Currents-December 2019

DECEMBER 2019

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS

INSIDE: NEW GENERATION SVEC’s energy sources are changing with the times

SEE THE FUTURE

How we predict energy use on our system

AROUND THE COMMUNITY

Taste of Suwannee cooks up support for education

CEO’S MESSAGE

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS December 2019

Michael S. McWaters Executive V.P./CEO

Suwannee Valley Currents is a monthly newsletter published by Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, © 2019. It is distributed without charge to all consumermembers of the cooperative.

The co-op community One of my favorite things about Christmas, and the holiday season in general, is that it gives us an opportunity to celebrate being part of a community. Maybe your town has a favorite tradition that everyone comes together to take part in, or you look forward to celebrating with your church community. Many of us will gather with family at this time of year, which can be a community of its own.

If you’re reading this, you’re also part of our cooperative community. It’s one that was started decades ago to bring electricity to this area, and it continues to find new ways of improving our members’ lives. I know I’m proud to be part of this community, and I hope you are, too.

But some of our members may not realize that, just as you are all part of Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, SVEC also belongs to a cooperative. A cooperative of cooperatives, if you will. SVEC is a member of Seminole Electric Cooperative, a wholesale power provider that generates electricity for us and eight other cooperatives across the state.

We rely on Seminole because running a power plant ourselves wouldn’t be feasible. Instead, they generate our electricity, and SVEC distributes it to each of the homes and businesses in our service area.

As a result, how Seminole generates power and which resources they use are of the utmost importance for SVEC and our members. That’s why, in this month’s newsletter, you can learn more about how your electricity is generated and the changes in store for Seminole in the years to come.

Of course, when it comes to planning out how those generation resources will be put to use, it is crucial that Seminole have a good idea of how much energy a system like SVEC’s will consume. To make those predictions, generation cooperatives use a technique known as load forecasting. You can learn more about how load forecasting works and why it is important in this newsletter.

You’ll also find an update on how SVEC continues to support our broader community by awarding scholarships to local students. Be sure to check our website in February for a scholarship application if you or someone you know will graduate from high school this spring.

I would also like to remind everyone about the upcoming 2020 census, and I encourage all of our members to participate. Making sure we get an accurate count for our area every 10 years helps our counties get more funding for crucial services like roadwork, education, health care and more.

Finally, I would like to take a moment to wish all of you a merry Christmas, as well as a happy and healthy New Year. This has been another strong year for our cooperative, from continuing to provide safe, affordable and reliable electric service to finding new ways to contribute to our community. We’ll continue to do so in 2020. 

2 | December 2019

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: This combined-cycle natural gas facility at the Midulla Generating Station generates 810 megawatts of electricity for SVEC and other Seminole Electric member cooperatives.

See story, Page 4.

Suwannee Valley Currents

Together we shape our future ENERGY EFFICIENCY IS ON THE AIR

BE COUNTED IN 2020 Census data helps our communities grow. Through the census, our counties gain funding for better roads, educational opportunities, health care and jobs. Happening only once every decade, your count in the census shapes your county’s future for the next 10 years. Moreover, census data is completely confidential and federally protected. By law, the census cannot share your information with law enforcement or immigration or allow it to be used to determine eligibility for government benefits. Responding to the 2020 census on April 1 will be easier and more convenient than ever. You will be able to respond online, by phone or by mail.

And it will only take a few minutes. So, be sure to exercise your civic duty and be counted.

Earn extra income while helping your community The U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting census takers for our area. The job pays $16.50$18.00 per hour and has flexible hours. Learn more and apply at 2020census.gov/jobs.

DO YOU HAVE UNCLAIMED CAPITAL CREDITS?

As a service to our consumer-members, SVEC is excited to bring the “Drop Your Energy Bill” show to local radio. The nationally syndicated show dedicated to energy efficiency airs live every Saturday 10-11 a.m. on WJZS 106.1 FM, WQHL 1250 AM, WDSR 1340 AM and 95.9 FM. Tune in every Saturday and learn how to make your home more energy efficient!

Holiday

office closures SVEC’s office will be closed Dec. 24-25 for Christmas and on New Year’s Day. Our 24-hour outage-reporting system is always available, as is our drive-thru payment kiosk. We will have standby crews ready to restore power if needed.

Find out if you have unclaimed capital credits by searching the list at svec-coop.com/member-services/capital-credits.

Suwannee Valley Currents

December 2019 | 3

TALKIN’ ’BOUT OUR

GENERATION SVEC’s changing resource mix

Consumers served by Suwannee Valley Electric know what it means to be a member of an electric cooperative. But did you know that SVEC itself is a member of a cooperative?

Generating safe, affordable and reliable electricity can be both complicated and expensive. Because building our own generation facilities wouldn’t be cost-effective, SVEC and other Florida cooperatives created Seminole Electric Cooperative, a wholesale energy provider that generates electricity from a variety of resources.

Just like our members pay SVEC for the electricity they use, we are a member of Seminole and pay Seminole for the share of electricity our system uses. And just like SVEC, Seminole is a not-for-profit organization, meaning it is always looking for new ways to provide reliable electric service at a lower cost to its member cooperatives. As the electric industry continues to evolve, Seminole is finding new ways to take advantage of emerging technology and resources.

“We’re always trying to balance the adoption of new technology, including solar, with the cost of electricity that’s passed on to the consumer at the end of the line,” says Ryan Hart, Seminole’s director of communications and energy policy. “As the price of new technology continues to decline, we continue to evaluate the best way to utilize it while minimizing any impacts that might have on people’s electric bills.”

A DIVERSE MIX

While coal and natural gas continue to be the primary sources of reliable and affordable electricity for Seminole, these resources are also a part of the cooperative’s energy mix that stands to change the most in the coming years.

Currently, Seminole’s owned generation resources include the 1,300-megawatt coal-fired plant at Seminole Generating Station (SGS) in northeast Florida, the 900-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas plant at the Richard J. Midulla Generating Station (MGS) in central Florida, and Seminole’s first Cooperative Solar facility, adjacent to MGS. Seminole also purchases power from other utilities, power producers and government organizations to maintain a balanced resource mix.

Seminole is taking steps to ensure its generation mix has both the capacity and diversity to remain safe, affordable and reliable as the electric industry changes. One such step is Seminole’s plan to remove one of the coal units at SGS from service in 2022 and replace it with a state-of-the-art combined-cycle natural gas facility capable of generating 1,050 megawatts of electricity.

“As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, we have a duty to our members to provide reliable electricity in the most economical way,” says Leigh Holmes, Seminole’s senior communications representative. “We must also manage risks relating to both the cost and availability of various sources of energy. We must remain a financially strong and stable organization for our members and employees. This plan helps us accomplish all of those goals.”

The new facility will be one of the most efficient power plants in the world, following a design that has been used in about 20 other facilities globally. Seminole expects the change to significantly reduce its impact on the environment while increasing the amount of energy it can produce.

4 | December 2019

Suwannee Valley Currents

“Our plan includes removing one of our coal-fired generating units from service in approximately five years and securing additional solar resources, which together will bring significant environmental benefits in the form of reduced emissions,” Holmes says. “We project a 40% reduction in air pollutants and a 34% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions while seeing a 27% increase in power output at the site.”

Independent of Seminole, SVEC receives an allotment of hydroelectric power generated by the U.S. Department of Energy at the Jim Woodruff Dam on the Apalachicola River near Chattahoochee, Florida. In all, more than 9% of the power SVEC delivers to its members comes from renewable resources. 

In the future, a greater share of Seminole’s electricity will be generated from natural gas facilities like this one on the Hardee/Polk County line.

CLEAN POWER YOU CAN COUNT ON

SVEC and Seminole are dedicated to providing affordable and reliable service while remaining good stewards of our environment.

In 2017, Seminole placed its 2.2-megawatt Cooperative Solar project into operation at the MGS site and is exploring additional solar power purchase agreements.

Seminole purchases additional power generated from a variety of renewable resources, including landfill gas and biomass. And as the cost of solar energy decreases, Hart expects there to be opportunities for Seminole to incorporate more solar power without putting an undue financial burden on memberconsumers.

A rendering of the combined-cycle facility (top) that will replace one of the Seminole Generation Station’s coal units in 2022.

Seminole’s Cooperative Solar facility, located adjacent to the Midulla Generating Station, generates 2.2 megawatts of renewable energy.

Suwannee Valley Currents

December 2019 | 5

Predicting your energy needs How much electricity will you use today? How about tomorrow? You may not consider these questions as often as you think about your electric bill, but at Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, we think about them for you every day.

SVEC and our wholesale power provider, Seminole Electric Cooperative, measure your electricity use, as well as that of all other Seminole members on the grid. Our goal is to provide safe, reliable and affordable electricity, and we work with a team of analysts at Seminole to track the demand for electricity in real time and decide how to meet that need.

There are many factors that determine how much energy you use: your home appliances, the house you live in, your geography and even the weather.

Predicting your actual electricity use on any given day is difficult, but information from the past can help us estimate future usage.

In addition to tracking real-time energy consumption, SVEC and Seminole develop long-range forecasts of energy requirements so we can plan for the generation and transmission needs our system will have years into the future. These forecasts take current demand and factor in changes like growth in population, economics and energy efficiency in our communities. Trends such as the use of technology like smart thermostats, selfinstallation of solar power systems and growth in electric vehicle purchases also impact our future energy consumption.

Weather plays a large role in how much electricity you and your neighbors will use. Seminole employees track weather patterns to understand how much electricity it takes to heat or cool your home, hour by hour and month to month. Long-term weather patterns are also an important factor in determining what your usage will be in the future.

Knowing what you spend your money on is important. As an SVEC member, you can rest assured that your cooperative and Seminole Electric work hard to continue to provide safe, affordable and reliable electricity to you.

6 | December 2019

Suwannee Valley Currents

Who taught you to hunt?

By Tony Young, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission As Christmas nears, celebrating a sense of community will be top of mind for many. For the hunting community, it’s a wonderful time to remember those who introduced us to hunting. And the holiday gives us a great opportunity to pay it forward by taking someone hunting, whether a neighbor, friend, family member or co-worker.

There are many people who didn’t grow up hunting but as adults became interested in experiencing it and enjoying the benefits of eating healthy, organic protein. Denise Helms, president of the Florida chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation, is a perfect example. She didn’t go on her first hunt until she was 24 years old, when a friend invited her to go turkey hunting on public land.

“I’m game for anything, so I went along,” Helms says. “I just like being outdoors.”

Helms loved the experience of sitting in a homemade palmetto blind, taking in the sunrise through an oak hammock and hearing wild turkeys gobble for the first time.

“Country singer Eric Church says it best with his lyric, ‘Walking barefoot through the mud will knock the rust right off your soul,’” Helms says. “And so does being in the woods.”

Suwannee Valley Currents

However, Helms didn’t immediately catch the hunting bug. She married and moved to Colorado, and it wasn’t until she moved back to the Sunshine State 12 years later that she had the opportunity to go hunting again. In 2008, she harvested her first turkey, deer and wild hog.

By engaging herself in hunting, Helms has gained a whole new family.

“Acquaintances turned into friends who turned into family — people who care about conservation support me incorporating hunting into my life and help me succeed,” Helms says.

“It’s a great feeling having mentors like that who I can learn from.”

Helms admits she’s not a hunting master yet, so she hasn’t personally guided anyone on a hunt. But she’s been doing her part in passing down the hunting tradition by volunteering with her local NWTF chapter and serving on its board since 2011. Helping plan and host a Women in the Outdoors event further ignited her passion for hunting.

“I feel like what I’m doing is making a difference at all levels, and I like that,” Helms says. 

Freshen up your favorite dressing recipe From Mindy Merrell Dressing is one of those dishes that opens itself up to versatility. “It’s a blank canvas, so change it up to match the theme of your menu,” Mindy Merrell says.

• Italian — Add a pound of cooked and crumbled Italian sausage. Add some rosemary, red bell pepper and pine nuts.

• Sausage, apple and pecan — Add 1 pound of cooked and crumbled sausage, a finely chopped apple and 1 cup of toasted pecans to the mix.

• Leeks and country ham — Use leeks instead of onions and add bits of country ham.

• Clams or oysters — Add fresh chopped clams or oysters to the mix and a sauteed green bell pepper.

Do you have a great recipe?

Email a copy of a recipe you’d like to share to communications@svec-coop.com.

This story originally ran on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website on Nov. 5, 2015.

December 2019 | 7

SVEC in the

COMMUNITY SVEC’s taxes support our community Every November, SVEC pays more than $1 million in property taxes to the four counties we serve. We are pleased that these funds are used by the counties to provide essential services and strong schools in our community.

SVEC COOKS UP SUPPORT FOR TASTE OF SUWANNEE 2019 Last month, SVEC employees put on their chef hats to take part in the sixth annual Taste of Suwannee. The event gives people the chance to try food from some of the best cooks in the area, all while supporting the Suwannee Education Foundation. The foundation provides instructional resources, classroom equipment and technology, and professional development opportunities to teachers, as well as college scholarships, tutoring services, college success workshops and mentoring to students.

This year’s event, held at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, was attended by more than 300 people and raised more than $8,000 for the school district. Food was provided by 18 vendors, including Arise Coffee Bar, 11th Street Kitchen, Big Wood BBQ, The Filling Fork, RIVEROAK Technical College culinary students and more. For the SVEC menu, employees cooked up cheddar basil bites, crabcakes with an aioli sauce and over 300 lemon mini-Bundt cakes.

Creating opportunities for local students It’s important for the students in our community to have opportunities to further their education after graduating from high school. Each spring, SVEC awards up to 10 scholarships of $1,000 each to deserving high school seniors who are dependents of co-op members.

Scholarship applications will be available on our website sometime in February.

It’s also important for students who are not planning to go to college to have quality career options after leaving school. That’s why SVEC participates in events like the recent Hamilton County High School College and Career Fair.