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NOVEMBER 2015 | THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF COBB ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION
Cobb EMC’s fifth annual Five Alarm, an appreciation luncheon for firefighters and emergency medical crews, honored more than 100 first responders from communities across the cooperative’s five-county service district at its headquarters. Prior to remarks, Christina SidlowDoud sang God Bless America and the National Anthem. The Presentation of Colors was conducted by Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services. During the LongHorn® char-grilled steak lunch, guests enjoyed live music by Fish and Picks bluegrass band. Lucky first responders also received door prizes donated by Cobb EMC, Norred & Associates, Ronnie Thames Foundation, Ten-8 Fire & Safety Equipment, Bennett Fire Products,
NAFECO, and Gloves Inc.
Upcoming events
Other guests included Cobb County Public Safety Director Sam Heaton, and Fire Chief Randy Crider; and Marietta Fire Chief Jackie Gibbs. Mark Mathews, Mayor of Kennesaw, and Tim Prather, Fire Chief of Cherokee County and David Soumas, Fire Chief of Woodstock, also attended, along with Puckett EMS and Metro Atlanta Ambulance Service.
Homeowners’ Association Meeting
Cobb EMC President and CEO Chip Nelson thanked the dedicated first responders who serve the co-op’s service district. “We appreciate what you do for us as citizens of the community and for Cobb EMC,” he said. “We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We could not make it in this world without you.”
The Cobb EMC board of directors will host an open board meeting on Nov. 24 at 4 p.m. in the Cobb EMC community room. To RSVP: www.cobbemc.com/ boardmeeting
The next Cobb EMC Homeowners’ Association Meeting will be held Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m. To RSVP: www.cobbemc.com/hoa
Open board meeting
Office closing We will be closed Nov. 26-27 in observance of Thanksgiving. Crews are always standing by for emergencies. In the event of an outage, please call our automated outage system at 770-429-2100.
TIP OF THE MONTH
Reduce energy for water heating. Take simple steps like lowering your heater’s temperature and installing lowflow showerheads to reduce your water heating bills.
cobbemc.com
Five Alarm event honors first responders
—Source: energy.gov
Cobb EMC President and CEO Chip Nelson (center) stands with leaders and first responders from across the cooperative’s service district. CONNECTIONS
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Cobb Electric Membership Corporation
BRINGING YOU THE
www.cobbemc.com Email: memberservices@cobbemc.com President and CEO
Chip Nelson
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman
Bryan Boyd
Vice Chairman
Tripper Sharp
Secretary-Treasurer Malcolm Swanson Eric Broadwell Kelly Bodner Edward Crowell David McClellan David Tennant Rudy Underwood Editorial Staff
Brooke Melton Angela Croce, CCC
Contacts & Office Hours Phone: 770-429-2100 Report an outage: 770-429-2100 Fax: 770-429-3330 In person: 1000 EMC Parkway Marietta, GA 30060 Walk-in hours: Monday – Friday (8 a.m. – 6 p.m.) Drive-through hours: Monday – Friday (7 a.m. – 6 p.m.) Member Care Center hours: Monday – Friday (7 a.m. – 6 p.m.) Saturday (8 a.m. – 3 p.m.) Express Pay drop box is available for non-cash payments 24/7
3 42B2 B
POWER
OF MEMBERSHIP
77th Annual Meeting celebrates low rates, co-op milestones Cobb EMC celebrated its 77th annual meeting of the members, which was held Saturday, Sept. 19, at Jim R. Miller Park in Marietta. A record-breaking 2,601 members registered for the meeting. We thank all of the members, friends and family who spent their morning with our co-op family at the annual meeting. Chairman of the Board Bryan Boyd kicked off the meeting with three important milestones our co-op has reached this year. First, we’ve lowered operating expenses and increased service Chip Nelson reliability. Keeping our overall operations low allowed us to pass President and CEO along not one but four Wholesale Power Adjustment (WPA) credits. Since the meeting, we returned a fifth credit. This means we’ve saved members an estimated $11 million in 2015 by passing along WPA credits on monthly bills. These savings coupled with our low rates—second lowest out of Georgia’s 41 EMCs and fourth lowest out of all 94 providers in the state according to the Georgia Public Service Commission—reaffirm our commitment to deliver competitively priced electricity. Second, your generosity has put more than $1 million back into the community. Thank you for rounding up your bill to the nearest dollar to aid more than 100 nonprofits. That’s something to be proud of! Third, our board of directors fulfilled the promise they made to our membership. Over the last few years, Cobb EMC worked with a team of auditors to complete a thorough forensic audit. During the meeting, members voted on bylaw amendments—proposed both by members and the board of directors—and elected board members. Members were offered three methods of voting—in-person at the annual meeting, by mail-in ballot or electronically. Subsequent to in-person voting at the meeting, Election Services Corp., a third-party election services provider, announced the results of all votes cast regarding proposed bylaw amendments and director elections. • Members approved Amendment 1, deleting “Conflicting Provisions” from the “Member Bill of Rights” and prohibiting the board of directors from making future amendments to respective sections, which was proposed by the board of directors. • Members approved Amendment 2, clarifying one of the requirements of being nominated for a director or remaining a director, which was proposed by the board of directors. • Members approved Amendment 3, ensuring voting remain open for members attending the annual meeting until after candidates or bylaw amendment sponsors have had an opportunity to present their respective positions, which was proposed by the board of directors. • Members approved Amendment 4, allowing member attendance at meetings of the board of directors including committee meetings whenever a quorum of directors for the transaction of business is present, which was proposed by member Mark Hackett. • Members elected Rudy Underwood (District 2), Kelly Bodner (District 3) and Eric Broadwell (District 9). Once business was complete, the Cobb EMC volunteer Women’s Task Force raffled a handmade quilt to raise money for local student scholarships, and attending members enjoyed door prizes including tablets, Visa® gift cards, a bill credit, Big Green Egg® grills and a refurbished Cobb EMC truck. It’s exciting to see how your cooperative is moving forward. We’re focused on bringing you safe, reliable electric service 24/7, 365 days a year. If we missed you at the annual meeting this year, we hope to see you next year! CONNECTIONS
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>>
>> What’s on that pole?
This illustration shows basic equipment found on electric power distribution poles. Not all poles have all this equipment on them. They vary according to location and the service they provide.
Annoying power blinks?
>> Primary wires run on top. Each usually carries 7,200 volts of electricity from a substation. >> A crossarm holds power lines, allowing required clearances between lines. >> Surge arrestors protect the transformer from lightning strikes.
>> Insulators
(made of porcelain or a composite) prevent energized wires from contacting each other or the pole.
neutral wire acts as a line back to the substation and is tied to ground, balancing the electricity on the system.
>> The
>> Transformers convert
higher voltage electricity
from primary wires to At one time or another, lower voltage for use by >> A secondary service consumers. we’ve all returned home drop carries 120/240-volts of electricity to the end user. >> Guy wires or awakened late for It has two “hot” wires from help stabilize the transformer, and a bare poles. They also work to see a blinking neutral wire connected to are connected to the ground wire on the pole. “12:00” on our digital the pole’s ground wire. alarm clock. You then have to reset every digi>> Pole ground wire—running the length of the pole—contal clock in your house>> Telephone nects to the neutral wire to and cable TV complete the circuit inside the hold that doesn’t have lines are typically transformer. It also directs the lowest wires. a battery backup, from electricity from lightning safely into the earth. the microwave oven to >> A head-high “birth>> Co-ops are responmark” shows the size of the answering machine. sible for keeping the pole, as well as where vegetation around and when it was made. Usually, this state of poles trimmed to avoid interference with “blinking clock” was >> 40-foot poles the electric system. are sunk six feet caused by a “blink” in into the ground. the electrical system. While blinks can be annoying, they show that an electrical system is working exactly as designed. And while Cobb EMC has taken steps to reduce the number of blinks across its power system, there are measures you can take as well. Illustration by Erin Binkley
Why blinks? Blinks are created when a breaker, or switch, opens along any portion of the power system. The breaker usually opens because of a large, quick rise of electrical current. This large rise, called a fault condition, can occur when a tree branch touches a line, a squirrel or rodent climbs on a switch or lines, lightning strikes or a wire breaks. When this happens, a relay senses the fault and tells the breaker to open, preventing the flow of power to the problem site. After opening, the breaker quickly closes. The brief delay, which allows the fault to clear, usually lasts less than 2 seconds. If the fault clears, every home or business that receives electricity off that power line has just experienced a blink. This could include thousands of accounts if the breaker protects a transmission line or a substation.
Powe r OF ENERGY Don’t let energy dollars spin round and round! Use your dryer’s moisture sensor to auto shut off once clothes dry. www.cobbemc.com/ conserve
POWE R OF MEMBERSHIP Cobb EMC’s 99.99 percent reliability rating helps assure our members that they can count on us, rain or shine. www.cobbemc.com/ aboutcobbemc
POWE R OF SAFETY Avoid an overload—plug no more than one highwattage appliance into a single receptacle. www.cobbemc.com/safety
Reducing the blink’s effects Your co-op employs methods to reduce blink frequency by tree trimming and by deploying squirrel guards on the power poles. Meanwhile, you can reduce the frustration of blinks by purchasing an alarm clock equipped with a battery backup. This type of digital clock offers “ride through” ability for momentary outages. It will also keep the correct time and sound an alarm in case of a long-duration outage, provided a charged battery is in place. If you work from home and use a computer, a blink may cause your computer to reboot, and you may lose unsaved data on the computer. An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) on your computer can help prevent information loss. The UPS incorporates surge suppression technology with a battery backup and provides you some time to save whatever you were working on and exit your computer properly. The future of blinks Cobb EMC operates an active system maintenance program and works hard to identify and fix sources of service interruptions. Even though blinks will never disappear from our electrical energy delivery system, by working together we can minimize effects of the interruptions and the frequency with which they occur. GEORGIA MAGAZINE
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CONNECTIONS BRINGING YOU THE
POWER
OF MEMBERSHIP
Your co-op gives you more reasons to be thankful! As a member of Cobb EMC, you are connected to valuable discounts from hundreds of local businesses through your Co-op Connections® Card. Present your Co-op Connections Card at any participating business and save. Find a complete list of participating businesses and the discount they offer at www.cobbemc.com/discounts. Don’t have your discount card handy? Download the free Co-op Connections app on your phone. Don’t forget to pick Cobb EMC as your electric provider.
Health Care and Fitness Anytime Fitness www.anytimefitness.com Blumsack Family Chiropractic www.blumsackfamilychiropractic.com
Attorney
Automotive
Brilliant Eyes Vision Center www.brillianteyesmarietta.com
Divorce Money Matters www.divorcemoneymatters.com
Auto Cool Inc. www.autocool.biz
CareMinders Home Care www.careminders.com/marietta
DivorceTown Help and Hope Fair www.divorcehelpandhope.com
Autossey Automotive www.autossey.com
Chiropractic Wellness by Dr. George www.drgeorget.com
Wade H. Everett, P.C. Attorney at Law www.wadeeverett.com
Cedarcrest Auto Care www.cedarcrestauto.com
Curves of Kennesaw www.curveskennesaw.com
Integrity Car Care www.1ntegrity.net
Eaton Chiropractic www.eatonchiropractic.com
Kams Auto Service Center www.kamsauto.com
Foothills Chiropractic http://foothills-chiropractic.com
NAPA’s Premier Service Center www.premierservicecenter.com
Highland Family Chiropractic www.highlandfamilychiro.com
Southern Imports Automotive Inc. www.southernimportsautoinc.com
Iron Tribe Fitness www.irontribefitness.com
Speedemissions www.speedemissionsinc.com
Max Muscle Sports Nutrition www.maxmusclecobb.com
Air Conditioning and Heating AccuTemp Heating & Cooling Inc. www.accutempair.com Casteel Heating, Cooling and Plumbing www.casteelair.com Cheshire Heating & A/C Co. Inc. www.cheshirehvac.com
Nutrition House Atlanta www.oswsatl.com
Extreme Mechanical Inc. www.extremelytrane.com GUS HVAC Inc. www.gushvac.com Hammock’s Heating & Air www.hammockshvac.com R&D Mechanical Services Inc. www.randdmechanical.net Ragsdale Heating, Air & Plumbing www.ragsdaleair.com
Beauty and Bridal
Ping Hai DDS & Associates PC www.drhai.com
CTO Bridal www.ctobridals.com
Right Path Hypnosis www.rightpathhypnosis.com
Gary and Elaine’s Photography www.garyandelainesphotography.com
Shirley’s Helping Hands www.shirleyhelpinghands.com
Merle Norman Cosmetics www.merlenormanstudios.com
Smith Smile Orthodontics www.smithsmile.com Quick Weight Loss Centers www.qwlc.com Women’s Premier Fitness www.womenspremierfitness.com *online offer must be redeemed at www.cobbemc.com/discounts
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More participating businesses:
Home Services 2 Hip Chicks Designs www.2hipchicksdesigns.com
Take advantage of local savings!
Retail D F Global https://www.amway.com/dfglobal Just T-shirt Quilts www.justtshirtquilts.com/cobbemc
All American Decorative Concrete www.aadecorativeconcrete.com
NG Apparel www.ngapparel.net
All Phase Home Services www.1stopshopatl.com
Picture Frame Depot www.pfdatlanta.com
American Maid Inc. www.americanmaidinc.net
Prospector’s Pouch Fine Jewelry www.prospectorspouch.com
Atlanta Construction Enterprises Inc. www.atlantaconstructionenterprises.com Danny’s Pro Painting www.dannyspropainting.com Decorator’s Decision Inc. www.decoratorsdecisioninc.com
Entertainment and Event Planning
Guso Janitorial Services LLC www.gusojanitorial.org
Atlanta Party Doctors, DJs Email: atlantapartydoctors@gmail.com
Healthy Home Termite & Pest Control www.pestzone.net
Exclusive Entertainment Productions www.djbally.com
Kay P. Morgan, High Caliber Realty www.kaypmorgan.com
Gala Events Facility www.galafacility.com
LOUD Security Systems www.loudsecurity.com
Georgia Aquarium* www.georgiaaquarium.org/emcmembers
Major Appliance Repair Company LLC www.tomarcollc.com
Jump Ovation Parties www.jumpovation.com
Metro Home Improvements Inc. www.metrohome.biz
Magic Man Entertainment Inc. www.magicmanentertainment.com
Original Bug Man www.originalbugman.com
O’Brien Productions www.obrienproductions.com
Radco Electric www.radcoelectric.net
Six Flags Over Georgia* www.sixflags.com
Specialty Stump Grinding Email: specialtystumpgrinding@aol.com
One Hour Signs www.onehoursigns.com
Stone Mountain Park* www.stonemountainpark.com
VOGUE Properties and Interiors LLC www.voguepropertiesandinteriors.com
Park ‘N Fly www.pnf.com
Wishdrawals Disney Travel Email: ashley@wishdrawals.com
Relax and Wax www.relaxandwax.com
Printing and Business Services 5 Degrees North www.5dnorth.com/project-planner Amway Distributors www.amway.com/dfglobal Allegro Business Products www.allegrobusinessproducts.com Classic Impressions www.classicimpga.com Dollar Wise Cartridge www.dollarwisecartridgemobile.com Gaites Language Services www.gaitesco.com Moonlighting In Tech www.mli-tech.com
Webb Supply Company www.webbsupplycompany.com Learning and Education Services
Financial Services
Windham Business Services www.windhamservices.net
Kreative Learning Resource Center Inc. www.kreativelearningcenter.org
Fifth Third Bank, Member FDIC* www.53.com
Xpress Ink & Toner www.xpressink.net
Music by Debra www.musicbydebra.com
Organized Daily Money Matters www.organizeddailymoneymatters.com
One Taekwondo Center Inc. www.theoneTKD.com GEORGIA MAGAZINE
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BRINGING YOU THE POWER OF ENERGY
cobbemc.com
Capture your share of the sun. The Cobb EMC Cooperative Solar program allows members to participate in solar energy production without the expense of purchasing and maintaining a solar energy system. No worries about holes in your roof, roof integrity or orientation to the sun.
Rental property tenants can participate.
No contract, affordably priced, maintenance free!
Neighborhood covenants do not affect access.
www.cobbemc.com/coopsolar
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A little change can change lives Operation Round Up recipients Each month, the Cobb EMC Community Foundation board of directors administers Operation Round Up® funds to local nonprofits. The foundation awarded more than $1,215,150 in Operation Round Up funds to date, with $75,000 going to the following nonprofits in September: • Autism Speaks • American Cancer Society • Atlanta Dream Center Inc. • Booth Western Art Museum • Celebrate Life International • Cobb Community Foundation for Cobb Children’s Fund • Cobb Police Athletic League • Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta • Housing Initiative of North Fulton Inc./HomeStretch • KidS3 • Leukemia & Lymphoma Society • Prevent Blindness • Society of St. Vincent de Paul Georgia • Special Needs Development Group Inc. • Upper Etowah River Alliance
cobbemc
Energy-efficient Thanksgiving recipes
Visit www.cobbemc.com/roundup for a full list of recipients or to learn how to request funding.
Keep safe this holiday season The busy holiday season is just around the corner and will be here before you know it. While you’re busy preparing for holiday gatherings, remember to keep safety a top priority. • Inspect all interior and exterior lighting to make sure it’s in good, working condition before use. • Make sure outlets are equipped with properly tested ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) to prevent shocks. • Don’t overload your outlets with appliances and lighting.
Nothing goes better with Thanksgiving turkey than an energy-efficient side dish! This year, give your oven a break and take advantage of your oftenneglected appliances like the stove top, slow cooker and microwave. These cooking methods use less energy than the oven and might even cut down on your electric bills. We’ve been pinning tasty and energyefficient recipes for your table. • Butternut squash soup • Sausage apple stuffing • Peanut butter pumpkin fudge • Slow cooker apple cider • Cinnamon, butter and brown sugar carrots Find these recipes and more on our Pinterest page: www.pinterest.com/cobbemc
• To prevent fire hazards, electrical cords should never be run under rugs or across doorways. • Keep live Christmas trees watered and away from fireplaces, space heaters, candles, overhead lights and radiators. Dry trees are a fire hazard. • Always know the location of a working fire extinguisher, and know how to operate it. • Stay in the kitchen when cooking and pay close attention to baking, boiling and simmering foods. Cobb EMC wishes you a safe and happy holiday season. GEORGIA MAGAZINE
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cobbemc.com
You bring the sweets, we’ll bring the heat.
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We’re committed to bringing you power safely at the lowest possible price. But we don’t stop there! Gas South, Cobb EMC’s wholly owned subsidiary, saves you money on natural gas. As a Cobb EMC member, you can receive a special discount off Gas South’s already great everyday low rates, as well as other money-saving benefits. www.cobbemc.com/gassouth That’s the power of membership.
Money-saving benefits: • 2–cent discount off already great everyday low rates — always! • No deposit required. • No connection fee ($60 instant savings). • Bill credits: $25 for enrolling online.
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