LIGHT READING INLAND POWER AND LIGHT inlandpower.com
JUNE 2017
Working for You: Your Trustees Visit Washington D.C. to Voice Inland Power’s Message Last month, nine representatives from the Washington Rural Electric Cooperative Association (WRECA), which included two of Inland’s board of trustees, visited 11 Congressional offices to discuss key energy issues impacting the Pacific Northwest. Inland Power intends to have an active voice on any issue that may impact electric rates for our membership. They discussed several issues, but Inland was primarily concerned about the following four hot topics in the other Washington.
Increasing Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Rate Pressures - BPA continues to battle increasing rate pressures from ever increasing aging infrastructure costs for both the federal power and transmission systems as well as increasing fish and wildlife costs. Internally, BPA has launched an internal cost management initiative as their average power rates continue to increase at twice the rate of inflation. Your Inland trustees met with legislators to discuss what help they could give to help reduce the external factors putting pressure on BPA rates.
Opposition to Snake River Dam Removal - The group met with legislators
Meeting with Washington U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell were (left to right) WRECA President David Gottula, general manager of Okanogan County EC; Danny Lee, trustee of Inland Power and Dick Ziehnert, trustee of Inland Power. is an international agreement between Canada and the United States for the cooperative development and operation of the water resources of the Columbia River Basin for the benefit of both countries. On December 13, 2013 the United States delivered its regional recommendation for the future of the Columbia River Treaty for when the treaty expires in 2024. The Department of State will use this document to begin a federal policy review process to determine whether to proceed with a Treaty modernization effort with Canada. Our representatives emphasized the importance of this recommendation as the current treaty is grossly imbalanced. It currently obligates the U.S. to send an estimated $250 to $350 million in clean hydropower benefits annually to Canada. This cost is paid by ratepayers, such as Inland members, receiving power from BPA and could increase our future power rates.
“The four Snake River dams provide low cost, clean, renewable energy to the Pacific Northwest.”
to emphasize the benefits of the Snake River dams. The four lower Snake River dams, located in eastern Washington, provide low cost, clean, renewable energy, navigation (i.e. grain barges), agriculture, recreation and job benefits to the Pacific Northwest. Yet, these dams are a focal point to some who continue to lobby and litigate for removing them. Our trustees advocated for the multiple benefits of these dams to the Pacific Northwest as the removal of the Snake River dams would result in a sharp increase in BPA’s wholesale rate to Pacific Northwest customers. Together the Snake River dams produce 1,020 megawatts of reliable low cost energy - enough clean, carbon-free energy to power a city the size of Seattle.
Columbia River Treaty - The group emphasized the
importance of the Columbia River Treaty and asked to expedite the review process. The Columbia River Treaty, signed in 1964,
Federal Land Management Policies -
The group promoted passage of the Electricity Reliability and Protection Act, which includes reform to streamline right-of-way reviews and time limits for federal decision-makers to provide consistency, flexibility and accountability. This would ensure that utilities cannot be held liable for damages if the government fails to allow them to manage vegetation on a right-of-way or adjacent area. The ability to impact change is a huge part of being a member of Inland Power. We work with all elected officials to make sure that your interests are being considered and to ensure that you will always be provided with safe, reliable and affordable electric service. That is the cooperative difference.
i nland powe r is my coope rat ive
WE ARE A MEMBER-OWNED ENERGY COOPERATIVE COMMITTED TO SAFE, RELIABLE SERVICE AT COMPETITIVE RATES.
2017 SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS
- i n l a n d p o w e r m i s s i o n stat e m e n t
2017 Scholarship Winners Announced
DIGITAL METER UPDATE Digital Meter Project Nearing End
Inland Power is pleased to announce the winners of the 2017 Excellence Award scholarships. The 15 scholars chosen will receive $1,000 toward their college education courtesy of Inland Power.
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Maria Alvarez - Lakeside High School Hope de Avila - Colfax High School Kimberly Brooking - Gonzaga Preparatory School Nicole Coppersmith - Davenport High School Maridi Folsom - Freeman High School Tony Hazel - Olivet Nazarene University Taylor Heck - Central Valley High School Anna Klennert - Spokane Community College Grace Lilje - Davenport High School Samantha Padayao - Lakeside High School Abby Pedersen - Lewis Clark State College Taylor Strozyk - Wilbur High School Chase Van Pevenage Davenport High School Peyton Van Pevenage - SCC, CWU, EWU and Davenport High School Alizabeth Williams Reardan High School
This diagram shows the flow of data through the Wide Area Network (WAN) starting on the right with meters connected to the collector (900MHz), collector connected to the network control tower (220MHz) and finally the network control tower connected to Inland Power.
Over three years ago, Inland Power moved forward with an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system with the goal of keeping the cooperative innovative and competitive, while still focusing on the commitment to our membership to provide safe, reliable service at competitive rates. The nearly two year long deployment is approaching completion and will be transitioning into maintenance mode in the coming months. As of this writing, 98.6% of Inland’s meters are reporting reads and we are working diligently to gain those remaining few, by adjusting the system for better coverage and installing additional equipment in low density and challenging terrain areas. Even though this has been a long and challenging project, it is proving to be well worth the effort. The impact this system has had throughout the cooperative from the perspectives of the membership and the employees has been greater than we initially projected and has enabled us to provide much better service to our members. Our reaction time is much quicker for outages as reporting occurs in almost real-time, which helps us predict where the outage cause is located. We also have better insight into how the distribution system is performing 24/7, which allows us to pinpoint reliability and power quality issues before an outage occurs. Overall this saves time and money by eliminating unneeded truck rolls, in addition to minimizing outage impacts to our members. Members now have insight into their usage history down to the hour by using our SmartHub website or mobile app. If you would like more information about this service or to sign up, please visit inlandpower.smarthub.coop . As we approach the end of this exciting project implementation, we would like to thank you for your understanding, patience and support throughout this project. Great things are happening at Inland Power. VISIT INLANDPOWER.COM FOR MORE ENERGY INFORMATION
Inland Offers Green Power Plus to its Members Providing An Additional Renewable Energy Option for Our Members At Inland Power, we believe we provide all our members with “Green Power” through our purchase of renewable electricity from the Bonneville Power Administration’s largescale hydroelectric projects. However, those members who want more wind generation can join our Green Power Plus program. The “Plus” is a special renewable product purchased from BPA and others with the source being 100% wind powered generation.
10110 W HALLETT ROAD
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SPOKANE, WA 99224
Through our Green Power Plus program, members can purchase 100 kilowatt-hour (kWh) blocks of wind-powered generation for only $1.05 per block. Signing up is easy, and you may purchase as many or as few blocks as you wish. Your Green Power Plus purchase will show up on your monthly bill as an itemized charge added to your regular monthly energy charge and you may cancel your subscription at any time. You can sign up for Green Power Plus by simply calling Inland at (509) 789-4277.
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