2022 July LREC Powerline Press

Powerline Press NEWSLETTER

A Supplement of Oklahoma Living Published by Lake Region Electric Cooperative for its members.

December 2019 July 2022

BIG INTERNET FOR SMALL BUDGETS ACP & Lifeline Internet Bill Assistance

Two government assistance programs, Lifeline and the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), are available to help cover the cost of Lake Region Fiber services. Eligible low-income households can apply to receive federal benefits up to $75.00 per month off internet service.

ACP was established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2022 to support internet connectivity in low-income households.

The ACP discount is available for eligible residential internet customers only, and program participants will receive a monthly credit up to $75 on their internet bill.

Lifeline is funded through the Universal Service Fund, and it also provides discounted internet service to consumers that meet income-based requirements. Like ACP, the Lifeline discount is available for eligible residential internet customers only, and program participants will receive a monthly credit of $34.25 on their Lake Region Fiber bill.

By participating in either of these programs, Lake Region can help ensure all community members

have access to high-speed internet, regardless of their personal financial situation,” said Glen Clark, Director of Member Services & Marketing.

Qualifying for Lifeline benefits automatically qualifies individuals for ACP benefits. Each program’s income qualifications differ, so be sure to review both eligibility guidelines. Qualification is issued per household, not per person, and the benefits can be applied to cell phone providers or internet service, but not both. Lifeline benefits are non-transferable.

Members can find out if they qualify online at https://nv.fcc.gov/lifeline. To learn more about these federal benefits, visit ACPBenefit.org and LifelineSupport.org. Or for further assistance, you can visit our website lakeregionfiber.com/ lifeline-assistance or call our billing department at (918) 772-2526.

A Subsidiary of: Lake Region Electric Cooperative, Inc.

FAST INTERNET

(for real)

Co-op Employee Volunteers At Special Olympics Summer Camp Volunteers from 21 Oklahoma electric co-ops came together in Stillwater in May to assist with the Special Olympics Summer Games.

Glen Clark, Director of Marketing, represented LREC among the 115 co-op volunteers in Stillwater.

More than 2,700 athletes from across the state participated in the Summer Games — the first Summer Games held in person since 2019. During the three-day event, athletes competed in track and field, bocce, bowling, golf, horseshoes, powerlifting, basketball, and softball. 1826502 “Helping at this years Special Olympics was a rewarding experience. Seeing the joy on these athletes’ faces and having the opportunity to celebrate with them,” said Glen Clark.

In addition to LREC’s volunteering, the LREC Foundation, Inc., via the Operation Round Up program, donates funds to area Special Olympics teams each year. That funding is made possible by members who round up their monthly electric or fiber bills to the nearest dollar.

Glen Clark, LREC Director of Marketing, working with kids on long jump in Stillwater.

Operation Round-Up Reminder LREC’s next Operation Round-Up Meeting will be held on July 27th and again October 26th. If your organization/individual could benefit from a Lake Region grant, please apply. An application can be found at: www. lrecok.coop/operation-round-up

Use ceiling fans to create a wind chill and push warm air up.

Save up to $95 on cooling costs per year.

Don’t crank up the AC! The breeze from a ceiling fan will cool you down and keep you comfortable even when you set your thermostat higher. In the summer, set your fans to turn counterclockwise to push warm air up. Be sure to turn off the fans when you leave the room because they cool people, not the room.

MORE WAYS TO SAVE > www.touchstoneenergy.com

LREC Sends Three Local Students to Energy Camp

Co-op

TALK

BABYPROOFING SAFETY

OMG, Katie is getting so big! She’ll be crawling in no time.

Prepare yourself for the craziness! They get into everything, Mike and I had to spend an entire afternoon babyproofing outlets.

I’m getting started on it! I am putting those plastic outlet covers everywhere.

It’s a good start. She’ll learn to pull them out before you know it. I think the best option is those self-closing outlet covers. There is lots of elbow grease on the install, but there aren’t pieces to break off.

Left to right, Willie Wiredhand, Trenton Youngblood, Lowery School, Makayla Spencer, Porter School and Abby Gourd, Porter School.

Lake Region Electric Cooperative sent three exceptional students to Energy Camp from May 31 to June 3, with 55 other students, from across the state.

“This was the first energy camp hosted in 2 years.

I think we’re all so excited to be back together and involved with our youth. Educating our local youth is one of our co-op principles,” added Juanita Keener, Youth Program Coordinator.

The students were selected from our local cooperative service area to attend Energy Camp sponsored by the Oklahoma Electric Cooperatives. The camp included electric safety training, climbing a utility pole, getting a bird’s eye view of the camp from the top of a bucket truck, motivational speakers, an electric vehicle demo, and plenty of swimming and sand volleyball.

LREC was represented by Trenton Youngblood, Makayla Spencer, and Abby Gourd . All three students were remarkable representatives of the cooperative and the community.

Good idea! I’ve got to take care of all the cords, too!

It took forever, lol. We also used cord shorteners for some of the plugs from Amazon.

I found some cord protectors on Amazon, you can’t bend or break them.

Or just block them with a couch!

Lots to add to the shopping cart!

Thanks for the tips!

For more safety info visit www.safeelectricity.org

24/7 Bill Pay With Your SmartHub Account Paying your electric or fiber bill any day, any time is simple from your Smarthub account. Follow the steps below for easy online bill pay. Visit www.lrecok.coop and click pay electric or telecom at the top of the website.

1

Select “Pay Now” for a quick link to pay, and no registration is required.

2

Select “Account Login” to create an account and take an in-depth look at each month. You can view billing, payment, and electric history, set up auto-pay programs, view breakdown charts for daily energy usage and temperatures, and report service outages.

Select the account for the bill you want to pay. Type in the amount you wish to pay and click ‘Pay Now,’ enter payment info, and you are all set! Easy as 1, 2, 3.

3 123456

If you want more access to your billing history, view and print past billing statements—update your contact information and manage billing notifications via text message or email, report outage, or general inquiry. Please proceed with registering a SmartHub account if you need help setting up your SmartHub account. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our billing team at 918-772-2526; we will be happy to help set this up with you. SmartHub is an excellent app for our electric members and fiber customers.

Your Board of Trustees

Scott Manes.......................................President Lynn Lamons..............................Vice-President Randall Shankle ..... ............Secretary -Treasurer Jack Teague..............Asst. Secretary-Treasurer James Walls ........................................ Trustee Gary Cooper ..........................................Trustee Dianna Mayfield.....................................Trustee

Staff

John Lee....................................................CEO Ben McCollum .....................Director of Finance Logan Pleasant..............Director of Operations Glen Clark ........................Director of Marketing Larry Mattes............................Communications Tina Glory-Jordan ............................Attorney

Office Hours Monday-Friday

8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Telephone 800-364-LREC or 918-772-2526 Website: www.lrecok.coop www.lakeregionfiber.com Locations Hulbert, Wagoner & Tahlequah, OK. Main Office Address P.O. Box 127 Hulbert, OK 74441

Hidden Account Number Look for your account number hidden in this issue of the Powerline Press. If you find your number, Lake Region Electric will credit your next bill. To claim your credit, notify LREC’s Hulbert office by phone during the month of publication.

The amount increases by $10 with each issue your prize goes unclaimed to a maximum of $50.

Cooperative bylaws are available upon request at Lake Region Electric Cooperative’s office in Hulbert.

A Subsidiary of: Lake Region Electric Cooperative, Inc.