C & L Electric Cooperative edition
Safety above all else For C & L Electric Cooperative, safety is our No. 1 priority. Over time, we have created a culture of safety by putting our employees’ safety and that of the community above all else. At its essence, our mission is to provide safe, affordable and reliable electricity to our members. At the end of the day, we strive to deliver affordable and reliable electricity to our members, but equally important, we want to return our workers home safely to their loved ones. To do this requires ongoing focus, dedication and vigilance.
Following leading national safety standards Working with electricity is an inherently dangerous job, especially for lineworkers. We have established and follow safety protocols based on leading national safety practices for the utility industry. We require our lineworkers to wear specialized equipment when working next to or with power lines. There are specific protocols that our lineworkers follow when dealing with electricity. Our safety team has regular meetings where they discuss upcoming projects from a safety perspective. They monitor and track near-misses of accidents in order to understand them, share “lessons learned” and improve in the future. Equally important, we encourage all of our crews to speak up and hold each other accountable for safety. By cultivating a culture of openness and transparency, we promote problem-
solving with regard to safety, rather than defaulting to a blame game. We examine the information and data gleaned from near-misses and accident reports to discern patterns and use safety metrics to improve in those areas where we have fallen short. As appropriate, we brief contractors on our safety protocols and set expectations for their engagement.
Keeping the community safe Because we live and work in the community we serve, we care about our neighbors. We conduct electrical safety demonstrations in schools and for community events. We also sponsor the program, “Making Accidents Disappear,” an education electric safety “magic” show for elementary students. May is National Electrical Safety Month. According to the Electrical Safety Foundation, each year thousands of people in the United States are critically injured and electrocuted as a result of electrical fires, accidents and electrocution in their own homes. Many of these accidents are preventable. There is much you can do to keep yourself and your community safe around electricity. Don’t attempt electrical do-ityourself projects or overload your outlets. Report downed power lines, unlocked substations or transformers that look amiss. Be mindful when it comes to electrical safety. Pause and take the extra time to plug into safety.
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Holiday Closing The offices of C & L Electric Cooperative will be closed Monday, May 28, in observance of Memorial Day. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day.
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MAY 2018
C & L ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
C & L refunds over $800,000 of Capital Credits to members C & L Electric Cooperative’s General Manager/CEO is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has authorized the refund of fifty percent of the remaining 1996 capital credits. The checks will be mailed after May 15, 2018. Your capital credit is the amount you pay for electricity more than the cost to the cooperative in providing your service. The capital accumulates and when the financial condition of the cooperative so permits, refunds are made. Your directors make this determination. Each year the cooperative mails a statement notifying you of the amount of capital furnished by you the previous year. Refunds are made in order of priority according to
the year in which the capital was paid — the capital first received being the first refunded. C & L has refunded all capital credited through 1995. When members receive $808,844 in refunds in May, over 15 million dollars will have been refunded to members, since the cooperative’s beginning. The Board of Directors and Management of C & L Electric Cooperative are proud of the fact that the Cooperative is able to return Capital Credit payments. They make every effort to continue furnishing dependable service at the lowest possible cost. This is another advantage of being a consumer member of C & L Electric Cooperative Corporation.
Phil Wilson
Robert Wilson Floyd
Lawrence Hudson Jr.
William Humphrey
John Ed Ashcraft
Ray E. Morrison
Charles S. Searcy
Linda Gardner
Greg Smith
my co-op
Keith Griffin
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Use caution near co-op equipment As you find yourself spending more time outdoors this summer, please be sure to exercise caution near electrical equipment maintained by the co-op. Substations and power lines carry extremely high voltages, and if contact is accidentally made, the results can be dangerous –– or even deadly. Never climb trees near power lines. If you make contact with a tree that is touching a power line, your body could become the path of electricity from the line to the ground. If you encounter an animal trapped in a tree near power lines or inside a substation, do not attempt to remove it — no matter how furry and cute! Call your local electric co-op for assistance. These days, we are seeing more remote-controlled toys, like drones and airplanes, which can be a great way to have fun outdoors. But these gadgets also bring new safety concerns. Remote-controlled toys should never be flown near power lines, substations or other electrical equipment.
Remember these safety tips when flying a remotecontrolled toy: • Keep a safe distance from electrical equipment when you fly. If contact is accidentally made with a power line or a transformer inside a substation, many members of your community could be left without electricity. • Keep the remotecontrolled toy in sight at all times. • Avoid flying if weather conditions are unfavorable. High winds could cause you to lose control of the remote-controlled toy.
C & L ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
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