Dear Members,
January is an ideal time to reflect on the past year and make plans for the new one. 2020 has seen many challenges, but it has also born successes. And those are the things I want to reflect upon most, because they lay the foundation for a bright future.
Our region has felt the terrible effects of the pandemic. To get through, we leaned on our cooperative values of helping one another and caring for the community. Like everywhere, for the health and welfare of our members and our employees, we adjusted our daily operations. Since March, our headquarters building has been closed to outside traffic and our mobile convenience center has been grounded. Despite that, thanks to technology, you’ve been able to conduct business with us, and us with you, very effectively. We are glad of that, but from my perspective, we are all looking forward to the day when we can meet again face to face. We miss our members, who are some very special people.
How do I know that? There is no better example than through our collective Operation Round Up efforts. I want to congratulate and praise every member that participates. Through your generosity, even during a pandemic, in 2020 the foundation was able to grant over $127,000 to 19 LOCAL charitable organizations. Included in those 19 donations were $2,000 gifts to15 non-profit food pantries in WCEC’s service territory. That is $30K worth of food that fed those in our communities that needed it most. That is a big deal. Moreover, since the first donation in 2017, a total of $358,707 has been given to local charitable concerns. Together, you poured these blessing into our community, and I pray they will come back to each of you.
I must mention, spring 2020 had its weather challenges, but we met them. An especially active storm season caused wide-scale outages within WCEC’s system, which took time to repair and restore. Then, our transmission provider, AEP/SWEPCO, dropped service multiple times to us and, ultimately, thousands of WCEC members. In ongoing discussions with them, they acknowledged reliability issues and committed to upgrading their facilities. The good news is they have acted upon this promise and are working hard on their construction plan. We know electricity powers your necessities and your enjoyment, and that remains our focus, as we work for you.
In closing, I want to thank each member for supporting your electric cooperative through your patronage. A member’s economic participation is an important part of what makes us a cooperative, and that that goes both ways. For 2020, the board voted to retire capital credits of just over $2 million, 32% of 2019 margins. That money was returned to eligible members as a credit on their December bill, and credits over $300 were returned via a check. The return of patronage capital credit is just one of the many ways non-profit electric cooperatives are set apart from investor owned utilities. It is also one of the reasons I’m glad we are a cooperative. I hope this financial return helped lighten the load of the season.
On behalf of the WCEC family, we wish every member a joyful, healthy, and prosperous new year.
Respectfully and in your service,
Trey Teaff
CEO & GM, Wood County Electric Cooperative
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Resolve to be Energy Efficient This New Year
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The brand new year is here! And if your making New Year’s resolutions why not to add “save energy” to your list of resolutions. Some of the best ways to conserve energy this winter include:
1.Turn down the thermostat in cold weather
You can save about 3% on your energy bill for every degree you drop the temperature.
2. Use power strips
Even when appliances aren’t turned on or in use, they still use power when they’re plugged in. Instead of unplugging things all the time, invest in a power strip that you can plug multiple things into and turn off all at once.
3. Take shorter showers
Shorter showers mean less hot water that your water heater needs to heat, and less hot water means a lower electric or gas bill.
4. Switch the direction of your ceiling fans
Set your fans to spin clockwise in the winter. This pulls cool air toward the ceiling, which in turn pushes the warm air that collects near the ceiling back toward the floor.
5. Get a programmable thermostat
With a programmable thermostat, you can save both energy and money by setting your heat or air conditioning to run only when you need it to (as in, when you’re home).
6. Wash full load
Most of the energy used by dishwashers and washing machines goes toward heating the water, and washing only half loads of dishes or laundry wastes money. Wait until you have a full load of dishes or clothes before you wash them.
7. Keep doors and windows closed
When you have your heat on, close your doors and windows to prevent cold air from flowing into your home and making your HVAC system work harder than it has to.
8. Eliminate drafts
Cold winter air can sneak in around windows, doors and even electrical outlets. Weatherstripping, insulation and insulated curtains can go a long way toward keeping the warm air in and the cold air out.
9. Using space heaters selectively.
Save money and energy by heating only the room you are in. Just note, they are great to boost the temperatureof a room, but long-term use can raise an electric bill substantially.
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In the event of extreme weather conditions, your electricity supply cannot be guaranteed at all times. That's because ice, snow, high winds, and even equipment failure can cause longer term outages. We never want this to happen and will make every effort to restore service as quickly as possible. But if it does,you need to be prepared to take care of yourself and your family.
How You Can Prepare
- Ensure flashlights are accessible with fully charged batteries on hand.
- Keep a phone that doesn’t need electricity, such as a corded landline.
- For cellphones, have a charged battery bank on hand to keep them going.
- Have a battery-powered or hand crank radio on hand for updates on weather conditions and power outages.
- Keep a stock of nonperishable foods, including a supply of bottled water.
- Make sure your telephone number is up to date with WCEC. The outage reporting system works on caller ID technology. It is imperative for this to work for you.
In the event of an outage
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Report your outage to WCEC by calling the Outage Hotline at 1-866-415-2951 or visit the Outage Center to learn how to report via text or the app. A 24/7 map of outages is also there.
- If you’re in a life-threatening situation, call 911 immediately.
- If your neighbor’s power is still on, check your breakers to see if one or more have flipped.
- If you have sick or elderly neighbors, check to see if they need help.
- Ensure that all lights, devices and appliances are switched off except for one light. That way, when power is restored, you reduce the risk of your circuit overloading.
- Keep your refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. Refrigerated food should be safe for about four hours in a sealed refrigerator. A full freezer will keep food frozen for 48 hours.
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Energy Efficiency Tip of the Month
Replace standard power strips with advanced power strips to save energy. Advanced Power Strips function like ordinary power strips, except that they have built-in features designed to reduce the amount of energy used by electronics when they are in standby mode.
There are several different types of theses Advanced Power Strips on the market, but they all operate on the same basic principle of shutting off the supply power to devices that are not in use, which stops phantom loads.
By replacing standard power strip with an APS, you can significantly cut the amount of electricity used by computers, printers, entertainment center devices, and other electronics, to save money on your electric bill.
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Wood County Electric Cooperative | 903-763-2203 | www.wcec.org
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