2021 January Member Newsletter by Cobb EMC

CONNECTIONS JANUARY 2021 | THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF COBB ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION

Upcoming events Office closing Cobb EMC will be closed Jan. 1 in observance of New Year’s Day and Jan. 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Employees are always on call for emergencies. To report an outage by phone, call 770-429-2100. You can also report an outage online at cobbemc.com/outage or with the free Cobb EMC app.

Notice of 2020 Patronage Capital Allocation Each member receiving electric service is hereby notified that for year 2020, Cobb EMC’s excess margins totaled $26,297,358. Each member can calculate the amount of assigned 2020 Patronage Capital by multiplying the total amount billed for electric service* in 2020 by 6.12810638%. What are capital credits? Your individual portion of the cooperative’s profits beyond the costs of providing electricity is called capital credits. As a not-forprofit business, we exist to provide you reliable electricity – not to make a profit. When we have a good year and earn profits or margins, we assign capital credits to our members until the board approves them to be given back in the form of a billl credit or check. *This excludes taxes,Operation Round Up and other ancillary services.

Virtual Literacy Week inspires local students Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, students from nearly 30 schools across metro Atlanta used online virtual platforms to participate in Literacy Week, a program created to encourage students’ love of reading and creative writing. “Reading is one of the most important components of a successful education, and literacy supports successful STEM education (science, technology, engineering and mathematics),” says Mark Justice, director of education and community relations at Cobb EMC. “Literacy Week inspires imagination and promotes lifelong reading habits.” Developed by Cobb EMC in 2010, Literacy Week has impacted more than 150,000 students in schools throughout Cobb, Paulding, Cherokee, Bartow, and Fulton counties. Gas South, a subsidiary of Cobb EMC, joined the program in 2015 as a co-sponsor, and New York Times best-selling author Brian Lies has participated in the program since its inception.

“Cobb EMC has a strong education component to their community giving,” says Carley Stephens, community affairs program manager at Gas South. “This is why we thought co-sponsoring Literacy Week would be a great avenue to collaborate on.” Gas South has committed to returning 5% of its profits back to the community, specifically to children in need in three areas: basic needs, education, and illness and disability. Literacy Week, held each year during the last week of October, included 10 authors this year who shared their books and illustrations with students. The program is offered to students from elementary through high school and was expanded to include college students in 2020.

Learn more about Cobb EMC and Gas South community programs: cobbemc.com/schools gassouth.com/giving-back

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Rolling out the red carpet for broadband Cobb EMC and Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) were founded to electrify rural areas. As an electric co-op, we were built by our members to better their lives and that promise continues to hold true today. In recent years, EMCs have been focused on helping find solutions to another challenge for rural Georgia—expanding reliable highspeed internet access. This need was amplified in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which closed schools and businesses, making broadband internet essential for learning and conducting business from our homes.

THE PROOF IS IN THE POWER

TOP 3

in the nation for reliability

TOP 10

in the state for LOW RATES

Today, the Cobb EMC service area is far from rural and many of our members have access to broadband providers. But as an EMC, we stand ready to support fellow Georgia EMCs to help change broadband access in rural Georgia. Georgia’s EMCs are rolling out the red carpet and offering incentives for broadband providers to bring accessibility to unserved areas: • The One Buck Deal: EMCs will forego the recovery of a fair share of their costs to own and maintain their utility poles, and charge broadband providers only one dollar, per pole, per year, for five years to attach their wires and cables to the pole—as long as those new attachments are made to bring broadband service to unserved rural EMC members. • The Georgia One-Touch-Make-Ready program: Empowers internet providers with the freedom to do simple work to prepare the EMC pole for the attachment without red tape approvals and lengthy delays. Less wait time means greater efficiency and will result in lower costs for broadband providers. What does this mean for members? Georgia EMCs get the funds required to operate from their member-owners. By paying their monthly electric bills, our members fund everything we do, including providing the poles that the cable companies use and enjoy and from which they derive their profits. In their effort to avoid paying their fair share of the costs of using our poles, the for-profit, national cable companies are asking you to take money out of the pockets of our hard-working member-owners. If the rental rate is reduced for cable attachments to EMC poles across the state, then the EMCs will have to absorb the cost. This money must come from somewhere, and for us, the only “somewhere” is from the pockets of the more than 4 million member-owners of EMCs in Georgia. EMCs across our state exist for one purpose: to serve their member-owners. Cobb EMC is proud to fully support and endorse the unified approach being taken by all the EMCs across the state to offer incentives and expedited service to broadband providers willing to expand in unserved areas.

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in the nation for restoring outages quickly LEADERSHIP Kevan Espy Interim President & CEO cobbemc.com/aboutus

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Tripper Sharp, Chairman Eric Broadwell, Vice Chairman Kelly Bodner, Secretary-Treasurer Bryan Boyd Edward Crowell David McClellan Malcolm Swanson David Tennant Rudy Underwood

Youth Leadership Program powers young minds Four local students earned scholarships through Cobb EMC’s Youth Leadership Program, which gives high school juniors the opportunity to develop leadership and networking skills and learn about their electric cooperative.

Danielle Gonsoulin, Cobb EMC intern, packs lunches for kids in need.

Through the program, Ishaan Chaubey, of Wheeler High School; Danielle Gonsoulin, of The King’s Academy; David Latting, of North Paulding High School; and Pierce Rossman, of Milton High School, were selected as delegates to represent Cobb EMC on the 2020 Washington Youth Tour. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the NRECA cancelled the 2020 trip, and instead, Cobb EMC awarded an additional $2,500 in scholarship funds to the students along with the George Ford Fund Scholarship.

Gonsoulin, a senior at The King’s Academy, also secured a fully paid summer internship from Cobb EMC. During the virtual internship in the education and community relations department, Gonsoulin was assigned tasks and projects to help build professional, leadership and networking skills. “The Cobb EMC internship taught me leadership skills and gave me professional experience even in a virtual setting,” says Gonsoulin. “Community service is important to me and I was really proud to help deliver meals to children for the MUST Ministries Summer Lunch program during my internship experience.”

BRIGHTENING OUR COMMUNITY

WATTSON PLANTS TREES AT LOCAL SCHOOLS

FLAMINGOS RAISE AWARENESS

Cobb EMC recently planted seven trees at six local elementary schools in the annual Spring Earth Day Contest. This year, two trees were planted in memory of teachers from Russom Elementary and Rocky Mount Elementary at their respective schools. Additional elementary schools include Bells Ferry, Bullard, Clarksdale and Dodgen. Since 2017, Cobb EMC has planted 13 trees to help beautify our schools and support a healthy community.

To celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Month and raise awareness, Cobb EMC and the YMCA flocked 30 yards in our community with a small army of flamingos. The initiative raised nearly $1,500 to support the YMCA’s Breast Cancer Survivors Program and highlighted the importance of early detection in the fight against breast cancer. For more information on the flock, visit cobbemc.com/pinkpower.

MEMBERS SEW MASKS FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS Cobb EMC recently delivered more than 1,000 face masks to Cobb & Douglas Public Health, thanks to the Make-A-Mask Challenge. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, so does the need for personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline workers. Our Make-A-Mask Challenge encourages members to sew masks for essential workers in our community so we can help fill this need. cobbemc.com/masks

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We power homes with smart energy. Cobb EMC ranks third in the nation for reliability and first in the nation for restoring outages quickly. That’s because our smart grid technology can sense and repair issues on our grid in seconds, often without rolling a truck. We’re committed to enhancing our smart grid technology to bring you dependable power with fewer interruptions. Learn more about how we work to provide reliable electric service at the lowest possible price at cobbemc.com/reliability.

Cobb EMC's wholly-owned subsidiary, Gas South, can save you money on your natural gas. Sign up today to enjoy these member benefits: C

CMY

• A permanent discount • Zero deposit • Waived connection fee • Additional savings in bill credits Plus, you'll know your choice is making a difference, because, along with Cobb EMC, Gas South is committed to strengthening our community. That's why we're committed to giving 5% of our profits to support children in need. We believe our communities are the strongest when all children are well and have opportunities to reach their full potential.

Experience the Gas South difference. Sign up and start saving today.

Visit: GasSouth.com/cobb Call: 855.802.2766 Promo Code: 450