Currents May 2018

Suwannee Valley

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Serving you safely Michael S. McWaters Executive V.P./CEO

Real transparency can be a difficult thing to find, whether in a business or in a person. We’re often so concerned with projecting the right image that what is true takes a back seat.

That’s one of the many things that sets cooperatives apart from other business models. We are owned by the people we serve, which means transparency isn’t just an abstract goal. It’s built into who we are.

There is no better example of that openness than our annual meeting. This year’s get-together was another wonderful opportunity to visit with family and friends, all while making your voices heard in how our cooperative operates.

Unfortunately, we know not everyone is able to join us each year. So for those who missed out, you can catch up on some of our 2017 accomplishments and speaker highlights in this newsletter.

Our culture of openness extends to every aspect of the cooperative, including our day-to-day operations. Even for employees with years of experience, working with electricity can pose severe danger without a culture of safety.

At SVEC, we take safety seriously. Safety is always our top priority, which is why we encourage employees to report every potential safety issue they see. That attention to detail can be the difference between life and death. In this newsletter, you can read more about how SVEC has built a culture responsible for three and a half years without a losttime injury.

Finally, as we recognize May as National Electrical Safety Month, I would also like to encourage you to set aside some time to reinforce safe electrical habits with your family.

By respecting the power of electricity, we can all prevent unnecessary electrical accidents. 

currents May 2018

SVEC hosts 81st annual meeting SVEC members gathered for the cooperative’s 81st annual meeting on Saturday, April 28, at the Suwannee County Agricultural Coliseum in Live Oak. The meeting gave members the opportunity to enjoy doughnuts and coffee with neighbors, friends and family, as well as participate in bingo and a door prize drawing.

All together, SVEC gave away nearly 250 prizes.

Board of Trustees President Hugh Hunter spoke about the successful year the cooperative had in 2017, including keeping the lights on 99.96 percent of the time and extending the utility’s record of days without a lost-time injury to three and half years.

He also praised the financial strength of the cooperative, mentioning that $850,000 in capital credits were retired last year.

Finally, he mentioned SVEC’s community involvement, including $7,500 in scholarships given to high school seniors to help them pursue their goals of higher education.

The cooperative achieved all of those successes while also weathering one of the biggest storms to hit the system in Hurricane Irma. Unlike most storms, where damage is limited to one area of the system, Irma impacted the entirety of SVEC’s 2,000-square-mile territory that contains more than 4,000 miles of power lines.

“I’d like to take this chance to thank all of our cooperative employees for the hard work they put in that week to restore power to most of our members in just seven days,” Hunter told the crowd. “That is an impressive feat for such widespread storm damage, and the effort wasn’t just limited to linemen in the field. Every single employee at SVEC stepped up after Irma.”

Hunter also commended fellow SVEC trustee Bill Hart, who has served on the board for 30 years. Hart recently finished

Seminole Electric CEO and General Manager Lisa Johnson spoke about new developments in the electric industry at SVEC’s annual meeting. a three-year term as board president for Seminole Electric Cooperative, SVEC’s wholesale power provider.

Following the board president’s comments, local high school senior Riley Boss had the chance to thank the attendees and SVEC staff for selecting her to represent SVEC at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. CEO Michael McWaters also shared some of the cooperative’s accomplishments over the last year, in particular SVEC’s ability to successfully balance its priorities of safety, reliability and affordability. In addition to extending its record without a lost-time injury, he added that the cooperative drove almost 1 million miles in 2017 without an accident.

Finally, Seminole Electric Cooperative CEO and General Manager Lisa Johnson spoke to attendees about the exciting times ahead for the electric industry. She updated them on a new natural gas-fired facility that is expected to be in service by late 2022 along with the smart thermostat pilot program that will be offered in partnership with SVEC. Johnson closed by noting that Seminole is exploring the possibility of adding more solar power to its energy mix in the future as long as it doesn’t hurt the reliability of the system.

“This is an exciting time to be in our industry and an exciting time to be at Suwannee Valley Electric,” she said. 

As part of their training, linemen practice the rescue of an injured co-worker.

SAFETY ABOVE ALL ELSE Safety is a concern that touches every part of our lives. Families looking for a place to settle down want to live in safe communities, while companies across all industries want to provide a safe working environment for their employees. Even when we sit down to watch a sporting event, we hear conversations on how to protect athletes from serious injuries.

Unfortunately, conversation is often as far as the issue goes.

When it counts, measures that could keep the public, workers, athletes or even our own loved ones safe tend to be ignored in favor of time or convenience.

That’s not a mistake we can afford to make at Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative. Working with electricity is an inherently hazardous job, and we go to great lengths to make sure our workers return home safely to their loved ones each day.

That’s why safety is always our top priority and more than just empty talk. In fact, at the time of writing, SVEC employees have worked over 1,300 consecutive days and 600,000 man-hours without a lost-time injury. Over time, SVEC has built a culture of safety by putting our employees and our community before anything else.

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SAFETY IN NUMBERS

The most important part of building that culture is being able to identify the cooperative’s safety risks and keeping up with the latest ways to address them. For that, SVEC established an employee safety committee that meets regularly to discuss any near-miss incidents, vehicle accidents or lessons learned that could help prevent injuries in the future.

The safety committee has members from each department at the cooperative, from line crews to office staff. If employees notice a potential safety issue, they can contact their representative on the committee who will bring it up for discussion at the next meeting.

“It’s a way to get together, discuss any safety issues, run them by the staff and decide on any changes that need to be made,” says Mark Mosley, SVEC’s safety director and head of the employee safety committee.

“Issues can be brought up by anyone in the co-op, but changes are called for by the safety committee.”

The committee usually meets once a quarter, but in 2015 it met every two weeks as the members worked on creating a new safety

SVEC does electrical safety demonstrations for schools, senior organizations, first responders and other civic groups. manual for the cooperative. The manual acts as a comprehensive record for all of SVEC’s own safety processes and best practices, as well as those required by OSHA and the Department of Transportation.

The manual provides guidance for employees on everything from personal protective equipment to the safe operation of large vehicles like digger derrick trucks.

In addition, the manual includes disciplinary actions that will be taken if safety procedures are not followed.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

All the safe procedures in the world count for nothing if SVEC employees don’t take personal responsibility for their own safety and that of their co-workers. To

encourage vigilance on the job, the cooperative’s IT department developed a Speak Up, Listen Up mobile app.

The Speak Up, Listen Up program is used by cooperatives to help start constructive conversations among employees about safe behavior. The SVEC app streamlines that process, allowing employees to send anonymous messages about safety observations.

“It can be ‘Thank you for doing a good job; I saw you go the extra mile.’ It can say something needs improvement and maybe refer to the safety manual,” says Mosley.

The app has been so successful in its first year that SVEC presented it at the Safety Leadership Summit for electric cooperatives in Atlanta last month. The Speak Up, Listen Up app even notifies Suwannee Valley Currents

Mosley when a new message is sent, helping him keep track of any potential problems that may need to be addressed.

Now that the cooperative has such a long-running safety record, keeping track of such information has become even more important. In order to maintain that high level of safety, Mosley says the cooperative is dedicated to targeting the small issues.

“One of our safety improvement goals is to correct the little things, and we feel like if we can do that, it will prevent us from having a major injury,” he says.

“We don’t want anything to go unreported because we track all those items so we can make things better.”

That dedication extends to even the simplest day-to-day practices, such as how to enter and exit one of the utility’s vehicles without injury. Through the attention paid to all potential safety issues both big and small, Mosley has confidence that the cooperative’s employees are wellprepared for the challenges they face.

“One of our safety improvement goals is to correct the little things, and we feel like if we can do that, it will prevent us from having a major injury. We don’t want anything to go unreported because we track all those items so we can make things better.”

— Mark Mosley, SVEC Safety Director energized, and then the responders can go in and do their job.”

Safety demonstrations also cover the basics of how electric-

ity works and what to do when members or their kids see a downed power line. The demonstrations make use of a model neighborhood to show kids how the electric system works.

If you would like to schedule a safety demonstration for your organization, call SVEC Member Services at 800-446-4509 or 386362-2226. 

Accidents happen. Would you know what to do if you crashed into a electric pole causing a power line to fall on your car? Knowing what to do could be the difference between life and death.

IF YOU CRASH INTO A POLE AND THERE IS NO FIRE:

SAFETY BEYOND THE JOB

As a cooperative, the safety of our members is critical at all times, not just during National Electrical Safety Month. SVEC employees often put on safety presentations and demonstrations at schools and organizations, reminding people of the simple electric safety habits that can protect themselves and their loved ones from harm.

SVEC also works with first responders on safe practices in situations involving downed power lines. One of the cooperative’s biggest concerns is safety when a car crashes into a power pole.

“We try to coach first responders to keep away from the lines and tell the occupants of the car to stay inside because that’s the safest place to be. Just stay inside until we get there and get it deSuwannee Suwannee Valley Valley Currents Currents

IF YOU CRASH INTO A POLE AND :

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Welcome

SVEC welcomes new Facilities Manager Daniel Warren. Warren comes to SVEC after having been the facilities manager for eight Lake City car dealerships.

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Capital Credits to be Retired SVEC is a not-for-profit business that operates at cost. Revenues above the cost of doing business, known as margins, are allocated to our member-owners annually in the form of capital credits.

SVEC’s Board of Trustees can vote to retire capital credits if the financial condition of the cooperative will not be impaired. In light of the continued financial strength and sound management of your electric cooperative, the board has elected to retire approximately $775,000

in capital credits to members this year, bringing the total amount of capital credits retired over the life of the co-op to $13.5 million.

You can expect to receive a capital credit retirement if you were a member of SVEC at any time from 1987 through 2012. If the amount of your retirement is $5 or more, you will receive a check. If the amount is less than $5.00, it will be applied as a reduction to your May bill for April electric usage, or as a credit to your account if you are in the Prepay program. 

Twenty-five teams competed in SVEC’s inaugural charity cornhole tournament.

INAUGURAL CHARITY CORNHOLE TOURNAMENT A SUCCESS As part of its commitment to community, SVEC is an enthusiastic supporter of the United Way of Suwannee Valley. In 2017, SVEC employees raised over $11,000 for the United Way. For a new fundraiser this year, SVEC hosted the first Suwannee Valley Cornhole Tournament on Saturday, April 14. Twenty-five teams competed for prizes and awards, and $2,508 was raised for the United Way. “Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative’s cornhole tournament was a lot of fun,” said Rita Dopp, executive director of United Way. “It was a great family and community activity, and, certainly, United Way appreciates the funds raised.”

The United Way is a nonprofit organization that advances the common good by identifying unmet community needs and seeking to alleviate those needs through initiatives and the funding of 23 affiliated health and human service agencies.

Jay and Randy Papesca, of Live Oak and Jasper, finished third in the tournament; Allen Kennedy and Richard Stohlmann, of Jasper, came in second; and Rob Chismark and Daniel Hedberg, of Middleburg, Florida, took home the gold.

CORNerstone sponsors of the event were Farmers Cooperative, First Federal Bank of Florida, North Florida Printing Co., Poole Realty and Seminole Electric Cooperative — SVEC’s wholesale power provider. Prizes were donated by the Brown Lantern Restaurant and Dairy Queen of Live Oak. Tournament operations were conducted by North Florida Cornhole.

“We are very pleased by the community’s response to this new fundraiser,” said Jon Little, SVEC’s director of communications. “We already have ideas for making the tournament even better next year.” 

SVEC is an equal opportunity provider and employer.