February 2023 Light Reading

Join us for the 2023 Annual Meeting

Inland Power is in the midst of preparing for our 2023 annual meeting. We are thrilled to be able to hold this event in person again. The meeting agenda will include formal business, board of trustee elections for districts five and seven, and various Inland Power booths where you will be able to ask questions of our team members regarding billing and operation services, energy savings and rebate programs and our Grassroots Action Team. We will also offer refreshments and appetizers prior to the meeting, which will give everyone an opportunity to engage and celebrate our cooperative.

We are also excited to bring you more options to vote and participate in selecting your district board positions. Members will have three ways to vote this year. These options include: in-person at the annual meeting, mail in ballot, which must be received by Tuesday, March 14, 2023, and electronic voting via SmartHub. Voting packets will be distributed to all members this month and include bios for each candidate. Inland Power is committed

to providing ample information to help our members make well-informed voting decisions.

This year, Inland Power has multiple candidates running to represent and serve districts five and seven. The 2023 candidates for district five include: Thomas Rowse, Matt Slotemaker, Randy Suess, Incumbent and Andrew Tong.

District Five Candidates

ENERGY

Peak Use Tips

GIVING

Inland Power Community Foundation Scholarships

SAFETY Downed

Power Line Safety

March 16, 2023

5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

Northern Quest Airway Heights, Washington

District Seven Candidates

For district seven, candidates include: Jana Schultheis and Brian Slaybaugh, Incumbent.

Candidate video speeches are available for viewing on our website. To view and learn more about the annual meeting event, please visit inlandpowerannualmeeting.com

We hope to see you soon!

Power is my cooperative!

Matt Slotemaker

Thomas Rowse

Andrew Tong

Randy Suess Incumbent

Brian Slaybaugh Incumbent

Jana Schultheis

Winter energy use

If you look around your home, you likely have more devices and equipment that require electricity than ever before. Our connected lives are increasingly dependent on more electricity to function. At the same time, as demand for electricity rises, Inland Power must deliver an uninterrupted 24/7 power supply, regardless of market conditions or other circumstances.

Electricity use fluctuates throughout the day based on consumer demand. Inland Power must be able to provide enough electricity to meet the energy needs of all members during times of highest energy use or “peak hours.” These peak times are typically in the morning as people start their day and in the evening as people return to their homes.

Demand for electricity is even higher when extreme weather hits and it’s cold outside causing home heating systems to run longer and more frequently. Inland Power membership recently experienced an alert of high peak usage in December 2022

when a sub-zero cold snap hit our region. As a result, we saw various outages and notified members of high peak usage and requested voluntary energy savings practices in an effort to maintain stable electric service and keep rates low.

Freezing weather can put a strain on our grid and members can help reduce that strain by making simple adjustments in their usage, such as turning off any unnecessary lights, lowering their thermostat a few degrees and delaying activities that require hot water such as washing clothes, taking showers or washing dishes. These simple adjustments are effective to our power supply and can help reduce your monthly electric bill as well. An evaluation of items throughout your home that might be creating a spike in your electricity bills during the winter months can also be helpful. The following are just a few simple measures you can take to create greater energy efficiency:

Close gaps in the thermal seal around openings such as door and windows

Replace old incandescent or halogen

bulbs with LED bulbs

Adjust the temperature on your hot water tank to 120 degrees

Insulate water pipes

Wash laundry in cold water rather than hot or warm

Run only a full dishwasher on the automatic energy-savings cool-dry cycle.

For more DIY energy saving tips, visit our website at inlandpower.com/energysaving-tips.

When we all work together to reduce energy use during periods of high electricity demand, we can relieve pressure on the grid and save a little money along the way.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Tip of the Month

Do you have a home office? Set equipment like printers and scanners to automatically switch to sleep or energy-saver mode when not in use. In addition to saving energy, the equipment will stay cooler, which will help extend its life.

Another way to save in the office is to use energy efficient lamps for task lighting. Small lamps use less energy than whole-room lighting.

Source: energy.gov

Scholarship Reminder

The Inland Power Community Foundation is pleased to offer 15 - $1,000 scholarships. These scholarships are active for current Inland Power members and their children. This includes college students who are members or students who can still be claimed as legal dependents of Inland Power members. A legal dependent is one who can be claimed on their parent or guardian’s tax return.

All applications are due Thursday, April 13, 2023. The Foundation will conduct the review process in May and recipients will be selected and notified in June.

Past scholarship recipients may reapply. However, at least ten of the 15 scholarships will be reserved for new applicants. Applications will be sent to high school counseling offices with the Inland Power service territory, or can be found on our website at inlandpower.com.

To learn more about the foundation, visit inlandpower.com/communityfoundation If you wish to make a donation to the foundation, please email to community-foundation@inlandpower.com.

Inland Power is my cooperative!

Downed power line safety

Do you know what to do and how to react if you should happen to encounter a downed power line? Many think they do, however often times individuals can panic or forget when they cross paths with a downed line.

Here are some easy to remember rules to keep you and others safe:

1. First and foremost, always assume all downed power lines are energized and extremely dangerous.

2. If you see a downed power line, move at least 10 feet away from the line and anything touching it. The human body is a ready conductor of electricity. The proper way to move away from the line is to shuffle away with small steps, keeping your feet together and on the ground at all times. This will minimize the potential for a strong electric shock. Electricity wants to move from a high voltage zone to a low voltage zone—and it could do that through your body.

3. If you see someone who is in direct or indirect contact with the downed line, do not touch the person. You could become the next victim. Call 911 instead.

4. Do NOT attempt to move a downed power line or anything in contact with the line by using another object such as a broom or stick. Even nonconductive materials like wood or cloth, if slightly wet, can conduct electricity and electrocute you.

5. Do NOT drive over downed power lines. If you are in your car and it is in contact with the downed line, stay in your car. Tell others to stay away from your vehicle. If you must leave your car because it’s on fire, jump out of the vehicle with both feet together and avoid contact with the live car and the ground at the same time. This way you avoid being the path of electricity from the car to the earth. Shuffle away from the car.

6. Water is a good conductor of electricity. Any amount of water—even a puddle—could become energized. Be careful not to touch water, or anything in contact with the water, near a downed power line.

(509) 747-7151

(800) 747-7151

Our voices can make a difference and impact!

Anew year means new opportunities to advocate for your co-op and community!

At Inland Power we take pride in being able to offer reliable electricity at affordable rates. Periodically we find that we need to make special efforts to protect what our friends and neighbors worked so hard to build and maintain over 85 years ago. Working together is a critical component of why cooperatives are successful and you, as a member-owner of Inland Power, can help us to protect your interests in the legislative process.

We invite you to join our Grassroots Action Team so, if needed, you can help us contact legislators who make the decisions about critical issues impacting Inland Power and other electric cooperatives in our state, region and nation.

By signing up today you can:

• Help utilities keep rates affordable rates. Help protect our power supply in the Northwest.

• Help provide us with the ability to keep you up to date on imminent issues

affecting your utility like the threat to hydropower.

In an effort to maximize our impact, Inland Power has partnered with Voices for Cooperative (VCP). We encourage you to join VCP, a national network of co-op advocates, and help shape energy policy impacting our communities.

In addition to our VCP participation, Inland Power is recognized as a 5-Star Co-op for programs that encourage members to get involved through voter participation. We have also been acknowledged for our engagement with elected officials at the federal, state and local levels as we continue to advocate for issues on behalf of Inland Power and other electric regional cooperatives.