Power Talk April 2010 : Page 1

UNITED COOPERATIVE SERVICES A MONTHLY INSERT FOR MEMBERS OF UNITED COOPERATIVE SERVICES THETH B BIIG  United crews helpOklahoma co-op recover fromdevastat- ing ice storm prior to record snowfall event back home. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: CHILLCHLL! LL!! W BUILT for ENERGY EFFICIENCY Fromscenichilltopvistas,to contemporaryarchitectural design,thisMorganMillhomewasbuilttoenduretheages and defy energy consumption. Find out howa couple of energy innovators tackled the job of building a dream retirementhome.....PAGE6 hile British Columbia tried to host the 2010 Winter Olympics without snow, nearly every U.S. city east of the RockyMountains has had plenty of practice building new man-made mountain ranges out of record snow accumulations. It’s just the sort of twist in the weather that reminds us that society is often only one weather-related disaster away from the brink of anarchy. It’s also the sort of dire situation that brings out the spirit of the cooperation and volunteerism that exists between neighbor Please see RELIEF EFFORT, PAGE 3 SYSTEMWIDE,MULTI-YEARTRANSFORMER ANDMETER INSPECTIONSET, PAGE ..... 2 UNITED CANCELS TWO UNDERUTILIZED SERVICE NUMBERS IN ALVARADO AREA, PAGE ..... 2 RATEWATCHCOMPARESUNITEDRATESTO OTHER PROVIDERS, PAGE ..... 23 UNITED METERS CONTINUE TO PROVIDE ACCURACY, RELIABILITYFORMEMBERSHIP, PAGE ..... 4 RATEWATCHCOMPARESUNITED RATES TO OTHER PROVIDERS, PAGE ..... 5 MANAGER’S PERSPECTIVE: FLY THE PLANE, PAGE ..... 12 APRIL 2010 UNITED COOPERATIVE SERVICES 1 PowerTalk

The Big Chill!

..United crews help Oklahoma co-op recover from devastating ice storm prior to record snowfall event back home.

While British Columbia tried to host the 2010 Winter Olympics without snow, nearly every

U. S. city east of the Rocky Mountains has had plenty of practice building new man-made mountain ranges out of record snow accumulations. It’s just the sort of twist in the weather that reminds us that society is often only one weather-related disaster away from the brink of anarchy.

It’s also the sort of dire situation that brings out the spirit of the cooperation and volunteerism that exists between neighbor Ing electric cooperatives, and as United CEO Ray Beavers has expressed, “it has showed our members and our peers that we have our very own olympians.” United Cooperative Services operations employees were called upon to help an Oklahoma electric cooperative ravaged by the ice and wintry mix that swept through that state January 27-28.

The storm left nearly an inch of ice around power lines and other infrastructure. The added weight, along with windy conditions, snapped or toppled more than 1,200 utility poles in Southwest Rural Electric Association’s (SWREA) service territory, leaving many of the Tipton, Okla.-based co-op’s 7,500 meters without power for nearly a week.

Because the storm had little impact on United’s distribution facilities, the cooperative answered a call for help from SWREA.

Three weeks after United crews were dispatched to Oklahoma, most of North Texas was blanketed with a heavy wet snowfall that ranged from 5-12 inches and caused relatively brief systemwide outages for United members during a 48-hour period.

“It’s important within the cooperative network that we reach out and provide help to our fellow co-ops in their times of need,” said United CEO Ray Beavers. “When our linemen pull into town to help all of those people toiling with the hardships brought on by extended outages, it’s akin to the cavalry galloping in to save the day,” said Beavers.

United’s first crew was relieved by another United team on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Foreman Tim Timmons from Burleson said the restoration efforts were challenging, especially considering the ice accumulations on the infrastructure, but also rewarding.

“There were days when we felt like we’re making headway, and then we would discover that another few dozen poles had snapped and fallen,” said Timmons. “It was a little disheartening, but we kept plugging away at it because the people up there were depending on us and they were absolutely fantastic to work with,” he said.

Joining Timmons on the initial crew were Journeyman Lineman Jerry Don Robinson (Cleburne Office), Lineman Chase Nolan (Stephenville), Apprentice Linemen Cody Chapman (Possum Kingdom Lake) and Stephen Fergusan (Stephenville), and Equipment Operator Thomas Smith (Granbury). The second team included; Foreman Roger Wolfe (Possum Kingdom Lake), 1st Class Linemen Rob Parham (Stephenville) and Travis Ashworth (Burleson), Apprentice Linemen Brody Weems (Stephenville) and Kevin Bean (Meridian), and Groundman Brody McPherson (Granbury).

SWREA has a special place in Beavers’ heart. Prior to taking the CEO reins at United in 1999, Beavers served as SWREA’s general manager and CEO for 12 years and is very familiar with the cooperative’s service area.

“When my good friend at Southwest Rural, CEO Mike Hagy, contacted me for assistance, it was an easy decision. In fact, I didn’t even have to think about it,” said Beavers. “I have extremely fond memories of being affiliated with Southwest Rural. I know many of the co-op’s members and they mean the world to me, as do all of my friends working at the co-op. I know that the crews we’ve sent and the guys are some of the greatest people and operations personnel in the business and they believe in putting safety and members first, no matter if they’re serving United or the members of Southwest Rural,” said Beavers.

“When you see how you’ve made a difference to people who really need help, it makes efforts like this worthwhile.

That’s why we volunteer. The rest of it, honestly, isn’t a whole lot of fun.”

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