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Celebrating 50 years of ‘Electrifying the world ... one village at a time’
Global Reach
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STRENGTH YOU DEPEND ON. CASH YOU COUNT ON. To keep its prices low and reliability high, as Farmers Electric Cooperative has done for 75 years, they need a dependable lender. “Our bankers are significant partners in our business and they need to understand co-ops,” said Mark Stubbs, general manager. “CoBank is a cooperative like us and they’ve been around for a long time. We like that. Their rates are always competitive but when you add patronage into the mix, it becomes an outstanding value for the co-op.” CoBank’s patronage is an important part of our value proposition. In 2012, we paid out $341 million in cash and equity patronage,
“We have strong expectations for our patronage returns and CoBank has always delivered.”
helping our customer-owners and strengthening rural communities. MARK STUBBS, GENERAL MANAGER,
Our commitment to serving rural America has never been stronger.
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THE SOLUTION IS PREVENTION
Preventing animal outages with precise fit dielectric covers Greenjacket is a comprehensive solution for preventing animal caused power outages. It is the only complete product line designed for energized installation.
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BUILDING A BETTER WORLD. . . . . . . . . 24 For a half-century, NRECA International Programs has boosted global goodwill by helping developing countries provide rural residents with access to safe, reliable, and affordable electricity.
HOME PAGE . . . 56 Electric co-ops ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to adopt a revised bulk power system definition.
COMMENTARY . . . 8
Power Point
Data security 34
MAN THE BATTLE STATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Why your computer networks are more prone to “cyber-tage” than you might think.
Greenhouse gas emissions standards proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could affect more baseload natural gas-fired power plants than first thought, says a study from the University of California Center for Energy and Environmental Economics. Only 84 percent of existing combined cycle gas turbines subject to the rule would comply, not the 95 percent estimated by EPA, while just 71 percent of those facilities planned for construction through 2017 would meet the requirements.
COVER PHOTOGRAPHS: NRECA INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
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INFORMATION, IDEAS, AND INSIGHTS FOR ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES SINCE 1942
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Senior Director & Editor PERRY A. STAMBAUGH Production & Business Affairs Manager ALISON CHERRYHOLMES
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Managing Editor SCOT HOFFMAN Technology Editor ANGELA PEREZ Production & Online Specialist VERONICA BARAHONA Contributing Writers FRANK K. GALLANT JODY GARLOCK MAGEN HOWARD PATRICIA IRWIN REED KARAIM BILL KOCH JOHN LOWREY MEGAN MCKOY-NOE JOHN VANVIG
Flashbacks . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Despite efforts by allies of investor-owned utilities to cut off line-building materials during WWII, electric co-ops succeeded in making the case for hooking up qualifying farms.
Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Flashbacks 7
From tweaking power line designs to deploying deterrent devices, electric co-ops are actively striving to prevent the electrocution of hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey.
Vice President of Communications & Marketing ZAN MCKELWAY
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Editorial Office 703-907-5701 remag@nreca.coop
Wisconsin electric co-op’s garden assists local food banks; a newly created federal Rural Utilities Service loan program will let electric co-ops help homeowners and small businesses finance energysaving upgrades; electric co-ops argue that smart grids aren’t telecommunications services.
A D V E R T I S I N G & C I R C U L A T I O N
Front Lines . . . . . . 22
Art Direction DRPOLLARD & ASSOCIATES, INC.
Advertising & Circulation Manager KRISTIN BENNANI Advertising Sales 301-829-6333, fax 301-829-6336 Buyers Guide REmagazine.cooperative.com/showcase/ buyersguide Employment Advertising REmagazine.coop/advertise/rates/ employmentadvertising Subscriber Services 703-907-5868 NRECA Expositions 703-907-6073
W O R L D W I D E™ BUSINESS
RURAL ELECTRIC MAGAZINE® (USPS 473-080) is published monthly by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, 4301 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22203-1860. Yearly subscriptions: $39 per year for Gold Star Discount Program for NRECA members, $43 for NRECA members, $44 for EBSCO U.S. addressees, $72 for nonmembers, $92 for international addressees. Periodicals postage paid at Arlington, VA, and at additional mailing offices. Copyright © 2012 by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, Arlington, VA ID 31484. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RURAL ELECTRIC MAGAZINE, Attn: Membership Department, MEM8-160, 4301 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22203-1860.
After more than 50 years of service, Don Walker, a journeyman lineman with Tennessee’s Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation, believes co-ops succeed by putting members first.
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Co-op People . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 In the Hawkeye State, Dennis Murdock, executive vice president/CEO at Central Iowa Power Cooperative (G&T), is elected as board chairman of the Iowa Association of Business & Industry; electric co-op member Chelsea Rose joins the TenFront Lines 22 nessee Electric Cooperative Association (statewide) as government affairs assistant; Kansas electric co-ops name a new gasfired power plant after Perry Rubart, retired long-time trustee at Pioneer Electric Cooperative and the state’s former NRECA director.
Utility Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Employment Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54–55 Advertisers Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
T H E C O O P E R AT I V E P R I N C I P L E S 1 Voluntary and open membership 2 Democratic member control 3 Members’ economic participation 4 Autonomy and independence
5 Education, training, and information 6 Cooperation among cooperatives 7 Concern for community
“I’m investing on behalf of my members. They deserve accuracy, dependability, and performance. I expect the same from my partners.”
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Create Your Intelligent Infrastructure™ Find out more at Aclara.com 1.800.297.2728 | info@aclara.com
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Looking back over electric cooperatives’ first 75 years
The federal Rural Electrification Administration provided plaques to farmers who―thanks to co-op power―were able to significantly expand agricultural production during World War II.
THE NEXT GREATEST THING
flashbacks Food for the fight uns or Butter?” That phrase dominated political discourse during early years of the Vietnam War when President Lyndon B. Johnson requested large appropriations for his Great Society domestic programs while opponents contended the country couldn’t afford to pay for them and fight battles overseas. During World War II, however, guns and butter―food and fiber―were equal priorities for the United States. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the U.S. ranked 15th in world military might. That standing needed to change quickly if the country hoped to defeat Imperial Japan and lead our European allies in the struggle against the powerful German war machine and its Axis partners. To ensure that sufficient resources were available to assemble tanks, ships, aircraft, and weapons of all kinds, the federal government imposed rationing on most goods and raw materials. This action had a huge impact on not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperatives because items required to build electric lines and power plants―like copper, steel, and lumber―were diverted to the war effort. As a result, co-op line construction ground to a virtual halt, even though less than half of U.S. farms had been connected to central station electric service. To make matters worse, some investorowned utilities (IOUs)―despite a prevailing national spirit of “working together to win the war”―continued pirating electric co-op consumers, leading to wasteful legal battles. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, for his part, blasted cherry-picking efforts by the profit-driven power giants as well as favoritism being shown by C.W. Kellogg, who headed the U.S. Office of Production Management (OPM) power section, in allocating scarce line construction supplies only to IOUs. (Shortly after Congress had declared continued on page 43
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Politics and policy affecting NRECA members
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uring the recently completed slate of that more folks would take part in resolutions NRECA regional meetings, important debate because greater opportunities exist to strides were made toward accomplishing the express opinions. NRECA board members and goals set forth in our revamped membership staff also received many compliments on the resolutions process―namely increasing partici- transparency of the new process. pation, instilling a deeper understanding of If you haven’t already, I encourage everyresulting policies, and strengthening our unity one to review the groundbreaking changes of purpose and action. The restructured genwe’ve made in handling resolutions before eral sessions at the meetings, in fact, included attending the 71st NRECA Annual Meeting, a briefing on proposed resolutions set for Feb. 17–20, 2013, in New to be addressed by each region’s Orleans, La. Go to Cooperative Resolutions Committee, followed .com/governmentaffairs/nreca by the formal committee meeting resolutions. Resolutions adopted where all co-op directors/trustees, at the annual meeting set NRECA’s chief executives, and key staff had policy agenda for the coming year. a chance to join in, ask questions, In addition, please join with and offer amendments. me in celebrating 50 years of “ElecAnother sign of cooperative trifying the world . . . one village If you haven’t spirit at work was implementing a at a time” by NRECA International already, I suggestion made during the first Programs. Over the last half-century, encourage regional meeting (Regions 1 & 4) the global arm of NRECA has speareveryone to in Cincinnati, Ohio, that NRECA proheaded electrification projects that review the vide updates on key resolutions groundbreaking have resulted in higher agricultural adopted at recent annual meetings. changes we’ve productivity, millions of new jobs, made in Doing so, it was pointed out, would and an enhanced quality of life for handling boost understanding of pressing more than 100 million people in resolutions issues facing the program as well 40-plus nations. before as reinforce why resolutions were Even more important, the attending the important. As a result, reports on outreach by NRECA International 71st NRECA NRECA positions regarding a pendPrograms―based on the timeAnnual ing federal Rural Utilities Service Meeting, set for tested electric cooperative business energy efficiency loan program, U.S. model―has given individuals in Feb. 17–20, Environmental Protection Agency developing countries, many for 2013, in New regulation, opposition to wireless the first time, practical experience Orleans, La. spectrum auctions, and efforts to in democratic decision-making and control medical insurance costs were free enterprise so they can launch delivered. locally driven services. By aggregating small Feedback from regional meeting attendees stakeholders into large-enough units to comwas overwhelmingly positive. One director I pete in the marketplace, cooperatives expand spoke with praised the resolutions update prethe critical people-to-people relationships sentation because it gave Resolutions Commitneeded to break down bonds of mistrust on tee members a sense that their work had a posi- a grassroots level. ■ tive impact. Another said he felt encouraged
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President MICHAEL J. GUIDRY Vice President CURTIS NOLAN Secretary-Treasurer MEL COLEMAN Chief Executive Officer GLENN ENGLISH BOARD
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The power of human connections
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REGION 1 Michelle DaVia, Harborton, Vermont, Executive Committeeperson; Vernon N. Brinkley, Tasley, Virginia; Daniel Dyer, Accokeek, Maryland; Scott M. Hallowell, Calais, Maine; Thomas E. Madsen, Sussex, New Jersey; William “Woody” Noel Jr., Selbyville, Delaware; Gail Paine, Intervale, New Hampshire; Gary Potter, New Berlin, New York; Lanny Rodgers, Carlton, Pennsylvania, Curtis Wynn, Rich Square, North Carolina. REGION 2 Galen Mills, Elberton, Georgia, Executive Committeeperson; William L. “Bill” Hart, Blythewood, South Carolina; Angus S. Hastings, Citra, Florida. REGION 3 Eston W. Glover Jr., Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Executive Committeeperson; Larry E. Elkins, Rogersville, Tennessee; Robert J. Occhi, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi; Charles “Ed” Short, Andalusia, Alabama. REGION 4 Anthony A. Anderson, Grawn, Michigan, Executive Committeeperson; Roy Friedersdorf, Westport, Indiana; Thomas McQuiston, Camden, Ohio; C. Brooks Sharp, Clarksburg, West Virginia. REGION 5 Phil Carson, Oakdale, Illinois, Executive Committeeperson; Lawrence Becker, Montello, Wisconsin; Sam L. Nichols, Knoxville, Iowa. REGION 6 Donald Link, Alexander, North Dakota, Executive Committeeperson; Mark Hofer, Spencer, South Dakota; Ronald J. Schwartau, Balaton, Minnesota. REGION 7 Russell Nielsen, Potter, Nebraska, Executive Committeeperson; Edward “Ray” Garcia, Gardner, Colorado; Reuben Ritthaler, Upton, Wyoming; Keith Ross, Long Island, Kansas. REGION 8 Don R. McQuitty, Cameron, Missouri, Executive Committeeperson; Mel Coleman, Salem, Arkansas, Michael J. Guidry, Houma, Louisiana; Timothy J. Smith, Okmulgee, Oklahoma. REGION 9 Michael Peterson, South Jordan, Utah, Executive Committeeperson; Raymond J. Cloud, Alturas, California; Dennis M. Esaki, Lihu’e, Hawaii; Sandra L. Green, Eureka, Nevada; Clarence “Fritz” M. Keller, Havre, Montana; Meera Kohler, Anchorage, Alaska; Ronald Osterhout, Burley, Idaho; Steve Walter, North Bend, Washington; W. Bryan Wolfe, Hermiston, Oregon. REGION 10 David Spradlin, Springer, New Mexico, Executive Committeeperson; Kerry Kelton, Navasota, Texas; Curtis Nolan, Willcox, Arizona. NRECA MEMBERSHIP: 1,072 organizations serving 42 million people in 47 states; 19 international members. Visit our website at nreca.coop.
R U R A L
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Above and Beyond CFC’s dedication to the electric cooperative network goes above and beyond simple financing. Genuine support of the network calls for the industry expertise of CFC staff that allows us to understand your opportunities and craft unique financial solutions to your challenges. We collaborate with our owners to pioneer new, custom products while also sharing unique industry data and insight through training, conferences and special reports. Whatever your financing need, CFC is here for you.
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Meeting the daily challenges of running a utility
solutions BYE BYE BIRDIE
By John Lowrey
From tweaking power line designs to deploying deterrent devices, electric co-ops are actively striving to prevent the electrocution of hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey oles and wires make excellent vantage points for federally protected raptors― hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls―and
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even non-raptors like crows and ravens. In fact, across wide-open expanses of the Great Plains and Great Basin, electric lines and poles are often the only perching option birds have available when they hunt. Unfortunately, birds sometimes come into contact with electric facilities, leading to injury and death―not to mention costly service interruptions. And under federal law, killing a raptor can lead to a felony conviction and result in heavy ďŹ nes. As a result, many co-ops have been fashioning and reďŹ ning techniques to curb bird electrocutions. When Spoon River Electric Cooperative, based in Canton, Ill., was investigated by the
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a bird of prey electrocution incident several years ago, the distribution co-op used its geographic information system to pinpoint problem areas. One necessary modiďŹ cation identiďŹ ed was increased power line spacing. “The most vulnerable locations are three-phase lines where a raptor with a large wingspan could simultaneously touch two energized wires and the neutral conductor, resulting in electrocution,â€? explains Frank Romane, manager of operations for the Prairie State co-op. “In some sections we try to use longer, ďŹ berglass crossarms and have continued on page 12
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of rampant market hunting and natural factors decimated their number beyond recovery)― shields native birds such as raptors, their nests, and their eggs. It covers 836 species; only relatively recent immigrants―such as English sparrows, starlings, house finches, and European rock doves (pigeons)―and game birds are not included. Some raptors receive additional protection under two other federal laws: the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Penalties for violations range from fines of $5,000 to $500,000 and up to two years jail time depending on the statute and whether convictions are civil or criminal. To comply with these and any state-level regulations, federal and state permits are required before working with or around birds and their nests, according to the Avian Power Line Interaction Committee (APLIC), a group formed in 1989 by biologists from the electric utility industry―including NRECA―the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Audubon Society. For electric co-ops experiencing large raptor congregations, a long-term avian protection plan (APP) must be adopted. At White River Electric Association in Colorado, where birds have historically
caused the majority of animal-based outages, one action central to its long-term APP strategy entails isolating lines. “For us, that means putting in a perching guard anytime there’s less than 60 inches between phases,” stresses Ron Spencer, a senior field representative who started working for the Meeker-based co-op as a lineman in 1994. “Some eagles boast wingspans greater than that, so we want to protect them when they take off or land. You have to target danger points, such as poles overlooking a feeding ground or places filled with birds.” Unable to find a consistently effective roosting deterrent after years of field tests, Spencer developed a unique, X-shaped device he dubbed the Raptor Guard. The design proved so successful that he began marketing it through his own company. In September 2009, he sold the majority of the business to Power Line Sentry LLC (powerlinesentry .com), which now markets the item online. In addition, White River Electric has added other Spencer creations―insulator caps and conductor covers―to its grid as laborsaving alternatives in places where lines and equipment are not adequately spaced and insulated. “The units are safe and simple to install and they withstand extreme weather conditions and ultraviolet light,” Spencer adds.
INDEPENDENT . EXPERIENCED . CONSULTANTS
n the raptor front, Rauckman Utility Products LLC (rauckmanutility.com) provides electrostatic guards that use the existing electric field of a power line to discharge a non-lethal jolt to any bird or other critter contacting it, much like an electric fence. “Try different solutions and monitor the results,” advises Jim Rauckman, managing member of the company. “Consider ease of installation, and always involve employees who deal with the issue when making selections.” Kaddas Enterprises, Inc. (kaddas.com), also specializes in bird protection and offers 150 products to fit different pole and line configurations. “We have an in-house design team that can modify equipment to suit specific co-op needs,” remarks General Manager Natalie Kaddas. “We now sell a three-piece bird guard, which has been field tested from Alaska to New Mexico. It comes with a low profile and fits most applications, including tie wires and armor rods, with minimal overlap of sheds. It can be assembled quickly and installed with a hot stick.” Co-op APP planners can download the latest (2006) edition of the APLIC guide Suggested Practices for Avian Protection on Power Lines continued on page 45
continued from page 10
moved the neutral line a few feet lower than our specs call for.” After ospreys building nests on a 7,200-V line continually caused outages, Halifax Electric Membership Corporation, headquartered in Enfield, N.C., worked with local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials to install a nesting platform away from the line but still close to the original nesting site. A replica nest was actually constructed on the platform to attract the birds. “We had to find a way to prevent ospreys from building nests on our structures,” notes Danny Pendergrass, area foreman in the co-op’s Macon District. “While it’s legal to tear out a nest if it’s being built, once the nest is completed and at least one egg gets laid, it’s against federal law to disturb it.” he federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act― enacted in 1918 in response to the extinction of the passenger pigeon (which, until the mid-1880s, had been the most numerous bird on Earth before decades
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Co-ops, consumers, and the utility industry
DAVID CLARK
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USDA JUMPS ON THE EFFICIENCY BANDWAGON U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has proposed creating an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program, administered by the federal 14
Rural Utilities Service, that would let electric co-ops help homeowners and small businesses they serve finance energysaving upgrades. The concept closely mirrors legislation that electric co-ops are advocating before Congress (which the U.S. Senate included in its version
of the 2012 Farm Bill), as well as initiatives already launched by co-ops in South Carolina, Kansas, New Hampshire, Indiana, and elsewhere. As Vilsack explained in a news conference earlier this year at the Harrisburg, Pa., headquarters of the Pennsylvania Rural
Electric Association (statewide) and Allegheny Electric Cooperative (a generation and transmission co-op), electric co-ops could borrow money from the program and relend it to consumers for projects such as adding insulation; sealing ductwork; applying caulk and weather stripping; and installing new heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning equipment. Recipients would pay back the loans through their monthly electric bills. Co-ops would be responsible for ensuring contractors perform the work properly and that resulting electricity savings at least equal amounts paid on the loan. About $250 million would be available initially. “This energy efficiency effort can help rural Americans reduce energy use while simultaneously expanding business opportunities in rural communities,” Vilsack indicated. “The up-front costs of energy efficiency improvements often preclude co-op members from making necessary changes. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program will assist in making those investments more affordable.” He added: “No group has been more involved in energy efficiency than electric cooperatives. We’re thrilled with this partnership. We’re excited about it.” R U R A L
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Smart grid components send and receive automated meter and down-line data via two-way telecommunications, but they aren’t telecommunications services in the traditional sense of the term because there’s no human intervention. Smart grids are strictly “machine-tomachine” systems that operate automatically. NRECA recently made these arguments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in formal comments on the question of whether utilities with smart grids should contribute to the Universal Service Fund (USF). Created by the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, the USF helps level the playing field so that Americans living in rural or low-income communi-
ery of highspeed Internet service to remote areas. As a result, the FCC believes the collection methodology that supports the USF has become outdated and may need to be expanded. In response to FCC’s question as to whether smart grid and smart meter technologies should contribute to the CAF, NRECA asserts that smart grids don’t meet the statutory definition of telecommunications services. “They are not separate offerings being provided to electric consumers; they are technologies used in and ancillary to the delivery of electric service. Consequently, the FCC should not place burdensome USF CORBIS
SMART GRIDS AREN’T TELECOM SERVICES
ties are not left behind in having access to telecommunications services. Phone companies and their customers have been the traditional source of money for the USF. As of the third quarter of 2012, the fee was 15.7 percent of a phone carrier’s interstate and end-user revenues. However, on October 27, 2011, the FCC approved a six-year process that moves $4.5 billion annually from the largest part of the USF to the Connect America Fund (CAF), which promotes the deliv-
obligations on electric cooperatives for technologies which support their primary service―the delivery of safe, reliable, and affordable electricity.” Making smart grid operators pay into the USF would “defeat the very purpose for which these distribution automation systems are implemented― to lower costs and boost electric system reliability,” points out Martha Duggan, NRECA senior principal of regulatory affairs. “The same economic circumstances that led the FCC to subsidize rural telephone service through a USF also drove electric cooperatives to be early adopters of smart meters and smart grid technologies. Assessing electric co-ops would discourage smartmeter and smart-grid deployment and increase energy costs to consumers that can least afford it.”
SOLAR CHAMP
TRICO ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
Solar power watchers know that Arizona’s Trico Electric Cooperative has been a leader in the field for a long time, offering its 38,000 members a number of ways to take advantage of the area’s 350 days of sunshine annually. In recognition of its efforts, the Marana-based distribution system was recently named the Solar Electric Power Association’s (SEPA) 2012 Electric Cooperative of the Year. SEPA recognized the co-op “both for its longstanding commitment to solar power and its recent progress in developing programs that allow all of its members to take advantage of the benefits solar energy has to offer.” “Trico Electric recognizes that its consumer-members have evolving needs and expectations,” notes SEPA President & CEO Julia Hamm. “Keeping electric rates affordable remains a priority, but homeowners and businesses have a growing interest in solar options that will protect them from electricity price volatility in the future.”
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SEPA called particular attention to Trico Electric’s community solar farm, a 227-kW photovoltaic (PV) array built last year across the road from the co-op’s headquarters. Consumers can purchase quarter-, half-, or whole panels and receive credit on their monthly electric bill for the energy generated. “Our community solar initiative was designed for people whose homes aren’t sited properly for solar as well as those who rent or don’t have funds to buy a PV system,” explains Trico Electric General Manager/CEO Vin Nitido. “It lets them take advantage of renewable energy technologies.”
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contexts How do co-ops reach teenagers―the next generation of members, directors/ trustees, and employees? The South Dakota Rural Electric Association (statewide) based in Pierre, S.D., has been working at it for more than 20 years through a summer field trip called the Youth Excursion. This year’s edition in July took 38 high school students from 14 Mount Rushmore State co-ops to central North Dakota. There, they learned about the co-op business model, electric generation, and co-op careers. “Students received firsthand exposure on where electricity comes from to power their iPhones, TVs, and gaming systems,” indicates Brenda Kleinjan, coordinator of the three-day outing and director of communications & member
MEGAN MCKOY-NOE
CONNECTING WITH TEENS
relations at the statewide. As part of the tour, the teens visited a $4 billion energy complex northwest of Beulah that includes the Freedom Mine (lignite coal) and two facilities owned and operated by Basin Electric Power Cooperative, a Bismarck, N.D.-based generation and transmission co-op that delivers wholesale power to 134 co-ops in nine states: Antelope Valley Station, a two-unit, 900-MW coal-fired power plant; and the Great Plains Synfuels Plant, the only commercial-scale
coal gasification station in the country. On their way back to South Dakota, the group passed through the Wilton Wind Energy Center, which supplies Basin Electric Power with 50 MW of its 719 MW in wind resources. “The best thing about the process was being able to learn what everyone does and how they make electricity work and send it all over the country,” related Jeremiah Price, who was sponsored by Northern Electric Cooperative in Bath, S.D.
“Through the Youth Excursion, students are exposed to really exciting, high-paying energy careers, and we have the chance to talk about the skills needed to land those jobs,” Kleinjan says. “We also encourage students to interact with their local distribution cooperative and get to know the people there.” Check out a video and photo gallery from the 2012 South Dakota Youth Excursion at REmagazine.coop. ―Megan McKoy-Noe
HASSLE-FREE ‘HOME’ SOLAR Like community pools in the 1950s, community solar farms have been popping up all across America the past few years. And, as in all things innovative, electric co-ops are among the pioneers.
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One of the newest community solar projects will soon come on-line at the headquarters of Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association in Rockford, Minn. The 39,000-W photovoltaic (PV) array, however, comes with a unique feature: a battery energy-storage system from Silent Power the co-op can use to shave load during times of peak demand. Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric invited consumermembers to a mid-July meeting to gauge interest in the effort. “We had about 40 members in attendance, and we estimate we need about 20 to make it work,” explains Communications Specialist Lindsay Scherer. To participate, members will pay $869 per solar panel, with the kilowatt-hour output of each one deducted from their monthly electric bills. Community solar projects appeal to consumers who can’t install PV panels at their home due to high up-front costs or because the property isn’t oriented to capture the sun’s rays.
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When Henderson, Ky.based Kenergy Corp. decided to replace its 1950s-era district office in Marion, co-op officials told the architect to design a structure that set an example for wise use of energy, water, and land. The result is a 25,000-square-foot facility the co-op hopes will earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council. Construction on the $2.5 million project, which also includes a warehouse, garage, and covered parking spaces for service vehicles, began in early October, with a tentative move-in date set for June 1, 2013. Fifteen office staff, service technicians, and lineworkers will be based there. “The Marion crew is vital to our mission of providing safe and reliable electricity at affordable prices to those of our 55,000 members served in that area of western Kentucky,” stresses Kenergy CEO Greg Starheim. Some of the green features at the Marion District Center include minimal site impact design, geothermal heating and cooling, R-19 exterior wall and R-25 roof insulation, energy-efficient windows with thermal frames, and building materials boasting a low rating for emitting volatile organic compounds. Other electric co-ops that have achieved LEED status for their administrative centers are Union Rural Electric Cooperative in Marysville, Ohio (Gold certification, the second highest rating); Midstate Electric Cooperative in La Pine, Ore. (Gold); Great River Energy, a generation and transmission co-op in Maple N O V E M B E R
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Grove, Minn. (Platinum, the highest rating); Peace River Electric Cooperative in Wauchula, Fla. (Silver); Arrowhead Electric Cooperative in Lutsen, Minn.
(Gold); Heartland Consumers Power District in Madison, S.D., (Platinum); and Palmetto Electric Cooperative, Hardeeville, S.C. (Gold). In addition, NRECA’s
companion office building in Arlington, Va., was awarded Silver certification, while a Great River Energy office complex in Bismarck, N.D., captured Gold.
FOR BUCKEYE KIDS About 40 Ohio teachers went back to school in late August armed with new lesson plans and materials to provide their students with energy education. “It’s pretty impressive when they walk out of our summer training session with a 3-inch-thick curriculum manual balanced atop a huge plastic bin of classroom training materials,” comments Teresa Staats, marketing director for Columbus-based Buckeye Power, a generation and transmission co-op. The “Be E3 Smart” program―sponsored by Buckeye Power and coordinated by the Ohio Energy Project, a nonprofit education organization facilitating student/teacher understanding of energy―was launched in 2011 when 22 teachers (who could reach a combined 2,300 school kids across Ohio electric co-op service territories) attended. This year’s graduates should nearly
double that impact, Staats estimates, with the target audience being seventh graders. Be E3 Smart, whose three Es stand for “Energy,” “Efficiency,” and “Education,” empowers students to help their families use electricity more wisely. Each child receives a home energy efficiency kit that includes compact fluorescent lightbulbs, weather stripping, furnace filter whistle, LED nightlight, outlet gaskets, and appliance temperature gauges. “It’s more than classroom instruction,” Staats emphasizes. “It’s taking lessons learned into the home as part of assignments. The course conforms to state science standards and embraces school-to-home teaching methodology, which is unique.”
OHIO ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES
KENERGY EMERGING AS A ‘LEED-ER’
KENERGY CORP./SDA ARCHITECTURE
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contexts SLOW GROWTH FOR CO-OPS The nation’s economic doldrums caught up with electric co-ops in 2011 according to the latest Key Ratio Trend Analysis (KRTA) produced by Dulles, Va.-based National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), the premier private market lender to electric co-ops. According to John Grant, CFC vice president for financial products & analysis, the annual (since 1975) in-depth study of 145 co-op financial and operational performance ratios found that “while financial performance remains strong among electric cooperatives . . . several measures of co-op growth are at the lowest levels we’ve seen in many years.”
For example, following 2010’s impressive 4.8 percent rebound in kilowatt-hour sales, 2011 sales declined by 0.13 percent. “It’s rare to see kilowatthours sales decline in the electric co-op sector,” Grant points out. “We believe that the first year a drop ever happened was 2009, when sales fell by just over 1 percent.”
GARDENING WITH GREG
CENTRAL WISCONSIN ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
Greg Blum finds that gardening helps him unwind. As a result, the president & CEO of Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative found himself much more relaxed over the summer while tending two gardens, one at his home and the other at the co-op’s Rosholt, Wis., headquarters. “The co-op garden is about an acre in size; my plot at home is probably twice as big,” Blum chuckles with the weary sigh of someone who has bitten off more than he can chew but wouldn’t have it any other way. While Blum’s home garden has been long established, its co-op cousin debuted this year. To keep things growing, he and six or seven staff members with green thumbs―as well as an occasional co-op consumer who stopped by―planted, weeded, watered, cultivated, and harvested the patch that included all of the kitchen classics: peas, Swiss chard, broccoli, beets, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, cabbage, corn, lettuce, squash, pumpkins, and melons. This season, everything gathered went to two local food pantries. “We’ve always donated cash or canned goods to the pantries,” Blum reports, “but they rarely received fresh items. We hope our co-op garden can eventually serve all six pantries in our service territory.” Fortunately, there’s plenty of room to expand. Central Wisconsin Electric’s handsome new office building sits on 30 acres. On the July day that RE Magazine called, Blum was out in his home garden at 5:30 a.m. harvesting herbs to add to pantry boxes. “Today, we’ll deliver 150 pounds of produce. Our 2012 goal is 1,000 pounds, and I think we’ll make that.” Pretty impressive for a firstyear garden during a record hot, dry summer!
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In addition, 2011 consumer growth came in at 0.30 percent, down slightly from 0.37 percent in 2010. KRTA studies from past years show that, normally, co-ops expand by roughly 1.5 percent annually. Times Interest Earned ISTOCK Ratio, or TIER, a measure of financial strength used by the federal Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for co-op borrowers that calculates the number of times a co-op’s earnings cover interest payments on long-term debt, dipped slightly―from 2.45 in 2010 to 2.40―but held at a level well above the 1.25 required by RUS. Modified debt service coverage (MDSC), the formula CFC employs for its borrowers that determines the number of times operating cash flow encompasses long-term debt service, also decreased― from 1.95 to 1.81. But it, too, remained well above CFC’s loan requirement of at least a 1.35 MDSC for two of the last three years. In addition, margins per consumer fell from $150.51 in 2010 to $144.88, although they stayed above the 2009 and 2008 totals of $130.60 and $122.96, respectively. On a positive note, equity as a percentage of assets, which looks at the amount of equipment and additional resources owned by a co-op compared to the amount financed, rose to 42.32 percent―the third consecutive annual boost. In keeping with recent performance, power costs and electric rates continued to inch up. Power cost increases, in fact, have averaged 3.15 percent over the past five years, while co-op rates have climbed 3.07 percent over the past four. “Our industry has been bracing for a need to dramatically raise rates to meet surging demand, but these trends illustrate fairly modest growth,” Grant observes. The KRTA was based on data collected from more than 800 co-op distribution systems. National figures, unless otherwise noted, represent median values from reporting co-ops. R U R A L
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The Michigan State Tax Commission has agreed to work more closely with the Okemos, Mich.based Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (MECA) on calculating personal property taxes that Great Lakes State electric co-ops pay each year. Recently, the panel voted to establish a working group to annually review system economic factors, or SEFs, and take into account that electric co-ops generally have lower consumer densities and collect less revenue per mile of line than investorowned utilities. SEFs have been used since the 1960s, but the tax commission announced in December 2011 its intention to drop them. However, the three commissioners backed down after listening to presentations by
IS TO CK
FAIR TAXES FOR MICHIGAN CO-OPS
MECA CEO Craig Borr and Tom Harrell, general manager of Alger Delta Electric Cooperative in Gladstone. “Elimination of SEFs would raise personal property tax payments for Michi-
gan’s electric co-ops by $2.8 million annually,� indicates Borr, adding that the cost would be passed on to consumers. For Alger Delta Electric, the second smallest co-op in the state with 10,000 members, loss of the SEF deduction would mean a 54 percent, or $192,000, tax increase, Harrell says. “The State Tax Commission and other state departments have been pretty aggressive about finding every source of revenue without increasing taxes. They clearly heard our concerns.� The State Tax Commission has threatened to end SEFs before. In the late 1990s, MECA and its member co-ops responded by persuading the legislature to pass a law requiring local assessors to consider the number of kilowatt-hours sold per mile of distribution line when calculating an electric co-op’s tax.
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OSCARS ABOUND “And the Oscar goes to . . . Annville Christian Academy, McKee Elementary School, Sand Gap Elementary School, and Tyner Elementary School!� All four schools in Jackson County, Ky., took home trophies one
night last spring when local Jackson Energy Cooperative, based in McKee, and East Kentucky PRIDE (Personal Responsibility In a Desirable Environment)―a non-profit organization that links citizens in 38 Bluegrass State counties with local, state, and federal
resources to improve water quality, clean up solid waste, and advance environmental education― awarded Energy Oscars for two-minute videos on using energy wisely. About 100 third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders and their teachers participated in the video project. “They wrote scripts, found props, directed scenes, and performed all of the acting,� remarks Karen Combs, Jackson Energy director of public relations. “A marketing firm we deal with did the editing.� Jackson Energy posted the finished videos on its website and invited consumers to flag their favorite. The website tallied 9,763 visits during the voting period. In the end, McKee Elementary won an Oscar for its news broadcast titled “We’re Not Gonna Heat Jackson County!� with Annville Christian capturing one for developing a memorable character in “Super Energy Hero.� Meanwhile, Sand Gap Elementary was honored for covering the most energy efficiency topics in “Two-Minute Tips,� and Tyner Elementary was recognized for filming “Lights Outs!� in the dark, using cell phones to coordinate camera shots and lighting. “Because of you, more families will know how to hang onto their money with simple energy-saving tips, and our community will be a greener, more energy-efficient place to live,� East Kentucky PRIDE’s Mark Davis told the children on Oscar night.
Energy Oscars
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By John Vanvig
A look at co-op employees who “keep the lights on”
frontlines ing 49 years of line work, Walker has found his duties satisfying. “I still have my lot of things change―and first two-week pay stub from change dramatically―over the part-time cleaning, a the course of a half-century total of $35.76. For a youngworking on electric co-op lines. ster going to high school in But as Don Walker has learned, the early ’60s, earning more some basic truths never do. than a dollar in a day’s time Assigned to the Ashland City was a whole lot of money.” office of Cumberland Electric MemBy the time he made bership Corporation, based in journeyman lineman in midClarksville, Tenn., since 1962, 1967, Walker’s wage had Walker, a line technician, recalls reached a “whopping” days when the co-op listed home $3.20 an hour. “Soon therephone numbers of linemen in the after, an expert from the With wisdom gained from more than 50 years of service, federal Rural Electrification Yellow Pages so members could Don Walker, a journeyman lineman with Tennessee’s CumAdministration visited our call them directly whenever an berland Electric Membership Corporation, believes co-ops offices and predicted that outage occurred. “Back then, you succeed by putting members first. knew everybody, and everybody linemen would one day knew you. In fact, I still get trouble make $20 per hour,” he chuckles. “We thought that never would calls from older folks who refuse to deal with of his favorite memories of Walker’s dedicahappen.” an automated reporting system. To make tion. “In the 1980s, a three-phase regulator Early on in his career, Walker’s assignthings simple, I just relay the information to failed in our Ashland City substation. It failed, whoever is on call at the co-op.” as fate would have it, on a Saturday with day- ments largely consisted of bringing 220-V After logging more than 50 years on the service to farmhouses―hard, physically time temperatures approaching 100 degrees. job, Walker recently went on extended disdemanding labor. At the time, Cumberland My substation group and I spent the entire ability due to a ruptured disc stemming from EMC had roughly 25,000 members, barely a weekend there, rebuilding the unit. Don, decades of climbing poles and turning who just happened by, spent most of his quarter of the 90,000 meters it counts today. wrenches. When his disability runs out, he weekend bringing us food and drinks and “Most of our members then were farmfigures he’ll retire. running errands for us. He was not on call, ers, and you could only find them at home “Don is an inspiration to all who’ve nor did he turn in time for the work he perduring dinner time. They didn’t have electric worked with him,” remarks Ronnie Fuqua, formed. Don has been totally devoted to serv- stoves or air conditioners, just some lights, general foreman of the Cumberland EMC ing his fellow man his entire career.” and generally there weren’t more than construction crew where Walker has spent From Walker’s perspective, the episode three or four of those. People saw electricity the last six years. “At 68, he still corrects us reflects his belief that co-op employees “must as a gift, not something they couldn’t live be willing to help each other out―especially on the way things should be done.” without.” when it comes to the core mission of keeping Earlier this year, in the co-op’s local As he built and upgraded electric lines the lights on.” news page section of The Tennessee Magathrough the 1960s and ’70s, Walker began From the time he started at the co-op― fashioning a philosophy of member service, zine, the consumer publication of the washing windows and mopping floors after Nashville-based Tennessee Electric Cooperaone strengthened by the gratitude and friendtive Association (statewide), Cumberland EMC school―through his 12-month audition for liness of co-op consumers themselves. the line crew as a groundman and the followcontinued on page 41 General Manager Jim Coode offered up one
PEOPLE YOU CAN COUNT ON
CUMBERLAND EMC
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coverstory D E L I V E R I N G H O P E
By Frank K. Gallant
Building a
For a half-century, NRECA International Programs has boosted global goodwill by helping developing countries provide rural residents with access to safe, reliable, and affordable electricity
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osario Ortiz was a grandmother when she first switched on electric lights. At the time, she still walked on dirt floors in her three-room house in Juan Pablo II, a poor village in eastern Guatemala, but her grandchildren could now do their homework at night without burning expensive candles. She was also able to add a refrigerator and a small television. Along with these basic comforts, electricity offered two new sources of income to supplement the few quetzals (Q) she earned at a nearby daycare center. With a grant from a Catholic charity, she bought a small grain mill and began grinding corn for her neighbors―steady income in a place where people eat tortillas at every meal. That brought in about 40 Q a day, or $5. She made another
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Better World PHOTOGRAPHS: NRECA INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
70 Q a month selling frozen bananas dipped in chocolate to children in the community. In contrast, Ortiz’s monthly electric bill was 15 Q, a bargain compared to the candles that cost 2 Q per day and couldn’t keep her food from spoiling. NRECA International Programs, a division of NRECA, electrified Juan Pablo II in 2001 after the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) focused on building power lines in the region, which was still trying to recover from the fury of Hurricane Mitch three years earlier. The life-altering arrival of power for folks like Rosario Ortiz marked another success in the history of NRECA International Programs, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. On November 1, 1962, NRECA and USAID―then a relatively
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new federal agency set up “to assist people overseas struggling to make a better life” (and resist communist expansion)―formed a partnership to carry the successful U.S. electric cooperative model to distant lands. President John F. Kennedy witnessed the signing of the agreement, where he stated: “This contract holds special promise for those countries which have realized only a small fraction of their energy potential.” In the ensuing half-century, with the support of more than 300 NRECA member co-ops, NRECA International Programs has spearheaded electrification projects that have resulted in increased agricultural productivity, millions of new jobs, and enhanced quality of life for more than 100 million people in 40-plus nations.
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D E L I V E R I N G
H O P E
“Building a better planet takes experience,” NRECA CEO Glenn English remarks. “And no group has more experience bringing low-cost power to far-flung communities than America’s electric co-ops.”
LIGHT BRIGADE
’One village at a time’ ne of the first projects took NRECA International Programs experts and volunteers from Lenoir, N.C.-based Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, to form Cooperativa Rural de Electrification Ltda. CRE, as it is By John Vanvig known, grew rapidly and has emerged as the world’s largest electric co-op, with t’s been barely two years since NRECA themselves ending long, hot days with short, more than 450,000 members. International Foundation officially part- cold showers. They huddle together for CRE’s first USAID funding was for nered with the White House to recogimpromptu meetings, sometimes with heavily $7 million, half of which was used to nize overseas volunteer work by U.S. armed local chieftains close at hand, or climb rebuild the city’s dilapidated distribution electric co-op employees. But in that mountains and build lines into hamlets that system and electrify four nearby towns. short time, nearly 170 co-op staffers―reprehave never seen an outsider. The other half went to the national utility senting 100 distribution and generation and “Without Foundation volunteers,” Hunfor generation and transmission constructransmission systems as well as statewide sicker declares, “many of these undertakings tion. But CRE almost failed before it associations―have received the President’s would not get done at all.” started because powerful politicians in Volunteer Service Award, bestowed by the The average tour of duty lasts two to La Paz, the capital, didn’t like what they President’s Council on Service and Civic three weeks, with local co-ops paying volunsaw as a potential threat. Participation. teers straight time. (Even though lineworkers “The biggest problem confronted by “The program, which recognizes volun- may, and often do, put in 100-hour weeks, the cooperative is the central government teers across many national platforms, was they only get paid for 40.) Some co-ops split of Bolivia,” Cecil Viverette, general mancreated to thank and honor Americans who, the commitment, with the employee using ager of Blue Ridge EMC, wrote in a 1963 by their demonstrated commitment and vacation time during his or her absence. report to then-NRECA General Manager example, inspire others to engage in volunNRECA International Foundation covers Clyde Ellis. teer service,” explains Ingrid Hunsicker, travel expenses while the host electric co-op Even so, CRE stayed the course and NRECA International Foundation senior provides room and board. The goal: Volunflourished. In 1975, the co-op received a program manager. “Close to 98 percent of teers face no out-of-pocket costs other than second grant from USAID―for $13 milco-op volunteers are lineworkers. When a for passports and personal items. village has no electricity but the national Despite privation and grueling condilion―to pay for a five-year initiative that grid is nearby, we need crews to extend tions, many of Hunsicker’s recruits can’t get would light up 84 towns and villages outpower.” enough of the experience. She has never side Santa Cruz. Schools and hospitals By their very nature, rural electrification faced a shortage of help, even when issuing were hooked up first, then homes. Medprojects in the Third World take American frantic calls for engineers after the cataical and dental clinics, small businesses, co-op employees deep into some of the poor- strophic 2010 earthquake in Haiti. sawmills, and agricultural processing est, most underdeveloped areas on the As for the President’s Volunteer Service plants began springing up along distribuplanet. From war-ravaged South Sudan to Awards, Hunsicker notes it’s mostly icing on tion lines. the jungles of Guatemala to remote fishing the cake since co-op employees derive so Farming methods improved in villages in the Philippines, volunteers find much satisfaction from the mission. The several ways thanks to CRE. “Chi Chi” Escalante, the co-op’s rural development and agriculture specialist, plugged in his slide projector at village gathering places and conducted educational has been supported by NRECA International Programs funding and outreach. Cattle inoculation finally caught on because refrigerators expertise. could keep the vaccine from spoiling. As NRECA International Programs began branching out, it adopted NRECA International Programs remains in Bolivia and is in talks a slogan: “Electrifying the world . . . one village at a time.” A 1977 pilot with Cochabamba Power and Light Company about line extension study in Bangladesh led to the establishment of 70 co-ops that now proposals to irrigate the isolated Cochabamba Valleys region. To date, distribute power to 45 million rural residents. NRECA has acted as an at least 25 percent of the Bolivian distribution system development adviser to the country’s Rural Electrification Board since the beginning.
O
A look at some electric co-op employees who have been recognized for their volunteer efforts in electrifying foreign lands
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PHILIPPINES BABUYAN ISLANDS
LUZON ISLAND LUZON ISLAND
kudos are slotted in three levels: South bronze for 100 to 249 hours of serChina Sea vice; silver for 250 to 499 hours; and gold for more than 500 hours. A few dozen electric co-op honorees have reached silver and gold levels, but plenty more are well on their way. Sulu Sea “For many volunteers, one hitch abroad is not enough,” HunMALAYSIA sicker remarks. “They keep coming back. Most find it rewarding to feel the same sense of satisfaction America’s rural electric pioneers must have sensed when they brought power to a dark countryside three generations ago.” Here are a few of their stories.
PHILIPPINES POLILO ISLAND
MANILA
MINDORA ISLAND
SAMAR ISLAND
BORACAY
PALAWAN ISLAND
CEBU
PANAY ISLAND
LEYTE
BOHOL
NEGROS
MINDANAO ISLAND
BASILAN ISLAND
The Philippines ourteen years ago, Travis Housley’s calling and career converged in the Philippines. As an ordained Baptist minister, he was visiting the South Pacific island nation on a church-planting mission when a local pastor learned he was an electrical engineer. “He enlisted me to bring power to his remote village,” Housley recalls. “His people were literally starving: Six kids had recently died of hunger.” Within weeks, Housley, then vice president of engineering & operations at Henderson, Ky.-based Big Rivers Electric Corporation, a genercontinued on page 28
TRAVIS HOUSLEY
PHOTOGRAPH: NRECA INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
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PHOTOGRAPH BY ED THOMPSON
Travis Housley, retired vice president, Big Rivers Electric Corporation, Henderson, Ky.
When an NRECA International Programs team arrived in the Philippines 40 years ago, 80 percent of the population lived in rural areas with less than 10 percent receiving central station electric service. Today, 78 percent of the South Pacific nation’s dwellings have power, and 119 rural co-ops now serve 40 million consumers. A number of other projects have been equally successful, points out Dan Waddle, senior vice president of NRECA International Pro-
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Travis Housley will soon embark on his 24th trip to the Philippines to assist Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative.
grams. “The four electric co-ops in Costa Rica represent approximately 15 percent of the total electric distribution market and cover roughly 40 percent of rural areas in that country. They are completely self-sustaining and have expanded the scope and range of their offerings. Costa Ricans are gung ho for democracy, so they really embrace co-ops.” In 1989, with help from NRECA International Programs, the quartet set up a generation and transmission co-op (G&T), CONELEC-
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JIMMY GOODNIGHT
Jimmy Goodnight, operations manager, Boone Electric Cooperative, Columbia, Mo.; and Jerry Rodgers, retired line foreman, Lane Electric Cooperative, Eugene, Ore. South Sudan n mid-2008, Jimmy Goodnight, operations manager at Boone Electric Cooperative, based in Columbia, Mo., and two of his co-workers―journeyman lineworkers Jamie Conrow and Steve Baumgartner― found themselves airborne for 20 hours, flying from St. Louis to Detroit to Amsterdam to Uganda and, finally, to Yei, a largely unlit city of nearly 70,000 in South Sudan. “I woke up on the plane at one point and I looked out, and we were over the Sahara,” Goodnight relates. “And I thought, ‘Whoa, this is a different experience.’ When we touched down in Yei, we said to each other, ‘What in the world are we doing?’ It was like something out of National Geographic.” Three years earlier, with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Develop-
I
TRICAS, that has developed two small hydropower stations with a total generating capacity of 43 MW. NRECA International Programs’ assistance included developing a business plan and setting up the organization; carrying out selection, feasibility analysis, and design for the hydro projects; aiding in the creation of CONELECTRICAS and co-financing its power investment projects; establishing a related watershed conservation effort; developing a bulk materials and equip-
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ment, NRECA International Ltd. began building an electric distribution system in Yei as fighting wound down after a 20-year civil war that recreated the autonomous region (and, as of July 2011, independent nation) of South Sudan. That same year, NRECA International Foundation sent the first co-op volunteers to the community once known as “Little London”―a reference to its historic role as a conduit for trade between North and Central Africa. continued on page 30 S INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM PHOTOGRAPHS: NRECA
continued from page 27 ation and transmission co-op, was rolling up his sleeves to extend electricity into a rugged region of the Philippines served by Davao Oriental Electric Cooperative (DORECO)― an effort that continues to this day (987 hours logged so far). “We’re talking about a very, very rural district, consisting of mostly one-room shanties and subsistence farmers. A lot of those living in proximity to electric co-op lines were not connecting―they didn’t have the cash equivalent of $50 for the hookup fee.” To remedy the problem, Housley established a loan program, administered by the co-op’s member services department, to help consumers in 60 villages energize their homes. Later, he worked with DORECO to fashion a “livelihood loan project” that lets villagers build on their skills and interests to open businesses. “All of this generates income so folks can pay their power bill,” Housley comments. “That, in turn, helps them earn a living.” Unfortunately, the swath of the Philippines where he works has been plagued by sectarian violence. To ensure that electrification can proceed, he has met clandestinely with local leaders of the opposition Islamic Liberation Front. “The group heard what I was doing and promised not to kill me,” Housley imparts without emotion. “Some of the soldiers made it clear that people in the area needed water, so we dug a deep well and now pump water to an elevated tank and distribute it to community taps in five villages. As a result, DORECO is branching out into supplying water to homes.” He adds: “It’s quite a thrill to see how water changes lives. Folks can irrigate small gardens; they’re quite resourceful.” Now retired, Housley finds even more time to devote to his cause. “I’m planning a summer trip back to the Philippines,” he mentions. “Number 24, I believe.”
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ment procurement system; and establishing public information and advocacy programs. “Nowhere else has the G&T concept gotten traction,” Waddle points out. “We tried to start one in Bangladesh, but there wasn’t political support. In Bolivia, we helped CRE lobby for an exemption to a law prohibiting vertical integration of utilities, but we didn’t get very far.” In addition, the four Costa Rican organizations, along with co-ops
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“They don’t have access to distribution automation devices like we do,” he emphasizes. “They’re small, they’re rural, and vendors don’t visit them very often except to sell products. They seldom have the opportunity for real exchange.”
Jimmy Goodnight with Missouri’s Boone Electric Cooperative, top left, and Jerry Rodgers, below center, a retired line foreman from Lane Electric Cooperative in Oregon, both assisted in energizing Yei Electric Cooperative in South Sudan.
PHOTOGRAPHS: NRECA INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
Spearheading the charge addle leads a staff of 14 from NRECA’s headquarters in Arlington, Va. Five reside in the countries they are responsible for: Guatemala, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, South Sudan, and Bangladesh. NRECA International Programs is made up of two arms. NRECA International Foundation, a registered charitable 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1985, partners with electric co-ops in the United States to provide funding, equipment, and volunteer personnel to assist foreign electric co-ops. Meanwhile, NRECA International Ltd.―which designs, builds, and offers management services to electric utilities in remote locations around the globe while training those served to own and manage them―operates offices in nine countries, with electrification projects in 13: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen. The typical NRECA International Programs undertaking involves extending the grid from urban centers, although localized renewable energy development has recently been pushed by USAID, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and other funders. In 2001―in a village not far from Rosario Ortiz, the Guatemalan grandmother―an NRECA team installed a 50-W solar photovoltaic system on the roof of a school that, at the time, was the only electrified building for miles around. NRECA International Foundation recruits co-op volunteers― usually lineworkers, CEOs, and engineering managers―to send on
JERRY RODGERS
and rural municipal utilities in Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, and Guatemala, make up the Smart Grid Alliance For the Americas, a $1.2 million effort aimed at demonstrating advanced metering infrastructure with large commercial and industrial accounts. Through it, American co-ops will be able to share smart grid technology, experiences, and best practices. “It’s a rare opportunity for these participants,” Waddle asserts.
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continued from page 28 During his three-week stint in Yei, Goodnight and his Boone Electric team―along with Craig Larkin and Mark Ziegler from Troy, Mo.-based Cuivre River Electric Cooperative and Bobby Ball from Valley Electric Association in Pahrump, Nev.―labored sideby-side with local crews, primarily returning refugees. They built 1.5 miles of single-phase line and nearly 4,000 feet of three-phase line to serve a new medical center, school, church, radio station, and more than 200 residences. In all, the group set 40 poles and strung nearly 20,000 feet of wire―all by hand. For the Americans, working without the aid of power tools or hydraulic bucket trucks, the task at hand proved both a physical challenge and a cultural awakening. Yet Goodnight remains eager to make a return visit. “I would definitely go back,” he asserts. “It makes you a better person and better at your trade. It also makes you appreciate what you have back home. The countryside in Missouri was once as dark as rural South Sudan.” He adds: “We not only provided a service in helping establish a new electric co-op, we supplied expertise and best constructionpractice skills by sharing information, lineman to lineman.” Another Yei volunteer, William “Jerry” Rodgers, retired line foreman with Lane Electric Cooperative in Eugene, Ore., reports that in 2007, during the first of his three trips to the city, the lack of running water surprised him. “Residents would take an empty antifreeze container with a rope tied to it, and they’d dig a hole, and that’s how they drew water. It was kind of mind-numbing.” In addition to performing general line work, Rodgers takes special pride in a small project he accomplished during his initial Yei assignment. “The system was hurting for revenue and trying to build up load. But only
small transformers could be used because larger ones are too heavy to lift up on a pole―work that’s done through sheer manpower. However, a cell-phone company wanted more power, so we helped Yei Electric Cooperative link transformers into parallel banks to accommodate the commercial account. It wasn’t much, but efforts like that have a huge impact in a poor and troubled place like South Sudan.” Rodgers stresses that electrification endeavors abroad are not for the faint of heart. Electricity to NRECA International Programs compounds can be largely intermittent―a few hours in the morning and again briefly in late afternoon and evening. “I could blog and e-mail my wife,” he reports. “But then at 10 p.m. or so each day, the power went off.” Although the compounds usually boast a deep well to provide clean water, Rodgers’ after-work showers were always cold. That didn’t matter, though, to his local co-op crewmates. “One of the big benefits of working on electric lines for them was getting to take a shower after work. That’s something you don’t think of coming from America.” He also appreciated offering his hosts a look at who Americans really are. “They got to know me as a person and as a representative of my nation. They were able to see that Americans are, in most respects, just like them. We may not speak the same language, but we speak the same work.” In May 2008, Yei Electric Cooperative was officially turned over to local control. “By all measures, the electrification of Yei has been a huge success,” emphasizes Dan Waddle, NRECA senior vice president of international programs. “It continues to expand and now provides safe, reliable power to nearly 46,000 people. Since the lights first came on, the city has grown from 30,000 to more than 180,000 in population, driven by safety and economic development resulting from electricity. The efforts of American electric co-op
two- to three-week assignments. While overseas, line technicians build distribution systems, wire houses, and train local line crews to work more productively and safely. Co-op managers educate administrators and board members, while engineers guide their counterparts in line design and substation construction and maintenance. In addition, NRECA International Foundation oversees four donation programs. Dozens of co-ops contribute monetarily, while
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employees have played a huge role in making that happen.” Garry Mbiad, retired general manager/ CEO, Guernsey-Muskingum Electric Cooperative, New Concord, Ohio Uganda s he neared the end of a professional lifetime spent at a single Ohio electric co-op, Garry Mbiad jumped at the chance to get outside his comfort
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others turn over used line trucks and distribution equipment. “Transformers and bucket trucks are especially valuable and are always in demand,” stresses Ingrid Hunsicker, NRECA International Foundation senior program manager. “Co-op employees can give to the Foundation through the United Co-op Appeal ‘Gift of Light’ program, an annual workplace fundraising campaign handled by the Cooperative Development Foundation.”
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zone. In summer 2011, he headed to Uganda to train leaders involved in the east-central African nation’s budding rural electrification program. Mbiad, who retired this fall from Guernsey-Muskingum Electric Cooperative in New Concord after 18 years as general manager/ CEO and 32 years on staff, led intensive learning sessions for Uganda Rural Electrification Agency (REA) officials. He was joined by Dennis Hill, executive vice president of the Mandan, N.D.-based North Dakota Association GARRY
Lake Albert
of Rural Electric Cooper“Introduction to Underatives (statewide), and standing Electric Cooperatwo NRECA Internative Operations, Finances, tional Programs repreand Member Services.” sentatives, Bob Ellinger “The folks we spoke and Kent Wick. to soaked up what we had UGANDA Ellinger and Wick to say like sponges,” Mbiad lectured on the successes of electric co-ops notes. “We were peppered with questions. in the United States and Bangladesh, while Hill We could have gone on for three more days.” conducted two training courses: “UnderstandBefore the classes, Mbiad and his cohort ing Board Governance” and “Directors’ Duties visited one of two electric co-ops in the counand Liabilities.” Mbiad, for his part, taught try, Bundibugyo Electric Cooperative Society, situated near Uganda’s border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “After a boneMBIAD jarring all-day drive on a gravel and mud road, we found a very enthusiastic and energetic staff and board chairman. The co-op has very little to work with, and logistics are challenging. But the founders are proud of what their cooperative has accomplished so far.” NRECA International Programs has been working with the Uganda REA to speed up the extension of rural electric service, which stalled after the pair of electric co-ops was established in 2009 and 2,000 villagers gained access to electricity. When the Ugandan government unveiled a Rural Electric Strategy and Plan in 2001, less than 1 percent of the nation’s rural population (22 million then, 28 million now) had access to electricity. Today, about 5 percent do, but that’s just half of the government’s 2010 target. Mbiad was impressed with the national goal of 100 percent electrification by 2035. But it was clear that reaching it will be an uphill climb. The field trip to Bundibugyo Electric Cooperative Society was especially eye opening. continued on page 32 Lake Edward
Lake Victoria
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Garry Mbiad, recently retired general manager/CEO of Guernsey-Muskingum Electric Cooperative in Ohio, helped train leaders involved with Uganda’s rural electrification program on the basics of co-op operations.
In 2008, Cooperative Electrique de Pignon, a utility in north-central Haiti, couldn’t serve its 500 members after a transformer burned out. The Foundation sent an urgent request to the NRECA membership, and within 24 hours, Pioneer Electric Cooperative in Greenville, Ala., supplied a bank of three used transformers, plus a spare. “We had the transformers in our warehouse, just sitting there,” recalls Jason Settle, Pioneer Electric operations & engineering chief.
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The road ahead s NRECA International Programs embarks on its next 50 years, an enormous new mission has arisen in Pakistan. Seven staffers have taken on the task―more than most NRECA International Programs ventures. “It’s not one of our typical projects because we’re dealing with state-owned utilities,” Waddle reports. “We’re helping them fashion
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continued from page 31 “I thought I had my hands full trying to keep the lights on in hilly, heavily wooded southeastern Ohio,” Mbiad says. “But the terrain in that part of Uganda is very mountainous and the vegetation thick. Roads are few, not up to our standards, and not maintained.” Bundibugyo Electric Cooperative Society uses a motorbike to patrol its distribution lines but has to rent a truck to make repairs or set poles, with the work done by hand. It has very little spare equipment, and employees deal with long hours of load shedding and rotating blackouts. Still, co-op officials are well aware of their responsibility to the membership. “All of it raises the stakes for member education,” Mbiad acknowledges. “How do you explain household wiring and electrical safety? Kenneth, the manager of the co-op, had put together a ‘ready board’ that shows an economical and safe way to wire a home and provide an outlet or two and some lights. I wondered about how many of our U.S. co-op predecessors in the early days did the same exact thing! However, most Ugandan co-op members understand prepaid metering; prepaid cell phones are the order of the day―you can go to almost any store and buy minutes. Because of that, it wasn’t much of a stretch when the co-op let members pay for a specific amount of electricity ahead of time.” He continues: “That was an absolute shocker to me. I began to wonder, what other nuggets of wisdom were out there?” Mbiad was humbled by how much Ugandan co-op employees have been able to accomplish with so few resources. “They are Mark Brothers, a line foreman with Tennessee’s Duck River Electric Membership Corporation, discovered rural life in the Guatemalan town of Guastatoya bore similarities to his own small-town upbringing.
a wonderful, proud people. They are dedicated, adaptable, and innovative. They don’t want us to do the job for them, but they do appreciate our help. I hope the NRECA project in Uganda can be a model for other countries on the African continent―the famine that has claimed tens of thousands of lives in East Africa could be mitigated, in part, through power to pump water, refrigerate food, and operate medical equipment.”
PHOTOGRAPH BY ED THOMPSON
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an efficient way to collect revenue. Their biggest problem is converting meter reads into accurate bills―they use antiquated billing software, and data collection is very poor.” He continues: “In developing nations, few people are in the habit of paying for electricity―they assume the government will provide it for free. Power theft is common, with individuals risking their lives jerry-rigging service drops or running an extension cord to the
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Mark Brothers, line foreman, Duck River Electric Membership Corporation, Shelbyville, Tenn. Guatemala rural utility runs by different rules in the impoverished land of Guatemala, where thieves swipe aluminum conductor off feeder lines, and poles are frequently uprooted and moved to accommo-
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residence of a neighbor who did the dirty work. In the Dominican Republic, it’s said that stealing electricity is the second-most favorite sport, right after baseball.” Getting an electric co-op off the ground can be tough, too, either because of government resistance or cultural differences. “In many countries, there’s no tradition of self-help or joining together to achieve a common goal,” Hunsicker explains.
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Goo Goo Clusters [a Tendate changing loads. But nessee specialty candy] to as Mark Brothers, a line satisfy their sweet tooth.” foreman in the ManchesThis past summer, ter, Tenn., district office after persuading Duck of Shelbyville-based Duck River EMC to donate an River Electric Membership GUATEMALA aging pickup to his Corporation, learned in two trips to the town of Guatemalan counterparts, Brothers drove the vehicle to Florida Guastatoya, rural life in the Central American and oversaw its loading onto a cargo ship. country bears similarities to his own small“The Guastatoya folks don’t even have a town upbringing. line truck.” “It was like stepping back in time,” When toiling in the Guatemalan HighBrothers muses. “I grew up around a lot of lands, flexibility counts. During Brothers’ first old farm families who didn’t have much and excursion, he and some other U.S. co-op volremembered when the lights came on. I also unteers were scheduled to run a line extenwas raised on a farm, and everybody in that part of Guatemala farms. It might explain why sion to an isolated village. But money came up short and work was halted. I got along so well.” “When we resumed, we needed to So well, in fact, he’s itching to return. replace all of the wire because it had been “I’ve stayed in touch online with Guastatoya [a municipal electric system] staffers and even stolen,” Brothers recounts. “Also, one time shipped them bags of we actually lifted and relocated an existing S line so service could be provided to a rodeo PROGRAM L NA IO AT A INTERN PHS: NREC scheduled for later. The Guastatoya utility PHOTOGRA can’t afford to buy new poles, and they can’t afford to leave a transformer in place if it’s needed elsewhere.” Brothers was also astonished when he happened to peruse one of the municipal system’s monthly meter-reader logs. “I saw 1 kilowatt-hour of electric consumption, 3 kilowatthours, and, at most, 10 kilowatt-hours. Lots of residents use just one light in the house. They want electricity, but they’re impoverished and don’t have the finances to pay for a lot.” After 34 years at Duck River EMC―he started there as a janitor right out of high school―Brothers expects to retire in a couple of years. And then, he says, he’ll make an extended stay in Guastatoya. “You can’t go down there for two weeks and accomplish much,” he concludes. “To teach guys how to do this or that, you need to hang around for a few months. My wife is scared to death that I’m going to buy a house there.” ■ HONDURAS
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Pacific Ocean
Recently, a focus by USAID on clean fuels and renewable energy instead of grid extension―the best way to reach a large number of unserved consumers―has been a concern. “There has to be a balance,” Waddle argues. “That doesn’t exist right now.” And fresh sources of capital will be necessary if NRECA International Programs hopes to bring light to the 2 billion people worldwide still in the dark. “We’ve already picked the low-hanging
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fruit,” Waddle comments. “For example, rural Bangladeshis live in densely packed villages where sufficient revenue exists per mile of line to support a utility. That’s not the case elsewhere. In Uganda, only 9 percent of the population has access to electricity, and in rural areas, it’s much lower. On top of that, few people have the ability to pay for electricity.” As a result, NRECA International Foundation will play a bigger role going forward. “Right now, co-ops contribute about $600,000 in cash and $600,000 through in-kind services each year,” Waddle says. “In the future, we’ll need annual cash donations in excess of $2 million. And $5 million to $10 million more will have to come from corporate sponsors and outside parties.” But political strife, more than infrastructure hardships, makes Third World electrification increasingly difficult. “Our biggest concern right now is security and the safety of our personnel,” Waddle indicates. “South Sudan, Uganda, and Pakistan all experience severe peace and order problems.” Of course, social upheaval, economic instability, and physical danger have always lurked on the periphery of NRECA International Programs endeavors. But its dedicated contingent has never let that get in the way. They’ve negotiated with government officials, unearthed financial resources, and made sure indigenous workers and American electric co-op volunteers stay safe. As he looks five years out, Waddle expects that Africa and South Asia will occupy much of his section’s attention. Pakistani utilities, he explains, “must improve rural line design and construction standards, and invest in new technology. Most Pakistanis have central station power, but the distribution system is old and outdated.” He concludes: “Africa likely will present the greatest challenge of all. The needs on the continent are immense, and the situation is grim. There are two key issues: food security and water. Electricity plays a big role in both.” ■
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Working with vendors to build stronger electric co-ops
co-optech
MAN THE BATTLE STATIONS Why your computer networks are more prone to “cyber-tage” than you might think By Bill Koch
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of-the-mill troublemakers, to exploit hidden weaknesses in utility computer networks. Heightened awareness of this reality has inspired electric cooperatives, as they implement complex smart-grid schemes, to more fully scrutinize cyber-security policies and controls. “Co-ops have historically done a thorough job of putting protocols in place to ensure employee safety, such as key cards to get into buildings and fashioning disaster plans for a variety of crises,” notes Chuck ALAMY
n summer 2009, a subtly destructive computer virus, later dubbed Stuxnet by the firm that discovered it the following year, began wiggling its way into the Iranian uranium-enrichment plant at Natanz. The mission was carried out by infiltrating, via infected USB drives, the facility’s Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. In the end, Iran was left coping with a slew of manufacturing and production-related technical headaches. Since its discovery, Stuxnet has drawn the world’s attention to the potential for enemies of the United States, as well as run-
Gill, manager of information technology (IT) with Owen Electric Cooperative in Owenton, Ky. “But cyber security has become just as important given the numerous interconnected, web-based down-line devices and software programs now being used. The potential for mischief and destruction is enormous.”
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I N F O Five things you need to know about safeguarding your electric co-op from cyber attack:
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1. As electric co-ops integrate more and more automated equipment and software systems into their operations, vulnerabilities to computer hackers grow. 2. Cyber strikes can be mounted through tablets, smartphones, laptops, and personal computers―essentially any Internet-connected gateway. 3. Smart-grid devices, as well as other technologies, could be used as portals for sophisticated and dynamic cyber assaults. 4. Dedicated cyber terrorists often try to trick or manipulate employees into giving them information that permits access to protected data, buildings, and computer platforms. 5. The Guide to Developing a Cyber Security and Risk Mitigation Plan from NRECA’s Cooperative Research Network provides a set of online tools that can help electric co-ops strengthen their cyber-security posture. It has been touted by the U.S. Department of Energy as a prime example for other utilities to follow (and endorsed by the head of grid security at IBM) and marks the first approach to advancing cyber security at the distribution level.
Nov12CT5F_Co-op Tech 10/8/12 9:11 PM Page 36
co-optech In 2007, Owen Electric initiated a formal information security process. “It’s constantly being evaluated and updated,” explains Gill, who oversees the use of 150 laptops, several servers, and a mainframe computer. “The effort never ends. You need to be ever-vigilant. Training becomes paramount.”
Along with Gill’s in-house expertise, the co-op relies on the Guide to Developing a Cyber Security and Risk Mitigation Plan, developed by NRECA’s Cooperative Research Network (CRN) as part of the $68 million CRN Smart Grid Demonstration Project now under way. (For more on this topic, check out the “Co-op Tech” column in the August 2012 edition of RE Magazine.) The document―offering the first approach to advancing cyber security at the distribution level― provides a set of online tools that can help
Get wired in. Get a Staples Advantage® account and start saving. We’re proud to do business with NRECA, and we invite you to sign up for a Staples Advantage account. When you do, you will receive a 10% discount off all orders placed within the first 60 days. We thank NRECA and its members for their business and we hope to see you at the NRECA event in New Orleans in February. To learn more about the NRECA program, visit StaplesAdvantage.com/nreca or call your Staples Account Manager, Mike Bridges, at 703-623-2574.
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electric co-ops bolster their cyber defenses and has been touted by the U.S. Department of Energy as a prime example for other utilities to follow. But buckling down against cyber perils doesn’t stop with computer hardware. “You need to debug the human hardware, too,” Gill quips. “Developing employee awareness is vital. Consider adopting proactive measures such as rewarding the number of times employees identify cyber-security issues or possible breaches. Detecting internal threats and negligence is as important as handling outside onslaughts.” And, as digital technologies are added or changed, new vulnerabilities arise. “Computers will talk to anyone who finds a way to gain entry,” Gill says. “For example, smartphones and tablets can easily chat with unwelcome cyber strangers. That, in turn, opens up doorways to protected data and systems.” f course, most cyber-security breaches will not be as flashy as that featured in the classic movie Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. In the climactic scene, rebels opposed to the Galactic Empire―using architectural plans stolen from a computer―pinpoint a weakness in the Death Star space station that the hero Luke Skywalker exploits to destroy it. In the real world, computer hackers continually finagle ways into computer networks. Their relentless cunning makes it difficult for already extremely busy IT departments to keep apace. So how does an electric co-op know if its security procedures are up to snuff? “The litmus test of any cyber-security initiative is an unscheduled, unannounced audit of known risk areas,” comments John Vranic, general manager at Greenwell Springs, La.-headquartered Dixie Electric Membership Corporation (DEMCO). “I see it as a critical part of delivering safe, reliable, and affordable power to our 100,000 members.” Along those lines, Vranic signed on with Central Service Association (CSA; csa1.com), a non-profit vendor that assists utilities in security management. CSA developed a test to probe DEMCO’s cyber fortifications in three areas: visibility, vulnerability, and social engineering. “DEMCO passed with flying colors,” remarks Steve Dyer, CSA chief technology continued on page 38
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officer. “There are very few public links that tie back directly to the cooperative, including the co-op’s main website and bill-pay site. Keeping your cyberspace footprint small is a smart strategy. Folks can’t strike against what they can’t see.” He adds: “DEMCO also enhances its cyber security with computer firewalls. In addition, we unsuccessfully tried to ‘socially engineer’ [hoodwink] information from DEMCO employees. It was the only one of 70 electric cooperatives we reviewed where humans didn’t allow a security breach. The co-op was exceptionally prepared at all usual invasion points.” Dyer stresses that a lack of awareness among staff poses the biggest cyber-security threat for most companies. “For example, instead of going through the difficulty of tapping into a computer, a social engineer might call a co-op employee, pretend to be a Microsoft IT support person, and ask him or her to divulge log-in passwords. Or a motivated individual could watch a co-op office
for a few weeks or months to determine what vendors regularly visit, then have a shirt made with any of the appropriate vendor logos on it, enter the building, and gain access to information via the co-op’s internal private networks.” With the audit finding in hand, Vranic breathed a sigh of relief. “While I’m proud of our results, the fact remains that one slipup can cause a lot of damage. We’ll continue to train our staff in maintaining a high level of security in their day-to-day activities.” n the introduction to its 2008 Cyber Security E-Handbook, CRN declares, “Electric cooperatives face a range of information security threats, from computer criminals seeking Social Security numbers on corporate computers to cyber terrorists aiming to take down the power grid by attacking a control network. Defending against such dangers means building a cyber-security program that mitigates risks, addresses compliance and regulatory requirements, and results in streamlined operations and increased productivity.” In a harbinger of the Stuxnet incident, the CRN report singles out SCADA systems, calling them “attractive targets for cyber
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terrorists.” SCADA, which manages and monitors distribution and transmission assets, “becomes vulnerable through remoteaccess capabilities or individual substation components hooked up to the Internet. In addition, SCADA systems are sometimes tied into electric cooperative [computer] networks and, through the electric cooperative network, into the Internet. Without appropriate precautions, this increased connectivity can raise the vulnerability to cyber-security hazards.” The handbook, available on Cooperative.com, lists 10 SCADA security questions every co-op should ask and offers nine defensive tips. ■ Mention of a commercial product or service on these or other editorial pages of this publication does not imply endorsement by RE Magazine or NRECA.―Perry Stambaugh, Editor
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Comings and goings in the electric cooperative network
■ Region 1 Delaware Maine Maryland New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Carolina Pennsylvania Vermont Virginia
co-oppeople
■ Region 2 Florida Georgia South Carolina
■ Region 5 Illinois Iowa Wisconsin
■ Region 3 Alabama Kentucky Mississippi Tennessee
■ Region 6 Minnesota North Dakota South Dakota
■ Region 4 Indiana Michigan Ohio West Virginia
■ Region 7 Colorado Kansas Nebraska Wyoming
■ Region 8 Arkansas Louisiana Missouri Oklahoma
■ Region 10 Arizona New Mexico Texas
■ Region 9 Alaska California Hawaii Idaho Montana Nevada Oregon Utah Washington
News items: fax 703-907-5519 • remag@nreca.coop • Rural Electric Magazine, 4301 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22203-1860
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VILSACK VISITS .S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack brought some welcome news when he paid a recent visit to Piedmont Electric Membership Corporation, Hillsborough, N.C.―the approval of $250 million in loans to nine electric co-ops, including Piedmont EMC, to upgrade their systems with smart grid technology. “Grid modernization will increase the reliability and efficiency of electric power generation,” Vilsack explained.
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“Providing reliable, affordable electric service contributes to stronger rural economies and is the backbone for a prosperous rural America. These loans will help ensure that rural areas can retain existing businesses, support new ones, and deploy reliable, up-to-date infrastructure.” In follow-up comments, R.G. “Randy” Brecheisen, Piedmont EMC president & CEO, noted: “We appreciate Secretary Vilsack visiting us today and for the work that the U.S. Department of Agriculture does to help rural America. We depend on access to capital through loans from the federal Rural
Utilities Service to extend lines to new consumers, maintain our more than 3,000 miles of line, and fund investments in new technologies that improve efficiencies and service to our members.” Operations Manager Wayne Marshfield took a well-deserved bow for 45 years of dedicated service when members of Delaware County Electric Cooperative, Delhi, N.Y., gathered recently for the co-op’s annual meeting. “Wayne always puts the members first,” observed Mark Schneider, Delaware County Electric CEO/general manager. “And
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he knows most of our 5,200 members by name.” During the recent annual meeting of Adams Electric Cooperative, Gettysburg, Pa., satisfied members re-elected three incumbent directors to the board: S. Eugene Herritt, who has served since 1985; William Myers, a three-year veteran; and F.L. “Ray” Schwartz, a board member since 2006. All three have achieved Credentialed S. Eugene Herritt Cooperative Director status under NRECA’s rigorous training program. Meanwhile, four Adams Electric staff members have shifted jobs. Guy Gorman takes over as lead William Myers lineman in the co-op’s Gettysburg District office after 16 years as a line serviceman; Randy Hoover, a Shippensburg District journeyman lineman since 2000, F.L. “Ray” Schwartz assumes the post of line serviceman for the Gettysburg and Shippensburg districts; Wayne Huntsberry moves to apprentice lineman after nine years as a meter reader/collector; and Cecil Knotts shifts to line serviceman after 10 years on the co-op’s line crews. Two new directors―Floyd Lehman and Harvey Reckner Jr.―were elected to open seats during the recent annual meeting of Somerset Rural Electric Cooperative, Somerset, Pa. At the same event, Clarence “Ben” Waltermire, a director since 1993, captured another three-year term. Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC), Manassas, Va., saluted three employees who recently marked major service anniversaries. They are Kenny N O V E M B E R
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“When people invite you into their homes for coffee or a meal, whatever it might be, that’s rewarding,” he acknowledges. “They’re the ones who own the co-op and give us easements for our poles and lines. They deserve our respect―it can’t be any other way.” He concludes: “Being local has its advantages. Our members know us, depend on us, and trust us. It’s a big part of what makes an electric co-op great.” ■
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Know someone RE Magazine may want to profile for our “Front Lines” column? We’re looking for electric co-op operations staffers, from meter readers to lineworkers to engineers, who keep things humming at their co-ops and in their communities. Contact us at REmagazine.coop and click on “Send us your story idea.” Or you can reach writer John Vanvig directly at johnlvanvig@ yahoo.com, or 575-388-1395. 41
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50,000 new jobs with a combined payroll of $2 billion, earning top recognition along the way from the National Rural Economic Developers Association as well as international, regional, and state groups. “The foundation of Ralph’s career success is based in his deep belief in personal service and follow up as the cornerstones of business conduct,” explained Lawrence Hinz, CEO at Coastal Electric Cooperative, Walterboro, S.C., and vice chairman of the Power Team board. “He is the consummate Southern gentleman and has made an indelible, positive mark on our co-op and Santee Cooper family. He will go forward into his retirement next year with our deepest gratitude.” Thomas graciously shared the accolades. “From our very first day,” he said, “the South Carolina Power Team has vigorously pursued our mission to serve the state. I am proud of the organization’s many accomplishments, including our standing in South Carolina’s economic development community. Any personal success I’ve enjoyed along the way is directly attributable to the outstanding support I’ve received from electric cooperatives, Santee Cooper, and many capable associates.” Jason Bragg, government relations representative with the Georgia Electric Membership Corporation (statewide), Tucker, Ga., has been named to the board of directors of the state YMCA. Bragg has advised the group’s Youth Assembly lobbyist program, a mock legislature, for several years and will take leadership of that activity this month. R
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TENNESSEE’S ROSE he Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association (statewide), Nashville, Tenn., has welcomed Chelsea Rose as government affairs assistant. Rose, who owns a cattle, hay, and tobacco farm served by Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation, Carthage, Tenn., previously worked for the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative, the state’s Farm Bureau Federation, and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R). “We’re excited to have someone with Chelsea’s skills and rural background join our team,” declared David Callis, the statewide’s executive vice president & general manager. Meade County Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, Brandenburg, Ky., has
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promoted Todd Board to supervisor of its Hardinsburg District in anticipation of the coming retirement of Keith Mattingly. At the same time, Greg Dockery was named to succeed Board. Also at Meade County RECC, Kyle Heavrin has taken over as communications coordinator. The Alabama Rural Electric Association (statewide), Montgomery, Ala., has added Adam Freeman to the staff of its consumer magazine, Alabama Living, as advertising & marketing director, and promoted Brooke Davis from marketing assistant to advertising coordinator. The changes were announced recently by Lenore Reese Vickrey, vice president of communications. R
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MOORE MARKS 50 t has been 50 years since Patricia Moore joined the staff at Jasper County Rural Electric Membership Corporation, Rensselaer, Ind., as a work order clerk making $1.25 an hour. A half-century later, the administrative manager’s colleagues celebrated that service. “For a person to spend over 50 years devoted to one Patricia Moore company is certainly a rarity in today’s workforce,” CEO/General Manager Bryan Washburn pointed out. “Patricia remains as loyal to the co-op today as she was on her first day― and still proves to be a valuable asset to our organization.” While Moore was rounding a remarkable milestone, Justin Nesius was just beginning his Jasper County REMC career. He signed on recently with the tree crew. During the recent annual meeting of Great Lakes Energy Cooperative, Boyne City, Mich., Paul Schemanski was elected to the board to succeed Dale Farrier while incumbents Paul Byl, Mark Carson, and Robert Kran were re-elected.
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war, Kellogg―who previously served as the first president of the Edison Electric Institute, the IOU trade association―had issued an order banning use of copper and aluminum wire for electric facilities in rural areas.) At the first NRECA Annual Meeting held January 19 & 20, 1943, in St. Louis, Mo. (the wartime home of the federal Rural Electrification Administration [REA]), Ickes accused the IOUs of a “selfish patriotism of money that is without allegiance” and noted that “farms electrified by REA funds are meeting the shock of war and its consequent labor shortage and have continued to increase output of food for our armies and our allies. Cooperatives have shouldered their guns as have all of us.” Harold Lees, general manager of Top O’ Michigan Electric Cooperative, based in Boyne City, Mich., summed up the situation in his co-op’s newsletter later that year: “Electric power furnished to REA farms is today helping 1,000,000 American farmers meet their production goals and will prove to be a very effective medium in hastening victory in the war. Food is as necessary as bullets.” Thanks to research by NRECA, co-ops were able to show Congress and government officials that electrified farms sharply outproduced those remaining in the dark. In turn, Kellogg’s OPM order was modified to include an “animal unit” formula. Based on the number of dairy cows, beef cattle, hogs, or sheep, line construction materials were made available to hook up qualifying farms. Later studies showed these operations made a major contribution toward keeping our nation and troops fed. ■ ―Raymond Kuhl Raymond G. Kuhl worked in public relations and rural development at Sioux Valley Electric Cooperative (now Sioux Valley Energy) in Colman, S.D., for 14 years after stints with South Dakota’s East River Electric Power Cooperative, a generation and transmission co-op, and the South Dakota Rural Electric Association (statewide). In his later years at Sioux Valley Electric, he helped organize rural water systems in eastern South Dakota and became the first executive director of the South Dakota Rural Community Water Association from 1977–78. In January 1979, Kuhl was named general manager of the newly formed Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (statewide), a post he would hold until his retirement in 1996. 43
RE_FullPage_AD_May2012_RE_FullPage_AD 4/2/12 11:32 PM Page 65
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Nov12People1F_People 10/8/12 9:09 PM Page 45
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retired recently after 33 years of service as a director, the last three as board vice president. A Credentialed Cooperative Director through NRECA’s rigorous board training and certification program, Shie also served as Oakdale Electric board secretary. Taking his place is Rick Barrett. Dennis Murdock, executive vice president/CEO at Central Iowa Power Cooperative (G&T), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been elected board chairman of the Iowa Association of Business & Industry. The group represents some 1,400 Hawkeye State businesses that employ more than 300,000. Murdock also chairs the board of the Iowa Area Development Group (service), an economic development organization founded by many of the state’s electric co-ops. R
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BASIN’S ROCKERS mployees at Basin Electric Power Cooperative (G&T), Bismarck, N.D., clamored to take part when the My Co-op Rocks
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video contest, sponsored by the National Grocers Association, was opened to electric cooperatives for the first time. And while the G&T’s rap video entry didn’t win, folks had a lot of fun putting it together. “While we were brainstorming,” recalled Tracie Bettenhausen, a Basin Electric Power writer & editor, “we realized the words we had come up with sounded poetic and decided to make it into a rap. We have such a good video and production staff here, why not throw our hat in the ring and see what we could do?” The video, “Livin’ Life Electric,” was shot in a single day and edited in two, according to Jared Barnhart, the G&T’s multimedia specialist. Members of Bon Homme Yankton Electric Association, Tabor, S.D., elected Matt Stone to the board during the co-op’s recent annual meeting. He replaces Denis Feilmeier, who retired after three decades of board service. At the same event, incumbent Director Joe Kostal was re-elected. Line operations and maintenance employees at Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association, Rockford, Minn., received the credit when the co-op earned a perfect score during a recent federal Rural Utilities Service (RUS) audit. “The review from RUS is a reflection of the dedication and pride
our employees have for the work they do in providing reliable and safe electricity to our members,” commented Lance Hovland, the co-op’s vice president of energy distribution. “To be complimented by our federal government with this high score is an honor that all employees can take pride in.” R
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from Cooperative.com. The manual, which has been officially adopted by the federal Rural Utilities Service as the electric co-op standard for safeguarding raptors, reviews existing federal laws and steps for compliance, lists ways to ease raptor contacts, provides detailed descriptions and illustrations of pole and line design and their impact on large birds, and explores how to create an APP. ■
Spotlight on Excellence Awards Program It’s time to enter the Spotlight on Excellence Awards Get the recognition you deserve for outstanding work in communication, marketing and advertising. The Council of Rural Electric Communicators and NRECA will present awards during the Connect 2013 Conference in Orlando, Fla. Only work produced between Dec. 2, 2011, and Dec. 1, 2012, is eligible. All entries must be postmarked or shipped by Dec. 3, 2012, to the Spotlight on Excellence office. Entry fees should be sent directly to NRECA by Jan. 4, 2013.
For details, visit www.cooperative.com and go to the Spotlight on Excellence page
CALL FOR ENTRIES N O V E M B E R
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the state’s wholesale grid in early 2014. MidKansas Electric Company LLC, which was formed in 2007 by six Kansas electric distribution co-ops (Lane-Scott Electric Cooperative, Dighton; Prairie Land Electric Cooperative, Norton; Pioneer Electric Cooperative, Ulysses; The Victory Electric Cooperative Association, Dodge City; Western Cooperative Electric Association, WaKeeney; and Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Scott City) to purchase the assets of Aquila, Inc., an investor-owned utility and its 70,000 small-town consumers spread across 34 counties in central and western areas of the state, announced plans to start building the facility early next year. “History has shown the merits of having a balanced generation portfolio, so we know Rubart Station will further enhance our current eet of natural gas, coal, and wind resources,â€? declared Stuart Lowry, president & CEO of Mid-Kansas Electric and Sunower Electric Power Corporation (G&T), Hays, Kan. Herbert Brodsky has been appointed to a return engagement on the board of directors at La Plata Electric Association, Durango, Colo.
Brodsky, who had served on the co-op’s board for more than two decades when Director Heather Erb claimed his seat by a 55-vote margin last spring, was named to ďŹ ll out the term of Pam Patton, newly named to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. “Herb’s years of service to La Plata Electric provide him with in-depth knowledge of our co-op and the electric industry as a whole,â€? explained Jerry McCaw, La Plata Electric board president. R
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SMEDLEY PROMOTED aria Smedley has moved up to vice president of human resources at Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (G&T) and Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc, (statewide), both in Little Rock, Ark. The former director of human relations & beneďŹ ts at NRECA, Smedley came to the combined G&T and statewide as director of human resources in 2010. She boasts nearly 20 years of human resources experience in a variety of sectors. “Maria has proven to be a great asset for our organizations,â€? noted Duane Highley, president & CEO. “Her educational background and extensive human continued on page 49
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Our crews have been responding to natural disasters for nearly 80 years, assisting utilities in cleanup efforts and helping to restore power.
Wright Tree Service. Always the Wright choice. 1.800.882.1216 www.wrighttree.com
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resources experience have enabled us to expand and improve efforts to recruit, train, and retain talented employees. She has also coordinated the improvement of internal employee benefits processes.” Members of Clay County Electric Cooperative Corporation, Corning, Ark., elected Jerry Turner to a three-year term on the board of directors during the co-op’s recent annual meeting. At the same event, incumbent directors Futrell Butler and Charles Raglin were re-elected. R
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WILLIAMS TAPPED regon Trail Electric Consumers Cooperative (OTEC), Baker City, Ore., has chosen Ron Williams, an attorney based in Boise, Idaho, as its general counsel. Williams has more than 30 years of legal experience in the energy field and has worked with co-ops, investor-owned utilities, and municipal electric systems, as well as consumers and independent power develop-
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ers. He’s a shareholder in Williams Bradbury in Boise. “I remember watching the formation of OTEC,” Williams stated. “It’s the premier public power entity in Oregon.” During the recent annual meeting of Fall River Electric Cooperative, Ashton, Idaho, Brent Robson was elected to the board, taking over for the retiring Chris Ricks. At the same event, incumbent directors Sonja Cherry and Dan Skene were re-elected. R
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CARLILE PASSES taff and board colleagues at Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, Willcox, Ariz., and co-op leaders throughout the Grand Canyon State mourned the recent passing of Cecil Carlile, 80, who joined Sulphur Springs Valley Cecil Carlile
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Electric as meter reader in 1974 after 25 years in the Army, service that included flying intelligence planes and helicopters during the Vietnam War. Carlile was promoted to district manager four years later before wrapping up his co-op employment career in 1993. He went on to serve on the Sierra Vista City Council before being elected to the Sulphur Springs Valley Electric board in 2002. During his director tenure, he represented his co-op on the board of the Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association (statewide), Phoenix, Ariz., where he was serving as board vice president at the time of his death from injuries suffered in a fall at his home. CEO Bob Loth joined board members from Central Texas Electric Cooperative, Fredericksburg, Texas, in saluting the co-op’s 137 employees when they notched a total of 1 million hours worked without a lost-time accident. “When you think about the kind of work our people do―operating on high-voltage electric lines at all hours of the day and night and in all kinds of weather conditions―this accomplishment is truly remarkable,” Loth pointed out. The Central Texas Electric safety streak dates back nearly four years. ■
Target Your Highest Value AMI Applications Without Spending a Fortune
Your Connection to the Future
Metrum’s Utiliwise® Technology makes targeting high value applications simple and cost effective. By leveraging existing public network infrastructure and cloud based software applications, Utiliwise allows utilities to deploy reliable, high bandwidth, point-to-point AMI endpoints exactly where needed with complete scalability.
Secure, private network communications Pervasive multi-carrier coverage Low-cost, no-hassle software implementation
Full support of major meter platforms DR, DA, LP, prepay, disconnect, voltage monitoring, etc. Low recurring cost
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For more information email info@metrum.us or call 254-752-7300
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New products and services that turn problems into solutions
PORTABLE RADIO TOWER
A self-contained repeater tower from Tait Communications, supporting both 800-MHz and VHF frequencies, provides back up to damaged, destroyed, or over-burdened radio communications during crisis situations and planned outage events (see page 54).
utilitymarketplace IML-USA, INC.
POLE TESTING The PD-series of pole-testing instruments from IML-USA, Inc., capture data electronically on a handheld device, laptop, or PC. PD-series instruments can test poles above and below ground without excavating or boring, allowing inspections to be performed in less than five minutes. Drilling depths are 200 mm (7.87 in.) to 1,000 mm (38.37 in.). Software automatically shows inspection pass-fail results. Contact: IML-USA, Inc., Orange Park, Fla., 904-375-0161; fax 904-375-9079; james.baribeau@ imlusa.com; imlusa.com/html/ pole_testing.html; imlusa.com.
GARAGE MANAGEMENT The Automotive Resources International (ARI) Garage Management System (GMS) helps manage work orders, parts inventory, and technician productivity while including data from outside vendors to evaluate true total costs of operation. The GMS feeds all cost information into ARI insights, ARI’s online 50
client portal, to help managers make more informed decisions about their maintenance processes. The integrated GMS manages the flow of both data and work. Contact: Automotive Resources International, Mt. Laurel, N.J., 856-533-9311; jzeck@arifleet .com; arifleet.com.
PAD-MOUNT SWITCHGEAR The VersaPad medium-voltage, metal-enclosed switchgear suitable for outdoor installations from ABB, Inc., includes a deadfront enclosure that provides electrical isolation and protection from contamination using an inner-grounded steel compartment. An industry-standard footprint allows replacement of existing field units without changing a pad or cables, eliminating retrofit and adaptation costs. The VersaPad uses the ABB VersaRupter to provide field-proven switch technology that includes an arc-extinguishing system. Contact: ABB, Inc., Raleigh, N.C., 919-807-5743; bill.rose@us.abb .com; abb.com.
ABB, INC.
ANIMAL OUTAGE DEFENSE Salisbury by Honeywell offers the Greenjacket power protection system, consisting of custom-fitted dielectric polymer covers that provide gap-free coverage for preventing animal contact with power equipment. Covers are individually manufactured to fit customer needs. Weather-resistant and highly durable, the Greenjacket power protection system can be installed on live power lines. Contact: Salisbury by Honeywell, Louisville, Ky., 630-3433713; brian.mccauley@honey well.com; salisburybyhoneywell .com.
TAIT NORTH AMERICA, INC.
SALISBURY BY HONEYWELL
RUGGED NOTEPAD OPERATING SYSTEM Juniper Systems introduces Microsoft Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 for the Mesa Rugged Notepad, a handheld computer designed for dedicated field-
data collection in extreme environments. The new operating system, now shipping on new Mesa Rugged Notepads, can be downloaded for all existing Mesa Rugged Notepads via the Juniper Systems website. Contact: Juniper Systems, Logan, Utah, 435-753-1881; fax 435-7531896; junipersys.com.
TV WHITE SPACE ANTENNA Carlson Wireless introduces a high-gain omnidirectional base station antenna specifically designed to meet the demands continued on page 52 R U R A L
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Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
February 18 –21, 2013 New Orleans, LA
Each year, TechAdvantage® opens a window on new technologies with direct access to innovative people and companies. Join key technology, engineering, management and co-op professionals in discovering new directions shaping local, regional and national markets.
Advance ahead with: Super Sessions and Learning Labs Special Expo and Networking Events Knowledgeable Industry Vendors Professional Education Credits RUS Engineering Seminar Pre-Conference Workshops
TechAdvantage® Signature Expo: Delivering the Best in Technology Get a jumpstart on new technologies and equipment with more than 280 companies at the premier industry expo designed exclusively for co-ops. Technology Demo Theater RETURNING! Back by popular demand: Timely demonstrations and new high-tech products!
Fast-Track Technovations: Exhibitor & Co-op Case Studies NEW! Catch trailblazing technologies currently in development or already on the market via exhibitor-co-op case studies.
Save BIG with the AdvantagePak and Early Bird Rates! Register by January 11, 2013 and save up to 28%!
Nov12UM3F_QXP-1102781790.qxp 10/8/12 5:13 PM Page 52
utilitymarketplace
nia-free, and designed to protect workers from electric arc and flash fire exposure. Contact: Milliken & Co., 800828-3034; millikenfr.com.
of TV white space. The new antenna provides consistent gain across the entire UHF band and is not limited to specific channels or geographic areas. Made of stainless steel and aluminum alloy and enclosed in strong PVC, the 4-ft.-by-6-in. cylindrical antenna enclosure provides for minimal wind loading and ice formation. Contact: Carlson Wireless, Arcata, Calif., 707-822-7000; fax 707-822-7010; carlsonwire less.com.
OPTICAL NETWORK HARDWARE
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FLAME-RESISTANT FABRIC Milliken & Co. Amplitude flame-resistant (FR) fabrics are Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.certified to national safety code standards. Amplitude 6-oz. FR
CommScope, Inc., now offers a passive optical network (PON) solution that accommodates both EPON (Ethernet passive
COMMSCOPE, INC.
MILLIKEN & CO.
fabrics offer the durability and protection of 7-oz. fabrics and feature increased breathability that reduces heat stress and the risk of heat exhaustion. All Milliken fabrics are made in the United States, processed ammo-
this month’s advertisers Aclara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 aclara.com Altec Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C2 altec.com Asplundh Tree Expert Company . . . . . . . .20 asplundh.com Clevest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 clevest.com CN Utility Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 cnutility.com CoBank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 cobank.com General Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 generalcable.com Hubbell Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 hubbell.com/Power/HubbellPower.aspx Kaddas Enterprises, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 kaddas.com Metrum Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 metrum.us NISC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 nisc.coop National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) . . . . . . . . . . .9
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optical network) and GPON (gigabit-capable passive optical network) technologies. CommScope’s new PON family of devices provides electric cooperatives the ability to deliver advanced voice, video, and data services to subscribers using fiber-optic cables. The complete PON portfolio includes optical line terminals, optical network continued on page 54
Advertisers are solely responsible for the content of their advertisements. Publication of an ad does not imply endorsement by NRECA or RE Magazine.
nrucfc.coop Nordic Fiberglass, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 nordicfiberglass.com NRECA Spotlight on Excellence Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 cooperative.com/interestareas/ commications/development/spotlight/ pages/default.aspx NRECA TechAdvantage Conference & Expo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 techadvantage.org Open Systems International, Inc. (OSI) . . .42 osii.com Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. . . . . . . . . . .19 osmoseutilities.com P&R Technologies, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 pr-tech.com Power System Engineering, Inc. . . . . . . . . .12 powersystem.org Rauckman Utility Products, Inc. . . . . . . . . . .4 rauckmanutility.com Renewable Energy Systems Americas, Inc. (RES Americas) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 res-americas.com
Rice Signs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 ricesigns.com S&C Electric Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C3 sandc.com Salisbury by Honeywell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 salisburybyhoneywell.com Schweitzer Engineering Labs, Inc. . . . . . . .23 selinc.com SEDC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C4 sedata.com Thomas & Betts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 tnb.com Tattletale Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 tattletale.com Two Sockets Two Meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 ts-tm.com Von Corporation (The) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 voncorp.com Staples Advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 staplesadvantage.com Wright Tree Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 wrighttree.com
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BetterBuilt Photo courtesy of Enbridge
WIND | SOLAR | TRANSMISSION
• 5,700 MW of renewable energy since 1997 -- approximately 10% of the operating wind farms in the U.S. • Strategic advice provided by Jake Udris, formerly SVP of the Energy and Water Division at CoBank, the top electric cooperative lending bank in the U.S. • Team of specialists dedicated to creating solutions specifically tailored to the needs of electric cooperatives • In-house development and construction experts available to discuss customized renewable energy and transmission solutions • Assistance with electric cooperative-specific project financing options, including RUS financing, leveraged lease transactions, and development / ownership alternatives • Proud member of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association To learn more about the range of services we offer to electric cooperatives, please contact Kevin DeGeorge, Finance Manager at (303) 439-4703 or kevin.degeorge@res-americas.com.
Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. 11101 W. 120th Ave. | Suite 400 Broomfield, CO 80021 | 303.439.4200 res-americas.com
POWERING CHANGE
POWERING SOLUTIONS
POWERING TOMORROW
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units, system management software, and installation components. Contact: CommScope, Inc., Hickory N.C., 800982-1708; fax 828-328-3401; commscope.com.
SECURE FLASH DRIVE The LOK-IT Secure Flash Drive from Systematic Development Group, a USB drive designed with advanced security technology, provides electric utilities with tamperproof, portable storage of critical disaster recovery plans and proprietary data. Users access the drive and information by entering a PIN through the onboard, 10-key pad. The product works with all USBcompatible devices, including tablets, smartphones, and specialized equipment. Contact: Systematic Development Group, Deerfield Beach, Fla., 954-889-3535, ext. 310; jtate@systdev.com; lok-it.net.
BUSINESS COLLABORATION
Power cable reliability specialist UtilX Corporation and global silicones leader Dow Corning Corporation announce a business collaboration that lets UtilX use the “Powered by Dow Corning” brand on packaging and technical information for all UtilX rejuvenation fluids. Dow Corning will continue to provide UtilX with exclusive use of its proven cable rejuvenation fluids and act as the sole manufacturer of all rejuvenation fluids developed by UtilX, including the latest generation of CableCURE. Contact: UtilX Corporation, Kent, Wash., 800-252-0556; marketing@ UTILX utilx.com; CORPORATION utilx.com.
WIRELESS HEADSETS
SYSTEMATIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP
Stealth series headsets from Sonetics Corporation operate up to an 800-ft. range on a reserved 1.9-GHz frequency band to ensure privacy and eliminate interference. Stealth systems are powered by a rechargeable belt pack that offers up to 26 hours of continuous use on a single two-hour charge. Headsets are available in seven models. Applications include transportation, warehousing, and emergency services as well as industrial operations. Contact: Sonetics Corporation, Portland, Ore., 800-833-4558, 503-6847080; fax 503-620-2943; soneticscorp.com. SONETICS CORPORATION
RAPID RESPONSE REPEATER TOWER A rapid-response, self-contained, deployable repeater communications tower from Tait Communications lets emergency managers provide partial replacement or back up to damaged, destroyed, or over-burdened radio communications during crisis situations and planned outage events. The repeater system supports both 800-MHz and VHF frequencies. Situated on a lightweight Aluma Tower trailer, set up takes under an hour. The repeaters, secured in a rugged case, are capable of operation in narrowband analog or digital P25 mode. Contact: Tait North America, Inc., Houston, Texas, 800-320-4037, 281-600-5910; tim.lamb@ taitradio.com, taitradio.com. ■ All items in “Utility Marketplace” are based on information provided by vendors. Mention of a company, product, or service by name does not imply endorsement by RE Magazine or NRECA.―Perry Stambaugh, Editor 54
Employment opportunities in the Utility Industry
staffing For complete employment opportunity advertising information, please visit REmagazine.coop, click on Advertise, click on Employment Advertising. Cooperative.com has a free service for members to post job announcements themselves. Details may be found in the HR Professionals section under Career Center.
■ UTILITY DESIGN ENGINEER Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Inc., seeks qualified candidates for a Utility Design Engineer position based in its Northeast District Office in Fort Worth, Texas (adjacent to Keller, Texas). Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Inc., is a fast growing cooperative with approximately 92,000 meters with annual revenues approaching $225 million. The cooperative provides services in 16 counties in North Central Texas. The position is responsible for the efficient and economic design and construction of underground and overhead electric distribution systems; coordination and project management of work orders; correspondence with developers, engineers, homebuilders, municipalities, consultants, and utility contractors; together with performing and managing all CAD activities, construction drawings, cost estimates, material management, and surveying. The successful candidate is preferred to have directly related experience with designing underground and overhead distribution systems. The ability to design large scale development projects is a must. A bachelor and/or Associate degree from an accredited college is highly preferred. A demonstrated proficiency in computer technology and Computer Aided Drafting technology are a requirement and core competency. Strong communication skills are necessary. A general knowledge of electric utility operations is highly desirable. Various combinations of relevant education and experience will be considered. The cooperative offers an excellent NRECA benefits package, including a competitive salary commensurate with qualifications. Selected applicant must pass a job related pre-employment physical examination and an alcohol/substance abuse screening, as well as a driver’s
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license record and background check. Interested persons should submit a letter of application and resume to: Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Inc., c/o Scott D. BaumBach, 4900 Keller Hicks Road, Fort Worth, TX 76244, e-mail: cottb@tcectexas.com
■ PRESIDENT Community Electric Cooperative (CEC), through its executive search consultant, seeks a highly-qualified individual with strong leadership skills to succeed the current president who is retiring in May 2013 after serving the cooperative with dedication and distinction for 36 years. CEC, headquartered in Windsor, Va., was incorporated in 1938 and provides electric distribution service to the rural parts of the City of Suffolk, Isle of Wight, and Southampton counties, along with portions of Sussex and Surry counties. The Town of Windsor, population 2,600, is an incorporated town in Isle of Wight County in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia. It is a friendly, small town and a nice place to live in close proximity to many amenities of a larger metro area. With two main roads bisecting the town, Route 460 and Route 258, there is easy access to all the Tidewater metro area of Virginia. The area enjoys a mild climate and recreational facilities abound. It is a
family-oriented community with excellent medical facilities and schools. CEC’s service territory serves 11,000 electric consumers, with 1,590 miles of overhead and underground distribution line. CEC has $24 million in combined annual revenues from both the electric cooperative and its wholly owned subsidiary, Tidewater Energy Services, LLC. The president serves as manager for the subsidiary and president of CEC, which has 34 full-time employees. The cooperative purchases its wholesale power from Old Dominion Power Cooperative and the Southeastern Power Administration. Reporting to a nine member-elected board of directors, the successful candidate should have a minimum of 10 years of senior management experience in the electric utility industry, preferably in the rural electric cooperative program. Candidates should hold a bachelor’s degree in a field related to the challenges of the position. A graduate degree and/or other professional credentials would be a plus. Candidates must have experience in the areas of strategic planning, finance, member relations, personnel, and electric operations with outstanding oral and written communication skills. It is essential that the president be a visionary and have strong leadership and interpersonal skills, a positive attitude,
maintain a team spirit driven by the seven cooperative principles, and have the ability to work well with consumer members, community organizations, employees, and the board. This position requires strong people skills and an outgoing personality. A requirement of this position is that the successful candidate be involved in local, regional, and national associations and organizations representing CEC and its members. The president sits on the boards of the G&T and the statewide association. It is preferred that the candidate have experience in the legislative and regulatory arena with the ability to build successful long term relationships. Labor relations and union negotiating experience is highly desirable. With a full benefit package, compensation will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. The new president should be able to begin work by May 1, 2013. Please submit a complete package, including cover letter, resume, salary history, along with six business and three personal references, by e-mail only, no later than January 31, 2013, to: Langley & Associates Executive Search, Inc., Attn: Carol M. Langley, President, phone 303694-2228, or fax 303-694-2216, e-mail: cmlangley@earthlink.net. All information kept strictly confidential/An EOE ■
NRECA Executive Search We provide the best return on your investment. There is a positive difference in our service, value and results—owned by you, our members, we work for your success. active searches
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for additional information: www.nreca.coop/programs/pages/ExecutiveSearch.aspx Ken Holmes, Director (785.201.2148) | ExecutiveSearch@nreca.coop | 703.907.5668
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How NRECA serves the electric cooperative network
AWARD-WINNING WELLNESS
NRECA staff based in Lincoln, Neb., get moving under a workplace wellness program recently recognized by the state governor’s office.
HEALTHY HEADQUARTERS he NRECA Lincoln, Neb., office, which serves as headquarters for Cooperative Benefit Administrators, Inc. (CBA), recently joined 26 other Cornhusker State businesses in receiving a 2012 Governor’s Wellness Award for successfully incorporating healthy living into its operations. CBA, a wholly owned NRECA subsidiary, processes and administers medical, dental, vision, prescription drug, insurance, and disability claims for electric cooperative employees, retirees, dependents, and directors/trustees participating in the NRECA Group Benefits Trust. “We pay claims and see the importance of good health and how expensive things can get
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when you don’t have it,” remarks Carmen Wiles, NRECA Lincoln senior human resources advisor. The NRECA Lincoln wellness effort has helped 160 employees achieve a 10 percent reduction in risk levels associated with weight, cancer, and blood pressure, among other indicators. Half of the staff has exercised more than 3,100 hours and lost more than 200 pounds combined, and nearly 70 percent have undertaken health risk screenings. “We’ve done a lot of awareness education on prevention, and we’re now moving into intervention,” Wiles notes. The Governor’s kudos came in the “Grower” category, earned by companies that demonstrate significant improvement in employees’ health status. NRECA
What’s New on REmagazine.coop Don’t miss additional content this month on the RE Magazine website.
November Bonus Content: NRECA International Programs Flip through selected images from this month’s cover story on the 50th anniversary of NRECA International Programs. Go to: REmagazine.cooperative.com
CRN TechCurve : RecX Transformers Read about and view a video on RecX, a developmental modular transformer that could dramatically improve grid security. Go to: REmagazine.cooperative.com/showcase/techcurve Now Posted: 2013 RE Magazine Editorial Calendar Preview what’s tentatively scheduled to appear in the pages of RE Magazine next year. Go to: REmagazine.cooperative.com/advertise/calendar
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Lincoln also took home the triennial honor in 2009. Contact: Carmen Wiles, 402-4839275, or carmen.wiles@nreca .coop.
SEEKING GRID CLARITY RECA has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to adopt a revised bulk power system definition that would clarify which facilities must meet federal reliability standards. The wording was drafted by industry stakeholders and approved earlier this year by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Atlanta, Ga.-based organization that oversees reliability of the electric grid covering the United States, most of Canada, and a small section of Mexico. NRECA told FERC the bulk power definition in place forces electric co-ops with transmission towers, lines, cables, and substations that don’t materially impact system reliability to comply with cumbersome requirements. It also mandates that NERC and its eight regional entities―the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council, Midwest Reliability Organization, Northeast Power Coordinating Council, ReliabilityFirst Corporation, SERC Reliability Corporation, Southwest Power Pool, Texas Reliability Entity, and Western Electricity Coordinating Council―expend resources monitoring utilities
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having a minimal impact on bulk power reliability. “The new definition will provide a more clear and appropriate basis for determining which electric utilities, including electric cooperatives, will be subject to mandatory compliance with NERC reliability standards,” comments Barry Lawson, NRECA associate director of power delivery & reliability, who served as vice chairman of NERC’s bulk electric system definition drafting team. “Among other goals, the proposed language attempts to eliminate subjectivity and variation in the way NERC regional entities define their systems.” Contact: Barry Lawson, 703-9075781, or barry.lawson@nreca .coop. ■
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NRECA Conferences/ Training
NRECA CEO Close-Up January 13–16, 2013 Marco Island, Fla.
Contact: Valerie Parks, 703907-5578, or valerie.parks@ nreca.coop. Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives New & Emerging Technologies Conference (NET 2013) January 29–31, 2013 Tucson, Ariz.
Contact: Kathryn Momot, 703907-5707, or kathryn.momot@ nreca.coop.
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E L E C T R I C
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