LIGHT READING INLAND POWER AND LIGHT M AY 2 0 1 8
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Members Gather for 81st Annual Meeting Inland Power’s 2018 Annual Meeting was a success and we thank all of our members who attended our 81st Annual Meeting on Saturday, March 31, 2018 at Northern Quest. The primary purpose of the annual meeting is the election of your board of trustees. Three trustees are elected every March on a rotating basis and each serve three year terms. This year, the members voted for trustees in Districts 1, 3 and 5. Congratulations to Danny Lee (District 1), Garry Rosman (District 3) and Gale Rettkowski (District 5) who were re-elected to serve another three years on Inland’s board. In addition to the election, the annual meeting is a great avenue to learn what is occuring at your cooperative. Inland’s CEO, Chad Jensen, provided an update on the latest happenings at Inland. During his address Chad began with a quick reflection on the foundation of the cooperative and the vision Inland’s three founding fathers had in 1937 to power communities and empower members to improve the quality of their lives. Our purpose and vision remains the same today, but the world we live in is very different. Airbnb is now the largest hotel chain, but owns no hotels. Amazon is the world’s largest retailer, but owns no store fronts. Uber is the largest taxi company, but owns no taxis. In this world of digital transformation, Inland Power remains focused on our purpose...empowering our members. Here are a few ways Inland Power is helping you:
Low Rates - At Inland, our single
largest cost of doing business is our wholesale power costs from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA). Over one half of our costs go towards power supply and we continue to incur rising power costs from BPA. Inland and the board review rates annually and determine if adjustments are needed
to cover our costs. As a nonprofit electric utility, our goal is to set rates as close to our actual costs as possible while maintaining sufficient cash reserves for equipment maintenance, infrastructure improvements and unforeseen events. In October 2017, BPA increased Inland’s power rates by 5.4% and our transmission costs by 1%. This is forcing us to move our service availability charge to $23.55 and our kilowatt charge to $6.8 cents per kWh as of April 1, 2018.
Value - Chad also highlighted that our entire region benefits from our abundance of clean, low cost hydro power. The national average price for residential service is now 13.01 cents per kWh, whereas the Washington state average is 9.73 cents per kWh. Inland remains well below both of these with an average rate of 8.56 cents per kWh if we include the service availability charge and calculate the total cost for an average monthly usage of 1,500 kWh. Electricity is still a great value. About the only thing you can still get for a penny is electricity. If you assume the average rate for a kilowatt-hour of electricity is 10 cents (even though Inland Power’s rate is still only $6.8 cents even after our rate increase). A penny worth of electricity equates to 100 watts. 100 watts is enough power to light a 9-watt LED lightbulb – the equivalent of a 60-watt incandescent bulb – for 11 hours - all for less than a penny. Where else can you get that kind of value? Gas has come down from its stratospheric level several years ago, but there is still no comparison to the value of electricity. If a gallon of gas costs $2.80 and your car gets 25 miles to the gallon, you can drive 157 yards – less than two standard blocks – on a penny’s worth of gas. At Inland Power, electricity continues to be a bargain as we strive to make improvements and be your valued cooperative. After over 80 years of service, Inland’s core mission has never changed – we are committed to providing you with safe, reliable electricity at affordable rates and with great member service.
2018 Winners Thank you to all of our members who participated in the 2018 Inland Power Trustee election. Electronic Vote Winners: • $750 Visa Gift Card - Rodger Small • $500 Inland Power Credit - Rich Hobson • Keurig Coffee Maker - Tyler Mattson • Kindle Fire - Katherine Bluthardt • Bose Soundlink - Michael White
Mail In Ballot Winners: • $500 Visa Gift Card - Scott Hopkins • $500 Inland Power Credit Margaret Robertson • $250 Inland Power Credit Thomas Hoon • Bose Soundlink - Teresa Tom • Kindle Fire - Jana Gatlin
We also congratulate those members that won prizes at the annual meeting.
i n la n d powe r is my coope rat ive
Pending BPA Spill Surcharge
WE ARE A MEMBER-OWNED ENERGY COOPERATIVE COMMITTED TO SAFE, RELIABLE SERVICE AT COMPETITIVE RATES.
BPA Court Ordered Spill Surcharge Went Into Effect April 2, 2018 On April 2, 2018 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the U.S. District Court’s ruling that will require the Army Corps of Engineers to increase spill to the maximum level that meets, but does not exceed, the existing gas caps at the eight mainstem dams on the Lower Columbia and Snake River dams. This means that 24/7 spill at these 8 dams began on April 3 and will continue through June. As mentioned in our April Light Reading, Judge Simon of the Oregon District Court ordered the Corps of Engineers and BPA to spill additional water over the Lower Columbia and Snake River dams. This order was a result of a yearlong hydro modeling effort ordered by the judge to impose maximum spring season spill. The ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals means the spill surcharge approved as part of BPA’s fiscal year 2018 rate case will likely move forward. BPA anticipates that additional costs associated with the court ordered spill could reach $40 million, which the agency will collect through a surcharge to its customers. BPA must provide an estimate of the spill surcharge no later than May 31. Once implemented, it will be passed along to Inland’s members starting in June 2018. At this point, Inland Power does not know the immediate impact increased spill will have to the cooperative and our members. We anticipate a small percentage surcharge based on kWh usage. This percentage will be communicated in your June monthly billing statement when the surcharge becomes official and we know the impact it will have on our rates.
- i n l a n d p o w e r m i s s i o n stat e m e n t
NEWMAN LAKE UPDATE B Y G ARY H A RWO O D
An Outage-Prone Area… After decades of difficult powerline maintenance and tough storm restoration efforts Inland Power was poised to act when the Washington State Emergency Management Division suggested that FEMA was considering shifting funding from disaster restoration models to disaster prevention models in certain qualifying situations. In other words, instead of rebuilding disaster struck areas like-for-like, it will now look at hardening the system to lessen or avoid future damage. Inland Power was quick to submit several applications and as a result the East & West Newman Lake overhead to underground conversion projects were some of the first in the nation to be approved.
There’s a lot of rock out there… Inland Power realized quickly that they did not have the in-house resources to take on projects of this size in the short FEMA timeline. The scope of the projects led to nationwide interest from many large contractors, but most dropped out of consideration when they saw the rocky terrain first hand. After an arduous bidding process, a set of specialized contractors were selected and set a new standard for this type of work in the area.
Square Peg in a Round Hole… The relocation (to the existing roadway) and the conversion (existing overhead power lines to underground) didn’t fit the standard environment permitting template for several local and state agencies. After many meetings with the governing agencies, the Spokane County Planning Department and the Spokane Public Works Water Resources Department took the lead in bringing all the entities together to finalize the required permits in time for construction season.
The End Result… With many of the distribution circuits remaining overhead, “neighborhood” outages are still expected, however with 70,000 feet of new high capacity cable in conduit forming a dependable “backbone ring” around the lake, a marked increase in area reliability is anticipated with the old “dark-lake” outages becoming a thing of the past. Inland Power would like to thank the Spokane County Water Resources Department, our contractors, engineers, employees and especially the Newman Lake community for coming together to make this project a success!
Check Out Our “Cool” Rebates
Heat pumps are one of the most energy efficient types of heating and cooling available today. A properly installed heat pump can deliver one-and-a-half to four times more heating or cooling energy to a home than it consumes. While the real energy savings with heat pumps occurs when heating your home in the winter time, they are also very efficient at cooling your home during the “dog days” of summer. Inland offers the following energy efficiency rebates that will help make your home more comfortable, while also lowering your electric bill: • Air Source Heat Pumps - $300 - $1,000 in rebates available. • Ductless Heat Pumps - $800 - $1,000 in rebates available. • Ground Source Heat Pumps - $2,500 in rebates available.
To Qualify: Heat pumps must be installed by an approved Performance Tested
Comfort System (PTCS) contractor and meet efficiency requirements. To find a certified contractor or for more information about these and our many other rebate programs visit our website at www.inlandpower.com, email us at conservation@inlandpower. com or call Lindsey or Todd in our Energy Services department at (509) 789-1801.
10110 W HALLETT ROAD
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SPOKANE, WA 99224
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