April 2019 Light Reading

Inland Power is my cooperative!

Photo by Inland Power member Carla Danielson

April 2019

LightReading inlandpower.com

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SAFETY Electricity DOs and DON’Ts

COMMUNITY Inland Power’s photo contest winner

10110 W Hallett Rd. Spokane, WA 99224

EFFICIENCY Need new windows?

There’s a rebate for that!

MAIN OFFICE

(509) 747-7151 TOLL FREE

(800) 747-7151 BILLING QUESTIONS

And the winner is...

(509) 789-4277 PAYMENT SERVICES

(855) 386-9903 ENERGY CONSERVATION AND REBATES

(509) 789-1801 EMAIL

inlandpower@inlandpower.com SOCIAL

@inlandpower

I

nland Power is excited to announce that Carla Danielson of Hooper, Wash., is the winner of the winter-themed photo contest. She won a $100 gift card for her winning photo titled “Cold Evening.”

Carla has always loved taking photos of her family but said she did not get into photography until the digital age. She bought her first ‘good’ camera in 2013.

“It’s hard to explain what I like about taking pictures,” Carla said. “I think a really good photo speaks to you. Whether it makes you sad or happy it evokes some kind of feeling or memory.”

Carla said her favorite type of photography to capture is her family’s

lifestyle on their horse ranch.

She shoots on a Canon T3 camera with a Tamron 25-400 lens.

“I get really excited during foaling season and love to catch the interaction between mares and their babies,” Carla said. “I have been fortunate enough to photograph the birth itself several times.”

Carla has been a member of Inland Power for nearly 41 years.

Inland Power would like to congratulate Carla and thank everyone who submitted photos for the contest.

Inland will hold an autumn-themed contest this fall.

Access your Inland Power account from anywhere

H

ave you accessed your Inland Power SmartHub account? If not, you are missing out on a very powerful tool.

SmartHub allows members to have access to complete account information such as:

• View billing and payment history • Change your password or personal information on your account • Detailed electric usage information • Report an issue • Pay your bill and manage payment methods • Set up automatic payments • Customize notifications and alert reminders

SmartHub’s most powerful feature is the detailed electric usage information.

SmartHub puts your energy usage into visual form with real-time information.

Your digital meter reads itself every hour and sends the read into SmartHub for you to view. Each day, 24 reads populate a graph and the total is tracked by our software. This powerful information allows you to experiment with thermostat settings, switches, plugs and breakers to identify where your power is going and find ways to conserve.

SmartHub graphs allow members to see how their usage varies by the outside temperature. When the temperature line dips, most homes correspondingly rise in usage. When it’s cold outside, your HVAC system will kick into high gear to

keep you comfortable. Some sneaky users of energy usage are inaccurate thermostats on old heaters, gutter tape, livestock heaters, engine heaters or individual room heaters. These are places energy usage reductions can be made.

SmartHub allows members to see how turning on/off these heat sources impact your energy usage and power bill.

To access your SmartHub account, simply go to inlandpower.com and click on “Register” in the top right-hand corner or download the SmartHub app on your smart device.

member-owned ENERGY COOPERATIVE COMMITTED TO safe, reliable service AT COMPETITIVE RATES. Downloading your Inland Power SmartHub App WE ARE A

1. Download the IPL SmartHub App by searching for SmartHub

2.

Search for Inland Power & Light and confirm

3.

Register for an IPL account.

You’ll need your account number, last name on the account and an email address

New windows?

A

s the seasons change, many people are looking to improve their homes.

A popular home improvement project is replacing windows. However, replacement windows can cost a lot of money.

All-new vinyl windows for an average 2,450-square-foot house run about $19,000, according to the “Remodeling Impact Report” from the National Association of REALTORS®.

4. Once the SmartHub app is installed, you will have access a variety of services offered by Inland Power from billing history, payment options, electric usage information to ways to contact your cooperative.

– M I S S I O N S TAT E M E N T

But that doesn’t mean the numbers can’t make sense. For starters, window replacement is one of the best home remodeling projects in terms of investment return: For average-quality vinyl windows, you can recoup 80 percent of the project cost in added home value.

The range for energy-efficient window pricing is wide, but Energy Star-qualified windows start around $120 for a 36-inchby-72-inch, single-hung window and can go up to 10 times that. With labor, you’re looking at about $270 to $800+ per window. Typically, windows at the low

end of the price spectrum are less energy efficient.

You will also likely see modest savings on your energy bill. In general, you will save up to 15 percent a year on your energy bill if older double-pane windows in a 2,600-square-foot house are replaced with energy-efficient windows with low-E coatings, according to the Efficient Windows Collaborative, a coalition of government agencies, research organizations, and manufacturers that promotes efficient window technology.

Keep in mind, though, that the savings can vary widely by our climate and the energy efficiency of both the windows purchased and the windows being replaced.

Inland Power offers a rebate through BPA. The rebate returns $3 per square foot of window. For more information on this rebate and other energy saving programs, contact our conservation team at conservation@inlandpower.com or (509) 789-1801.

Move on over State law requires all drivers to move over or slow down for emergency and roadside crews.

When the power goes out, so do Inland Power’s line crews. Line workers are the first to respond after an outage occurs, and they work tirelessly to restore power to the communities we serve.

If you’re traveling and see one of our crews on the side of the road, we kindly ask that you move over if possible to give them a little extra space to work.

We deeply care about the safety of all, and this extra precaution ensures just that.

If you approach a crew while traveling on a two-lane road, moving over to the next lane might not be an option. In this case, we simply ask that you slow down when approaching roadside crews.

If you approach a crew while traveling on a four-lane road, and safety and traffic conditions allow, we ask that you move over into the far lane.

Washington state law requires motorists to move over or slow down for emergency and roadside crews.

Utility crews aren’t the only ones who could use the extra space. Emergency responders, such as police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians, often find themselves responding to emergency situations near busy roadways. We ask that you follow the same procedures mentioned above to help keep these crews safe.

Your Co-op Connection | Get to know who works for you

D

ustin Bruffett has been with Inland Power since 2016. Prior to Inland Power he spent eight years working as an engineering consultant for electric cooperatives and municipal utilities at a small firm in Missouri.

There’s plenty of room for all. Let’s work together to keep everyone safe on our local roadways.

“The employees here are pleasant to work with and have integrity,” Dustin said.

“Because Inland Power is a nonprofit organization, I feel that we can maintain an honest and productive relationship with both our members and employees without profit incentives getting in the way of our work. I really enjoy being able to focus on the needs of our members while gaining a deep understanding of our cooperative.”

Dustin Bruffett System Engineer

Outside of work, Dustin and his wife have a small hobby farm outside of Spokane where they garden, raise chickens and a small herd of mixed livestock. They also enjoy traveling back to the Midwest to visit their families.

VISIT INLANDPOWER.COM FOR MORE ENERGY EFFICIENCY TIPS