June 2014
Get Prepared for Storm Season 9602419502 SECO officials urge all residents of Central Florida to give some thought to how they will handle storm preparedness since the official start of storm season is the first of June. Barry Bowman, SECO Director of Corporate Communications, said, “Our member/customers can rest assured that their co-op will be ready to respond rapidly should storms hit our area. At the same time, we want to remind everyone in Central Florida that there are many dangers associated with severe weather and the key to being safe is to be prepared. Now is a good time to consider what you and your family would do in the event of a major storm in our area.” Here are some practical suggestions for inclusion in any home emergency preparations: • Cordless telephones will not work if the power is off. Make sure you have a regular phone and/or cell phone as a backup for emergencies. • Have a battery-powered radio available with a supply of fresh batteries to get the latest weather and news reports. • Keep a flashlight and extra batteries handy. • A first-aid kit for all types of medical emergencies plus any prescription medicines should be readily available. • Make sure you have at least a three-day supply of bottled water, or one gallon of clean water per
person per day if your water source is cut off. Fill bathtub with water for washing, cleaning or flushing toilets. • Obtain food that will not spoil – canned, packaged or sealed in plastic bags or containers. Remember, your electric can opener will be useless if the power goes out. • If someone in your home depends on medical equipment that operates on electricity, make arrangements in advance for an emergency 4000026809 alternative power source. • If you plan to operate a portable generator, keep it outside in a wellventilated area. Carbon monoxide emissions can be deadly. Equally important is that you do not connect the generator directly to your main electrical panel in the home. If installed incorrectly, power from the generator could flow into outside lines and severely injure neighbors or SECO repair crews that believe those power lines are dead.
If it appears that everyone around you has had their power restored but you still do not, check your electric panel to see if any of your circuit breakers have tripped. A breaker being tripped during a storm is not an uncommon event. Check this before calling again to report your outage. SECO will be using every resource at its disposal to assure that power gets restored as quickly and safely as possible to our customers. Our detailed restoration plan specifies exactly the priority in which power will be brought back on. Essential services such as hospitals, shelters, etc., are the highest priority. Repairs that will bring on large groups of customers are next and then individual electric services are addressed. Bowman noted that SECO is very concerned about the welfare of its customers and has a colorful, eight-page storm guide that is available free of charge at all SECO offices.
continued inside...
— TOP TEN —
Hurricane Emergency Kit Items Emergency food Personal identification Water for drinking and cooking Matches and lighters Flashlights and batteries Gas for generator or vehicles Cash and credit cards Radio (battery-operated) Medicine/prescriptions and Cooler (with ice) First-aid kit For more ideas and safety tips visit www.secoenergy.com
STORMS CONCLUDED
The storm guide has useful information including what to do if your power should fail, safety tips, a glossary of weatherrelated terms such as wind speed
and pressure effects, critical explanations on all types of severe weather phenomena and much more. The guide can be found under the publications section for reading online at www.secoenergy. com. Or a Florida Storms guide can be picked up at any of the five SECO Energy service centers located in Inverness, Sumterville, Groveland, Ocala, and Eustis. SECO also has a specialty website that has proven to be useful during storms: www.secostormcenter.com. Here the status, summary, and history of the electric system by location can be tracked during major storm-related events and outages can be reported as well. The quickest way to access SECO’s
Storm Center is to scan the Quick Response (QR) Code below with your smart phone.
If you prefer using the telephone, the outage hotline is 1-800SECO-141 or 1-800-732-6141. A not-for-profit electric cooperative, SECO serves 186,000 members and their families in Lake, Marion, Citrus, Sumter, Levy, Pasco, and Hernando counties.
Filter Change Program - Proven Popular According to the energy services specialists at SECO, one of the simplest ways to save money on your electric bill is to change your a/c filters on a regular basis. Last year, SECO launched a program aimed at making it easy to purchase the filters for the home. Barry Bowman, SECO Director of Corporate Communications, said, “The old adage ‘out of sight, out of mind’ often applies to changing a/c filters. You don’t see them every day, so many folks tend to forget when it is time to change them and sometimes they are not sure about what filter they need. To solve all that, you can go to SECO’s website at www. secoenergy.com and click the link to the filter change program.” Bowman noted that you can order your filters online, get information on the right size filter or create a custom sized air filter. You can also get email reminders when it’s time to change your filters, get very competitive pricing and shipping and returns are free. 4577384411 The U.S. Department of Energy says the most important
maintenance task that will ensure the efficiency of your air conditioner is to routinely replace or clean its filters. Clogged, dirty filters block normal air flow and reduce a system’s efficiency significantly. With normal air flow obstructed, air that bypasses the filter may carry dirt directly into the evaporator coil and impair the coil’s heat-absorbing capacity. Keeping the filter clean can lower your air conditioner’s energy consumption by 5% – 15%. For central air conditioners, filters are generally located somewhere along the return duct’s length. Common filter locations are in walls, ceilings, furnaces, or in the air conditioner itself. Room air
conditioners have a filter mounted in the grill that faces into the room. Some types of filters are reusable; others must be replaced. They are available in a variety of types and efficiencies. Clean or replace your air conditioning system’s filter or filters every month or two during the cooling season. Filters may need more frequent attention if the air conditioner is in constant use, is subjected to dusty conditions, or you have pets in the house. “Changing filters saves money and makes for healthier air in the home. Check out SECO’s new filter change program today to see just how easy it is,” concluded Bowman.
tips & quips about our environment and its inhabitants
NATURE’S reflections Florida’s Fox Squirrels A very large, but charming squirrel
The fox squirrel gets its name from its long fox-like bushy tail and unique pattern of brown, gray, even red coloration. In fact, its coat can be anywhere from light brown to almost all black and everything in between. It is a large squirrel, weighing up to two and a half pounds – more than twice the size of a gray squirrel. It has also been called Monkey squirrel, for its unusual and pronounced facial features said to resemble a monkey’s face.
Have you discovered a faulty SECO street light or area light in your neighborhood? If so, your co-op urges you to report the problem as soon as possible by using our automated 800 hotline. It’s easy! You just need to note the problem, write down the pole number, and call it in. Typically, three things could be wrong with a light. The light is always off, 2650517510 the light is always on, or the light flickers. If you discover a light with any of these problems, jot down the number of the pole the light is on. If it is a SECO pole, the number is mounted vertically at eye level. The pole designation could be four to six black numbers and the numbers will be on a yellow metal background. All you need to do once you have a pole number is to call SECO’s automated outage hotline at 1-800-7326141 to report the problem. Once reported, a work order is automatically generated and a service technician will repair the light at the first opportunity. You will also get confirmation that “your problem has been reported.” Cannot be bothered with calling? Please send us an email with the pole number to arealightrepair@ secoenergy.com. SECO personnel will then address the problem. It’s quick and simple. We hope you will take advantage of the automated system whenever you discover a SECO area light that is in need of repair.
Florida is home to four subspecies of fox squirrels: the Sherman’s fox squirrel (Sciurus niger shermani) is found in the northeastern part of the state, and the Big Cypress fox squirrel (Sciurus niger avicennia) is found throughout Central and South Florida. The Southeastern fox squirrel and Carolina fox squirrel are found only in the Panhandle. None are found in the Keys. All are protected, but the Sherman’s and Big Cypress fox squirrels are threatened and both are listed as ‘imperiled species of special concern’ because of their declining numbers and habitat loss. A fox squirrel spends most of its time foraging on the ground rather than in trees like the gray squirrel. It prefers open habitats with mature pine, oak and cypress trees especially where fires have burned, clearing the brush underneath the trees. The fox squirrel has a home range of ten-tothirty acres depending on food resources. It is strictly a daytime feeder and usually does not begin to stir until mid-morning. Favorite foods are long leaf pine seeds, turkey and live oak acorns, fungi, fruits and buds with an occasional snack of bird eggs or insects. It leads a mostly solitary life except during breeding season when mating chases and competition for mates increases interaction and social activity. If you are lucky enough to see one, enjoy the moment. Tree cavities are used both for sleeping and as dens for the young, although it sometimes makes a nest of twigs in trees. Mating occurs in late summer to winter. Females breed at one year of age and usually produce one litter per year. Gestation takes about forty-four days, with two to three born per litter; young are weaned in two-to-three months. Its life span in the wild is four-toseven years, in captivity as much as eighteen years.
− photo and column by Sandi Staton – sandi.staton@gmail.com
8013016401
How to Report a Faulty Area Light
SECO TRUSTEES Ray F. Vick President • District 5 Jerry D. Hatfield Vice President • District 9
Celebrating the
Great Outdoors SECO celebrated Arbor Day on April 26th as a sponsoring participant in the City of Ocala’s “Earthfest at Arbor Day in the Great Outdoors.” The festival was held at the Discovery Center at Tuscawilla Park, and the Vegetation Management team from SECO Energy went all out. The team set up an “Ask the Arborist” booth and provided educational information about trees. They also provided entertainment for the children with face painting, coloring books, and hard hats. SECO Energy gave away over 100 live oak and slash pine trees for the attendees who were interested. 7010210102 The overall highlights of the event included tree climbing, an archery range, a kayak demonstration, the Gallery East Art Center, live music, food, crafts, and much more. This was the fourth consecutive year that SECO Energy has participated in Ocala’s Earthfest event, and we hope to see you all there again next year! As the Florida population continues to grow, it is important that we take care of the environment and natural resources.
James D. Holtz Secretary-Treasurer • District 4 Scott D. Boyatt District 1 Dillard B. Boyatt District 2 Richard J. Belles District 3 Earl Muffett District 6 Rob Henion District 7 Bill James District 8 Jim Duncan CEO & General Manager
SECO’s Board of Trustees will meet on Monday, June 23rd at 2:30 p.m. in the Corporate Offices located at 330 South US Highway 301 in Sumterville. A Trustees’ meeting will also be held on July 28, 2014.
SECO 24/7 Job Hotline (855) 483-2673
WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? If you find your own account number hidden in this edition of SECO News, give us a call at (352) 569-9561 and let us know who you are and where you found it. We will send you a $25 gift card upon verification. You may become one of six possible winners in this issue.