Currents-July 2021

JULY 2021

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS

INSIDE: FULL BLOOM Native wildflowers flourish near SVEC’s lines UNDERWATER ADVENTURE Explore sunken vessels on the Shipwreck Trail AROUND THE COMMUNITY SVEC awards scholarships to local students

CEO’S MESSAGE

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS July 2021

Michael S. McWaters Executive V.P./CEO

Suwannee Valley Currents is a monthly newsletter published by Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, © 2021. It is distributed without charge to all consumermembers of the cooperative.

Stop and smell the flowers This month, as many of us gather to celebrate Independence Day with hot dogs, fireworks and some Florida sunshine, I’m reminded once again how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful area. Of course, everyone knows our state for its pristine beaches. But around here, we also get to enjoy the calmer pace of the Suwannee River surrounded by ancient oaks covered in Spanish moss.

As an electric cooperative, it is one of our guiding principles to not only bring you reliable and affordable service, but also to do so while looking out for the well-being of our community. That includes doing what we can to protect the natural beauty of the place we call home.

There are many ways Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative takes that mission seriously. For example, 9% of the power we deliver to our consumermembers is produced using renewable resources like solar, hydro and landfill gas. And as our wholesale power supplier, Seminole Electric Cooperative, adds solar resources, that percentage will grow to 13% by 2024.

As it turns out, sometimes you don’t need to look any farther than the side of the road for opportunities to protect your local environment. For the past year, the Florida Wildflower Foundation has conducted surveys of native plants and wildflowers on roadsides near electric lines. These plants can attract pollinators, like bees and butterflies, that benefit local farmers and our ecosystem as a whole.

You can learn more about the surveys and the importance of native wildflowers in this newsletter, as well as what the surveys found adjacent to some of our lines. As a cooperative, we were excited to take part in this process and have been happy to make adjustments to our right-of-way maintenance in certain areas to make sure these important plants have the opportunity to thrive.

That doesn’t mean we have forgotten to look out for our community in other ways, though. SVEC has always been dedicated to supporting our local students, and one of the best ways we can do that is by offering scholarships to help them reach their educational goals. In this issue, you can see all the students we have been able to offer scholarships to this year. You’ll also find an update on the progress of Operation Round Up, which continues to give students the resources they need to excel.

These are just a few of the ways SVEC is working to make this amazing community an even better place to live for all of us. I hope each of you has the chance to get outdoors this month and enjoy everything the Suwannee Valley has to offer. We’ll be here to power you along every step of the way. 

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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: The Orange Milkwort is one of the few truly orange native wildflowers.

It is one of many native plants found in a recent survey of habitats near SVEC’s lines. See story, Page 4.

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Protect yourself from

SCAMS

SVEC consumer-members have recently reported calls from scammers impersonating cooperative employees.

REMEMBER, SVEC WILL NEVER: • Call consumer-members to demand payment right before disconnection.

• Ask for personal information, like your Social Security number, over the phone.

• Ask for payment via a prepaid debit card.

• Visit your home unannounced to promote a service or demand information.

• If you suspect you are dealing with a scammer, hang up the phone or close the door and call SVEC’s Member Service Department at 800-447-4509.

SAVE ON A NEW STANDBY GENERATOR

SVEC is a Generac ® Energy Alliance Partner. That means SVEC consumer-members can purchase Generac whole-house automatic standby generators at special discounted prices.

Extended warranties are also available for 22 kW units — the most frequently purchased size — at discounted prices.

Financing is available through First Federal Bank. Contact the following SVEC members, who are Generac-certified sales and service partners, for more information:

Felknor Electric Inc.

Phone: 386-362-1441 Email: felknorelectric@gmail.com

CAPITAL CREDIT UPDATE

Do you have unclaimed capital credits, or are you the legal beneficiary of a member with unclaimed capital credits? Find out at svec-coop.com/ unclaimed-capital-credits.

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Holly Electric Inc.

Phone: 386-755-5944 Email: hollyelectricinc@gmail.com

A NEW WAY TO THANK LINEWORKERS

Show your support for those who power our lives with a “Thank a lineman” license plate! Get a presale voucher at your local DMV or at www.thankalineworker.com.

Purchases will help train the next generation of lineworkers by funding lineworker scholarships at Lake-Sumter State College. A minimum of 3,000 “Thank a lineman” license plate vouchers must be preordered before the state will begin manufacturing them.

July 2021 | 3

Oakleaf Fleabane

Flower power

SVEC works with Florida Wildflower Foundation to protect native plants

Anyone who has driven through Florida during spring has probably seen the state wildflower out in force. The yellow coreopsis can take over both sides of the road for stretches almost a mile long, putting on a show that can be appreciated even at high speeds. But for wildflower and horticultural specialist Jeff Norcini, some of the state’s most interesting finds are best appreciated at a slower pace.

“You really need to walk through a site to find what’s there and get an accurate assessment,” he says. “Some of these plants are small enough that unless you’re walking you’d never see them.”

Those might include the carnivorous sundew, which can be smaller than a quarter, the colorful milkwort that blooms close to the ground or any of the dozens of other species that can coexist within just half a mile of each other in some wetland areas. Over the last year, Norcini set out to catalog all of them as part of a survey of wildflowers and plants near electric lines throughout Florida’s Big Bend.

The survey, conducted for the Florida Wildflower Foundation with funding from the Duke Energy Foundation, started last year in an effort to observe as many flowers as possible. Because many different species grow at different times of the year or under different weather conditions, Norcini visited the same sites twice, in the fall and spring.

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“Every time I go out I see something new,” he says. “Even if I’ve been at that site before, there’s always something I haven’t seen. That’s my favorite part of the job: seeing something different and learning a new plant.”

NATIVE SOIL

The recent survey focused particularly on native wildflowers, those that occur naturally in the region and have formed symbiotic relationships with other wildlife in their ecosystem. Norcini began working with native plants more than two decades ago when he joined the Florida Department of Transportation’s effort to promote these plant species on roadsides.

Preserving native plant habitats is particularly important because they can serve as a refuge for bees, butterflies and other pollinators. These insects play an important role in the wider ecosystem.

Norcini explores wildflower habitats on foot to spot species that can’t be seen from the road.

Suwannee Valley Currents

Norcini can identify some wildflower species even when they aren’t in full bloom.

Florida’s state wildflower is Coreopsis, commonly called Tickseed.

“The whole reason plants have showy flowers is to attract bees or butterflies,” Norcini says. “Native bees are particularly important to pollinating agricultural crops. So, when you have a native wildflower habitat adjacent to an agricultural field, it may serve as a home for bees that will help pollinate those crops.”

The right-of-way areas around electric lines are often excellent habitats for native plants, since power providers may only mow them once every few years.

“A lot of times you find good native plant community remnants under power lines, because they aren’t disturbed that much,” Norcini says.

RARE FINDS

In his surveys of three sites on SVEC’s system, Norcini found all kinds of remarkable plants, including an endangered species commonly known as the yellow sunnybell and a threatened species, the carnivorous hooded pitcher plant. But even with those rare finds, one of the biggest causes for excitement was the presence of milkweed.

“When I find milkweeds I’m always thrilled, especially where I didn’t expect to find them,” Norcini says.

“We look for those because they’re larval hosts for the monarch butterfly.

That was one area of focus for this survey, so I was excited to find them.”

Suwannee Valley Currents

Right-of-ways can serve as important habitats for pollinators such as bees and butterflies.

In order to protect these important native habitats, Norcini worked with SVEC to develop recommendations that could work for the cooperative while still protecting the native species.

“In areas with milkweeds I have suggested specific times they should cease mowing so that these milkweeds can thrive, multiply and go to seed to increase their numbers,” he says. “When it comes to the three sites SVEC manages, they have been very cooperative when I asked them to hold off on mowing.”

Those recommendations come with the caveat that the cooperative is free to do whatever right-of-way clearing it considers necessary to maintain

safety for its linemen and reliable power for its consumer-members.

While Norcini relishes any opportunity to explore an area as diverse as Florida’s Big Bend, he also knows there is still so much to discover. With seasonal changes and weather conditions having so much influence on native plants, the landscape at the sites he surveys could be completely different the next time he’s t here.

But for him, that’s all part of the fun.

“It’s amazing how extremely diverse some of these sites in the Big Bend are,” Norcini says. “The flowerings can vary every two or three weeks. I love that diversity and seeing something I’ve never seen before.” 

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social media

SPOTLIGHT

Follow SVEC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest on outages, cooperative programs, community events and more. Here are a couple of recent posts.

Spicy Chipotle Catfish Sandwich 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced Zest of 1 lemon 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 cloves garlic, minced Olive oil 4 catfish fillets Salt and pepper, to taste 4 regular or multigrain sourdough rolls 4 slices sweet onion Chopped cabbage or romaine lettuce CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE: 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon capers 2 teaspoons smoked paprika Half of chipotle-lemon mixture Preheat the oven to 400 F. Combine the chipotle pepper, lemon zest, lemon juice and garlic. Divide equally into two bowls.

Rub a small amount of olive oil on the fish. Top the fish with half the chipotlelemon mixture, then sprinkle it with salt and pepper.

Bake for 8 minutes or until done.

While the fish is baking, make the chipotle mayonnaise by combining the mayonnaise, capers, paprika and the rest of the chipotle-lemon mixture.

Assemble sandwiches with fish, chipotle mayonnaise, onion, and cabbage or lettuce. Makes four sandwiches. 

facebook.com/sveccoop instagram.com/sveccoop twitter.com/SVEC_COOP 6 | July 2021

Do you have a great recipe?

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

Suwannee Valley Currents

Explore sunken mysteries on Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail

By Lauren Tjaden, Visit Florida

Looking for something that’s really off the beaten path? The Florida Department of State’s Underwater Archaeology Team worked with coastal communities to develop the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail, linking a dozen sunken ships off the coast of Pensacola, Destin, Panama City and Port St. Joe. Florida waters are among the best in the world for diving. When you add the intriguing, and sometimes mysterious, presence of ships resting on the seabed, it adds a whole new dimension to reef diving in Florida. Even better, the 12 ships — which were chosen for the trail by local dive operators for their popularity, history and ecological diversity — create artificial reefs teeming with marine life at a variety of depths.

Divers can explore smaller vessels like the tugboat Miss Louise off Destin, as well large vessels such as Pete Tide II, an oil field supply ship.

The trail also features two 1940s shipwrecks, the freighter San Pablo near Pensacola and the historic steamer Suwannee Valley Currents

Vamar, made famous as a support ship for Admiral Richard Byrd’s 1928 Antarctic expedition and mysteriously sunk in 1942 off the coast of Port St. Joe. Military buffs can get an up-close look at World War II minesweepers like Black Bart, the USS Accokeek, the USS Chippewa and the USS Strength near Panama City. Those looking for something a little bigger can marvel at the USS Oriskany, an aircraft carrier off Pensacola that creates the world’s largest artificial reef and is surrounded by the U.S. Navy dive tender YDT-14.

Participating dive operators can provide you with a passport containing details about each shipwreck, as well as a dive log to record each stop. And be sure to visit www.floridapanhandledivetrail.com to see underwater videos of each shipwreck, locations of local dive shops and an up-to-date marine weather forecast to make the most of your adventure on the Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail.  July 2021 | 7

Second quarter Operation Round Up® report More than $50,000 raised for schools this year

Thanks to SVEC members, Operation Round Up continues to make a difference for our local students. By rounding up electric bills and making an average monthly donation of just 50 cents, members like you have contributed $53,058 to give local schools the support they need. 

YEAR TO DATE Funds collected: $53,058 Grants approved: 78, worth $47,119 LIFE OF PROGRAM Funds collected: $262,697 Grants approved: 481, worth $243,477

Congratulations to our

2021 scholarship winners!

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Suwannee Valley Currents