NEC Retail Membership Newsletter February 2016

MEMBER CONNECTIONS

Powered Powered by

by People People

855-NEC-RD4U | necretail.com 855-NEC-RD4U | necretail.com

My Top Priority Trace McCuan, CEO

On November 16, 2015, my first day on the job, NEC Board President, Brian Menking, introduced me to the Co-op employees. I addressed the staff by saying a little about myself, and very quickly got down to business on what my priorities would be. My priorities include: cost containment to keep our rates as low as possible, ensure reliable electric service, provide good customer service for our members, take care of our employees, and at the very top of that list - the #1 item - is safety. Safety for our employees, members and the public.

We all want the best for the people in our lives—our coworkers, family, friends, community and others. At NEC, that includes you, our members.

It’s why I choose to make safety a top priority, and why we, as a co-op, devote time and energy to making our employees and community residents aware of how to stay safe around electricity. Our modern way of life depends on this resource, but electricity can be dangerous or even deadly, so we encourage everyone to know how to use electricity safely.

Just a few weeks ago, a line worker lost his life on the job. He slipped into wires 18

Texas Co-op Power January 2016 NEC Retail

during storm restoration. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Southern California Edison as they grieve this loss.

Last year, our neighbor, Magic Valley Electric Cooperative, lost a worker as a result of heat exhaustion. Our on-thejob safety is a never ending education effort. New protective gear, improved fire resistant clothing, upgraded insulated gloves... but at the heart of safety is knowledge and doing, or not doing, the right thing.

Your knowledge of how to stay safe is just as important to me. You are a member of this Co-op family. Your knowledge, and the knowledge you pass onto your children is extremely valuable.

For instance, if you’re working with tall ladders—cleaning gutters, trimming trees or undertaking other projects outside—we remind you to look up and stay a safe distance away from overhead power lines, especially those connected to your home.

If a project involves digging, be sure to call 811 a few working days in advance to have your underground utility lines marked before you put shovel to the ground. This will keep you from damaging any electric, gas, water, cable,

sewer or other lines that are buried on your property. One phone call could prevent inconvenient outages and possible injury.

Help children understand the importance of staying away from electric utility equipment. Teach them never to climb trees or fly kites near power lines.

Teach them to never climb on the green transformer boxes.

Know how to prepare for and stay safe during and after storms and natural disasters that could leave behind electrical hazards, such as downed power lines and submerged electrical devices.

We don’t want anyone to take a chance that could end in tragedy. We encourage you to visit SafeElectricity.org, where you’ll find lifesaving information presented in videos, interactive games for children, online teaching resources and much more.

The United States has the safest, most reliable electric system in the world, and with it comes extensive responsibility.

Cooperatives value our members’ safety and well-being, and NEC will continue working to educate everyone on important safety considerations.

www.necretail.com

www.necretail.com

LAST CALL!

Ramiro De la Paz Memorial

SCHOLARSHIP Named after a beloved former Board Member, the Ramiro De La Paz Memorial Scholarship awards two $4,000 scholarships and either six or eight $1,000 scholarship to graduating high school seniors. The deadline for application is the second Friday in February of each year. No late applications will be accepted. Awards are announced in April. Students must pursue studies at a Texas institution of higher learning approved by the Office of the Texas Comptroller.

Application Deadline: Friday, February 12, 2016 Calling all High School Seniors! If your parents are members of the Co-op, you could win a scholarship!

1.855.NEC.RD4U

NEC Opts Out of Open Carry With Texas joining the 44 other U.S. state or territories who have adopted Open Carry laws, Nueces Electric Cooperative will join the growing number of businesses who will restrict fire arms within The Nueces Electric Board of Directors has determined the Co-op will prohibit Open Carry or Concealed Carry at all NEC facilities which are located in Calallen, Robstown, Ricardo, Ben Bolt, and Orange Grove.

Assault precaution is not new to the local electric cooperative. Starting with service center additions in 2010, all cooperative offices are equipped with assault safety measures including security cameras, bullet-proof glass, and secured entries.

and

With many of the facilities located in scarcely populated areas, the Co-op aimed to reduce the risk of robbery or assault of employees. However, due to recent national incidents, the Co-op aims to further ensure employee and public safety.

For Additional Applications & Details: www.necretail.com

“We operate in rural America where guns and hunting are a natural way of life. We understand many gun owners are respectful and responsible, however, it is our responsibility to ensure we provide a safe business environment at all times,” says Trace McCuan, NEC CEO.

Two $4,000 scholarships Eight$1,000 scholarships

“We are a company who places safety as the number one priority in all of our daily actions. The decision was deliberated and ultimately, the conclusion was based on safety and risk management.”

The Co-op supports the Second Amendment and understands members throughout the geographic area will bear arms. However, they are asked to secure them in their vehicle while conducting business at any of the Cooperative’s facilities.

www.necretail.com

NEC Retail January 2016 Texas Co-op Power

19

www.necretail.com

1.855.NEC.RD4U

Safety Essentials for Your Home Make sure your family is safe from electrical dangers. Safe Electricity provides a checklist of basic electric safety essentials to help you keep your home safe from electrical fire and shock hazards: Check outlets for loose-fitting plugs. Replace missing or broken wall plates so wiring and components are not exposed. If you have young children at home, install tamperresistant outlets or cover unused outlets with plastic safety caps.

Never force plugs into outlets. Do not remove the grounding pin to make a threeprong plug fit a two-prong outlet. Avoid overloading outlets with adapters and too many appliance plugs.

Make sure cords are not frayed or cracked, placed under carpets or rugs, or located in high-traffic areas. Do not nail or staple them to walls, floors or other objects.

Use extension cords only on a temporary basis—not as permanent household wiring.

Make sure they have safety closures to protect children from shock and mouth burns.

Check wattage to make sure that lightbulbs match the fixture requirements. Replace bulbs that have higher wattage ratings than recommended. Screw bulbs in securely so they do not overheat.

the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, basement, garage and outdoors. Test these outlets monthly to ensure that they are working properly.

Make sure fuses are properly sized for the circuit they are protecting.

If you do not know the correct rating, have an electrician identify and label the correct size to be used.

Always replace a fuse with the same size you are removing.

If an appliance repeatedly blows a fuse, trips a circuit breaker or gives

Just because there are enough outlets, doesn’t mean there’s enough amperage to safely power everything.

Be careful not to overload circuits.

electronics.

Texas Co-op Power NEC Retail January 2016

Children should never be left unsupervised when stovetop burners are on.

you an electrical shock, immediately unplug it and have it repaired or replaced. Look for cracks or damage in wiring and connectors.

Use surge protectors to protect

Check periodically for loose wall receptacles, wires or loose lighting fixtures. Listen for popping or sizzling sounds behind walls. Immediately shut off then professionally replace light switches that are hot to the touch and lights that spark or flicker.

As you continue to upgrade your home with more lighting, appliances and electronics, your home’s service capacity may become overburdened. If fuses blow or trip frequently, have a professional determine the appropriate service requirements for your home.

20

There’s no reason for anyone in your family to suffer from an electrical burn or any other kind of burn.

The first week of February is Burn Awareness Week, and that’s a good time to take an inventory of your home’s burn hazards. Spend some time that week to: - Replace smoke detector batteries, which need changing at least once a year.

-Put away any extension cords left over from Christmas. They’re not made for permanent use and can burn you or your children if they overheat because of overuse.

- If any electrical wires are hiding under rugs, move them. Stepping on them can cause damage and turn them into a burn hazard or fire risk.

- Teach your children to stay a safe distance away from the stove.

- Turn pot handles inward when you cook, and place them on rear burners if you have children.

- Lower your water heater thermostat to 120 degrees, a comfortable temperature that won’t scald.

- Replace traditional candles with realistic-looking, battery-operated ones.

- Forbid your children from lighting matches and playing with lighters.

MARTI NASPH OTOGRAPH Y | I STOCK.com

SAF E E LECTRICITY.ORG

Make sure outlets near water are equipped with ground-fault circuit interrupters. Critical areas include

You Can Prevent Burns

www.necretail.com

www.necretail.com

1.855.NEC.RD4U

You might not be using your pool or hot tub this time of year, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t affecting your electric bill.

How To Halt High Bill Culprits In our quest to provide the best possible service to members, NEC employees often need to wear many hats, so to speak. If a member’s bill spikes significantly and they call the co-op for guidance, our “investigator” hats go on to help find the culprit and solve the member’s high electricity-use woes. Here are some offenders frequently found in the process.

Space Heaters Expensive to run anytime, space heaters in “emergency use” during the coldest times create even greater expense.

Members sometimes run space heaters in greenhouses or well houses, or in garages to warm pets. Because these areas are uninsulated, heaters run constantly—and because they’re out of sight, they’re out of mind.

A much better choice for efficiency is to use a 200-watt heat lamp instead of a 1,500-watt space heater, knocking down costs of 16.5 cents per hour to about 2.2 cents an hour; that’s almost $4 a day versus about 53 cents a day.

Heat Pumps Members with heat pumps sometimes select the wrong settings. A heat pump typically has settings for cool, off, heat and emergency heat. When cold weather arrives, members can mistakenly slide www.necretail.com

the selector all the way across to emergency heat, instead of the regular heat setting. This turns off the blower and turns on heat strips, using three times the regular amount of electricity.

Also, having strip heat without a heat pump can be costly. An air conditioner uses 48–50 cents an hour, but a heater uses $1–$1.50 an hour. Because many people believe it costs more to cool in summer than to heat in winter, they are shocked by the price difference.

Co-op inspectors also uncover outside HVAC unit problems, such as when the fan quits working or the unit gets stuck in the defrost cycle. When either happens, the heat strips run nonstop.

Thermostats Co-op employees often discover a heat pump thermostat installed on a strip heat system. This causes the heating and air-conditioning units to run simultaneously, doubling or even tripling electric bills.

Other Miscellaneous Energy-Wasters Dog/cat doors: These are simply big

holes that let out expensive heated or cooled air.

Block heaters: Used for warming diesel truck engines, tractors and 18-wheeler engines, these units usually draw 1,000 watts and run constantly

until unplugged.

Pool pumps: The factory setting on most pool pump thermostats is usually around 38 degrees, so the pump comes on more frequently in winter to keep from freezing. Many people leave these on all winter, driving bills up.

Hot-water leaks: Water heaters have a pop-off valve to reduce pressure. If the water line near that valve is hot, the water heater is continuously (and needlessly) releasing water then refilling and heating more.

Uninsulated water heater: Members often put their water heaters in an uninsulated area, like an attic or outside building. If the water heater tries to heat water to 120 degrees while the air around it is at 30 degrees, it must work constantly.

Temperature Difference Is the Key To understand what creates high winter bills, remember that a major factor in home energy use is the difference between the outside temperature and the desired inside temperature. If it’s 98 degrees outside and you try to cool to 78, that’s a 20-degree difference. But if it’s 30 degrees outside and you want to heat to 68 degrees, that’s almost a 40-degree change. In the latter example, your unit works harder, using more energy.

NEC Retail January 2016 Texas Co-op Power

21

www.necretail.com

1.855.NEC.RD4U

Membership Benefit:

Halo Flight Guardian Plan In 1996, Nueces Electric Cooperative received a call her assistance, and we answered! The Halo Flight Air Ambulance service was in trouble, the lost their federal funding and need financial assistance to keep their life-saving helicopters in the air.

This was the moment Operation Round-up was born. With the true co-op spirit in mind, Co-op members gathered together to collect funds to assist. Members began voluntarily rounding up their electric bills to the nearest dollar. The Co-op in turn placed those funds into a charitable fund called Nueces Electric Charities and made the donations to Halo Flight. In the beginning, Halo Flight received $1,000 a month. Today, with more support of Nueces Electric Charities , the Co-op send $2,000 a month ($24k annually) and is able to make donations to approximately 29 additional organizations a year. In total the Co-op distributes about $125,000. This is all made possible by the generosity of the NEC members.

CEC/NEC Roofless Solar Array - It’s coming along!

With the majority of our membership residing throughout the Coastal Bend, NEC created a partnership with Halo Flight to provide NEC members Guardian Program coverage for only $1 per month. In the event you are in an accident and need Halo Flight services, your trip will be 100% covered.

As a Clean Energy Collective representative states, the pictures aren’t “earth shattering”... but they are still exciting to us!

Apply online and the $1 will be placed on your electric bill each month.

The Clean Energy Collective Community Solar Array is being built just outside of Orange Grove Texas.

This array will be the first large-scale solar garden in the Coastal Bend with 7,000 panels available for purchase by any NEC Retail member.

Through the NEC Retail Roofless Community Solar Program, any NEC Retail residential or commercial member—especially those that rent or lease their properties—can purchase 100-Watt roofless panels in the shared array to offset their electric usage charges. CEC’s RemoteMeter software will automatically track each member’s power generation and integrate into NEC billing system to provide monthly on bill credits.

At the moment, Clean Energy Collective has sold just under 10% of the array. To reserve your panels, call 844-232-7253

22

Texas Co-op Power NEC Retail January 2016

www.necretail.com

www.necretail.com

1.855.NEC.RD4U

Give friends and family the Best of Texas.

Keep In Touch!

It’s our goal to give you the information you need, when you need it. That’s why we utilize information resources which are easily accessible and help you understand what is happening at your electric Co-op.

www.necretail.com* Our website is created for the every-day user. Scroll

through pages to find information on leadership, member programs and more! Find current events posted in the news section, or search the news history for past articles or information. The Co-op’s website is the hub of the Co-op.

Facebook* facebook.com/necretail- Like us today! We not only post Co-op specific information, but we also post helpful tips and alerts.

This Magazine! The Monthly Texas Co-op Power Magazine (center 8 pages) Yes, read them! This is the #1 way to get Co-op informa-

tion. In addition to CEO updates, the magazine carries information about member events and deadlines, safety, energy efficiency, as well as a $25 bill credit contest each month. In addition to the publication arriving on your door step each month, we also post the center pages on our website and as a facebook news feed item.

E-Biz Online Account* The account management system not only allows you to pay your electric bill, but you can also sign up for payment programs or view your billing history. Set-up your online account today so you can always have your Co-op information with you.

Monthly Bill Inserts Each month the Co-op will insert information into your electric bill envelope. Sometimes this will be similar information to the magazine, but many times it has additional information plus recipes. *Mobile Friendly Sites

The Best of Typically Texas Cookbook features more than 700 bestloved recipes from two of our most popular cookbooks. $29.95 each.

Now available at any NEC location. Call or stop by to purchase your copy today!

1-800-632-9288

Play & Win! If Your Account Number is:

657 70-001

YOU WIN $25 off your electric bill!

Call, NEC Retail before the 20th!

www.necretail.com

NEC Retail January 2016 Texas Co-op Power

23

www.necretail.com

Christmas Decoration Contest Winners 1st Place ($100 electric bill credit): Gary Bickham of Corpus Christi, TX

1.855.NEC.RD4U

Arbor Day Celebration

N u e c e s E l e c t r i c Tr e e G i v e - a - Wa y 2nd Place ($50 electric bill credit): Lewis & Laurie Cannon of Kingsville, TX

3rd Place ($25 electric bill credit): Michael & Jennifer Wright of Victoria, TX

In total we had 17 entries this year for the third Annual Christmas Decoration Contest. And let me tell you, we had a lot of great entries!

Between the Community Involvement Committee and NEC employees, we had about 90 judges. Unless the judge simply knew the home, the judging was a blind judging with no member names or locations.

Thank you for sharing your holiday cheer with us and be on the lookout for the call for entries next year.

24

Texas Co-op Power NEC Retail January 2016

Back by popular demand, NEC will host an Arbor Day Free Tree Giveaway. The type and size of the tree is still in consideration. As always it will be a tree which grows well in the South Texas climate and soil. So be sure to check back for details.

Friday, April 29th 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Pick up your FREE tree from the Calallen, Robstown, Ricardo or Ben Bolt NEC Office. www.necretail.com

refer A friend

EARN $60 It pays to be a member of an electric cooperative. Get a $60 credit on your next electric bill for every person you get to sign up for NEC Retail. There’s no limit to how many referrals you can get!

Find completed rules at necretail.com

start spreading the joy

60

$

Just fill out these cards, cut them out and hand them to your closest friend, family member or co-worker. You’ll receive a $60 bill credit for each new member you get to sign up.

Powered by People

SO MANY REASONS TO SWITCH:

For Business or Home

• Get your electricity AT COST for home or for business • No hidden fees or rate surcharges • NEC Retail is a not-for-profit retail electric provider • NEC Retail is member-owned, much like a credit union necretail.com • NEC Retail gives back to its members • NEC Retail consistently has the fewest customer complaints

Switch 855-nec-rd4u today!

referring member name:

account number

Powered by People

SO MANY REASONS TO SWITCH:

For Business or Home

• Get your electricity AT COST for home or for business • No hidden fees or rate surcharges • NEC Retail is a not-for-profit retail electric provider • NEC Retail is member-owned, much like a credit union • NEC Retail gives back to its members • NEC Retail consistently has the fewest customer complaints

Powered by People necretail.com

Switch today! necretail.com 855-nec-rd4u referring member name:

account number