equipment or oxygen. It is important for members with medical needs who are dependent on electricity to register with SVEC so we

can notify you of planned or extended outages. You should also keep the information SVEC has on file for you current. To update your information, please visit our office or download the Medical Necessity Form at svec-coop.com/member-services/medical-necessity.

Register with County Emergency Management The Florida Division of Emergency Management allows citizens with special needs to register with their county emergency management agency. Information submitted to the register will only be used for planning and, if necessary, to provide emergency or disaster services. Residents of all Florida COLUMBIA COUNTY: 263 NW Lake City Ave. Lake City, FL 32055 386-758-1383

HAMILTON COUNTY: 1133 U.S. Highway 41 NW Suite 1 Jasper, FL 32052 386-792-6647

counties can register using the online Florida Special Needs Registry: snr.flhealthresponse.com Residents of Columbia, Hamilton, Lafayette and Suwannee counties can also request a special needs registration form by visiting or calling their county’s emergency management office. LAFAYETTE COUNTY: 194 SW Virginia Circle Mayo, FL 32066 386-294-1950

SUWANNEE COUNTY: 617 Ontario Ave. SW Live Oak, FL 32064 386-364-3405

Office closings

In honor of Memorial Day and Independence Day, SVEC’s office will be closed on Monday, May 29, and Tuesday, July 4. Our 24-hour outage reporting system is always available, as is our drive-thru payment kiosk. We’ll have standby crews available to restore power if needed.

Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday begins May 27 The 2023 Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday begins on Saturday, May 27, and extends through Friday, June 9. During this sales tax holiday period, qualifying items related to disaster preparedness are exempt from sales tax. The sales tax holiday does not apply to: • Rental or repair of any of the qualifying items • Sales in a theme park, entertainment complex, public lodging establishment or airport Qualifying items: • Reusable ice packs • Portable self-powered light sources, such as candles, flashlights and lanterns • Gas or diesel fuel containers, including LP gas and kerosene containers • Batteries, including rechargeable batteries Suwannee Valley Currents

• Coolers and ice chests • Bungee cords • Ground anchor systems • Radios • Ratchet straps • Tarps • Tie-down kits • Waterproof sheeting • Portable generators for light, communications or food preservation

May 2023 | 3

Green thumbs

Researchers reflect on lessons learned from local Smart Garden Bob Hochmuth has been a regional extension agent at the University of Florida’s North Florida Research and Education Center-Suwannee Valley for more than 30 years. For much of that time, he found that farmers across the state had very little interest in what he calls protected agriculture. Up until 2000, there were fewer than 100 acres of greenhouses across the entire state. Then things began to change. “A lot of that was driven by smaller growers who didn’t necessarily have the land for a full-blown farm, but did have enough for a greenhouse or two,” he says. “It kind of coincided with the increase in demand for local produce. So there were a lot of folks who wanted to get into agriculture and found greenhouses were the way they could do it.” As a result, the Research and Education Center began offering increasingly popular training courses in hydroponics, production systems, fertilizer injection and greenhouse structures. That made the center the ideal place to start testing an indoor garden facility in January 2022 with the

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support of SVEC, Seminole Electric Cooperative and the Electric Power Research Institute. In the almost 18 months since, the Smart Garden has been home to an indoor kale growing operation that has been a success in terms of both production and education. “We have had thousands of people at various events who have been able to get a look at this research project,” says Hochmuth. “I think it’s enhanced our ability to do extension work here with some of the most advanced technology available. So it’s been pretty cool to feel like we’re on the cutting edge.”

A DIFFERENT WORLD

Agricultural Assistant Supervisor Wanda Laughlin oversees the day-to-day operations of the Smart Garden and learned a great deal about the process in recent months. Even with 30 years of experience as a greenhouse grower, managing a completely controlled environment has turned out to be its own challenge. “It’s a very different world. Very small changes in a controlled atmosphere can make large impacts on plant growth and quality in a short period of time,” she says.

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“We are learning how significant the impacts of blue and red light and the availability of carbon dioxide are to the growth, visual appearance and quality of the crop.” While protected agriculture won’t replace conventional farming anytime soon, Hochmuth does believe the results of the Smart Garden show that indoor agriculture has the potential to help farmers produce certain crops year-round. “In the greenhouse, we can extend the season compared to what we could do in the field,” he says. “So, with an indoor garden system one of the main advantages is you can be a consistent provider of product year round.” Not just any product, though. One of Hochmuth’s other takeaways from the last 18 months is that the overhead costs required to start up a facility like the Smart Garden would demand a high-end crop, like specialty lettuces, to make the investment worthwhile. For this particular experiment, researchers have gone with kale in place of one of those high-value options. Laughlin has been surprised at the durability of the leafy green but, more importantly, it’s the same crop being grown in 19 other similar containers across the country. Once all of their crops are complete, researchers will be able to compare each site to see how electricity and water usage varied in different climates. Regardless of the findings, the Smart Garden has already had one unquestionably positive impact. As the kale produced at the site has been harvested, more than 1,250 pounds of the greens have been donated to the Florida Gateway Food Bank in Lake City.

The Smart Garden will shed light on the efficiency of indoor agriculture.

ROOM TO GROW

With just a couple of months left in the garden’s experimental run, Hochmuth and Laughlin are already eagerly looking ahead to ways the space could be used in the future. The University of Florida already has one specialist The project has tested the effects of red and blue light on kale. breeding a variety of lettuces, some of which haven’t even been named yet. “We could take 20, 30, 50 different breeding lines, each one a different background, a different germ plasm and a different type of lettuce,” says Hochmuth. “We’d put those in the container in an experimental design and evaluate which ones could potentially be good fits for indoor agriculture.” Other options could include replacing kale with some of those high-value crops, such as edible flowers or leafy herbs, and determining how well they work in an indoor environment. Until then, Hochmuth is happy to see out the current crop and enjoy the support of partners like SVEC. “The cooperation and collaboration with SVEC to make this whole thing happen has been great,” he says. “It’s no small thing to implement something this intensive. So the opportunity for us to have something here that’s meaningful to the community and to SVEC makes it that much more Thousands of people have visited the Smart Garden since it was established in January 2022. meaningful to us.”  Suwannee Valley Currents

May 2023 | 5

Butter chicken meatballs MEATBALLS: 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1 2 2 1 1

medium onion, grated cup panko breadcrumbs pounds ground chicken egg teaspoons garam masala tablespoons freshly chopped parsley teaspoon each, salt and pepper tablespoon olive oil

BUTTER SAUCE: Mix the onion and breadcrumbs together in a large mixing bowl. Let the mixture sit for 2-3 minutes. Add the rest of the meatball ingredients, excluding the oil, to the bowl. Mix everything together well. Form the mixture into meatballs. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs, working in batches if needed. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side until well browned. Transfer the cooked meatballs to a plate and set aside. For the sauce, add the butter to the skillet, then stir in garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, garam masala, smoked paprika, turmeric, cumin, coriander and chicken broth. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in the cream. Return meatballs to the skillet and let them simmer in the sauce until heated through. Garnish with parsley and serve. 

bright ideas

When you save energy, you save money. Check back here each month for new ways to make your home or business more energy efficient.

For more energy saving tips, the latest cooperative news and more, follow SVEC at:

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1/2 5 1 1/2 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

cup butter cloves minced garlic teaspoons ground ginger cup tomato sauce tablespoons tomato paste tablespoon garam masala tablespoon smoked paprika teaspoon turmeric teaspoon ground cumin teaspoon ground coriander cup chicken broth cup heavy cream tablespoon freshly chopped parsley

Finding the next energyefficiency project around your home might be as easy as looking out the window. For many households, more than a quarter of heating and cooling costs come down to heat gained or lost through windows. Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to make your windows more efficient without replacing them altogether. Inspect windows for any air leaks, and plug gaps with caulking or weatherstripping. Energy-efficient window coverings can help keep heat in or out, while exterior shading from awnings or landscaping can help control your windows’ exposure to direct sunlight.  facebook.com/sveccoop instagram.com/sveccoop twitter.com/SVEC_COOP

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF FWC FISH AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

A walk with Florida’s sea turtles

By Bonnie Gross, Visit Florida

Visitors are often surprised to learn that more than 100,000 threatened and endangered sea turtles nest on Florida beaches every summer. In fact, nearly 90% of the sea turtle nesting in the U.S. occurs in Florida from March through October of each year. What’s even better is that you can see nesting sea turtles in Florida. Up and down the Atlantic Coast, where sea turtle nests are most common, parks and environmental groups organize nighttime sea turtle walks in June and July. Mama turtles seek out spots on the beach where they can dig a 1- or 2-foot hole with their hind flippers. They fill their nests with soft-shelled eggs the size of table tennis balls.

Quick tips

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TOP: A green turtle crawls across the sand. LEFT: A green turtle prepares to return to the water. ABOVE: Loggerhead sea turtles are one of the most common species of sea turtles that nest in the United States.

After laying the eggs, the turtles refill their nests with sand and head back into the ocean. The whole process takes 30 to 60 minutes. During a turtle walk, guides lead visitors to the turtles to watch the process, typically in a hushed circle around the nesting spectacle. Two months later the eggs hatch, and scores of tiny turtles emerge from the sand at night and clamber into the water. Florida’s most common variety of sea turtle is the loggerhead, which averages 200 to 250 pounds at adulthood. Larger leatherbacks and green turtles nest here in smaller numbers, but turtle walk participants are

not allowed to watch them lay eggs because leatherbacks and greens are endangered, and the presence of people might disturb the nesting. Guided tours are the only way to witness sea turtle nesting on the beach. Turtle walk guides know the federal and state laws that pertain to observing with care. For example, no flashlights — except for guides who must have permits — or flash photography are allowed. All sea turtle walks require advance reservations. Several of the most popular sea turtle walk locations are away from urban centers, so a turtle walk might make a good anchor for a weekend getaway or beach vacation. 

• You’ll be with a group of 20 or 40 people. All sea turtle walk programs begin with an information session or talk. During that time, most programs send out scouts to find nesting turtles for the group to observe. • You must be able to walk 1 or 2 miles on sand. • Bring insect repellent, a water bottle and patience. • Most turtle walk tours don’t accept children under the age of 6. • Most also charge a fee of up to $20 per person. Some are free, but most fill up fast so book early. • Though odds are good you’ll see the nesting process, there’s no guarantee. Even if you never spot a turtle, you can always enjoy the moonlight and waves.

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2023 Annual Meeting Members enjoy coffee and doughnuts to kick off the annual meeting.

Members played games and won door prizes.

On Saturday, April 22, at the Suwannee County Agricultural Coliseum, SVEC held its first in-person annual meeting since before the COVID-19 pandemic. The 1,456 members who registered for the meeting by proxy or in person reelected trustees Mike Adams, District 1; Jerry Goff, District 2; and BeBe Roberson, District 3; to serve three-year terms on the board. Members also voted to approve the proposed changes to the bylaws. All members who registered for the meeting will receive a $25 gift card in the mail. It takes time to process the cards, so if you registered for the meeting, please allow four to five weeks for your card to arrive.

Students on eggshells SVEC was excited to join in Suwannee Pineview Elementary's egg drop. The popular annual event tasks students with creating a protective carrier that can keep a raw egg from breaking when dropped about 55 feet from a raised bucket truck. Children draw on their creativity and knowledge of science while using a wide variety of materials, such as popcorn, bubble wrap and homemade parachutes.

Braxton 5th grade

Shander 5th grade

Letty 2nd grade

Safety first Manager of Safety and Compliance Craig Ragan presented memorable lifesaving information on electrical safety to students at Lafayette High School. To request a free demonstration for your school, club or organization, email communications@svec-coop.com.

Executive VP and CEO Mike McWaters updates members on the state of the cooperative.

Manager of Safety and Compliance Craig Ragan demonstrates the importance of electric safety.

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Lafayette High School students watch an electric safety demonstration.

Suwannee Valley Currents