Safety

If you're planning to dig on your property, contact Ohio Utilities Protection Service, or OUPS, first. Forty-eight hours before digging, call 811 or visit oups.org and representatives from local utilities will locate and mark underground lines.

When a utility marks a location, colored flags and paint are used to identify the type of underground service. Here are the standard colors and the utilities they represent:

Red Electric

Yellow Gas, oil, gaseous materials

Orange Phone, cable

Blue Potable water

Purple Reclaimed water

Green Sewers

Pink Temporary survey markings

White Proposed excavation

LOAD MANAGEMENT + PEAK ALERTS

Electric is typically in high demand during hot summer afternoons when we're running air conditioners, using ovens to cook dinner, and running washers and dryers for laundry. Electricity cost is highest when demand is greatest, so these spikes in demand can increase electric costs for the co-op and members.

Load management programs like water heater radio-controlled switches and Cool Returns air conditioner switches were created to decrease the use of electricity during these times. Reducing the demand for electricity created by electric water heaters and airconditioning systems helps decrease the use of electricity to help the co-op control costs and keeps rates low for all members.

Peak alerts

Peak alerts are notifications asking members to reduce their electric use to help keep costs down. If you have a radio-controlled switch on your water heater or a Cool Returns switch on your central airconditioning system, it will be activated during peak times. Visit butlerrural.coop > Save Energy & Money > Peak Alerts & Load Management Switches to learn more about the program.

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