MAY 2016
VOL. 17 NO. 1
Energy Rx Wall Drug Looks for Prescription for Savings P8-9
Manager’s
Column
Electric Utilities Are Not All the Same! Over the years, rural electric cooperatives have been telling their members and the public that when it comes to electric utilities not everything is on a level playing field, or in other words there is a major difference in your rural electric cooperative compared to an investor owned utility (IOU) or that of a municipal electric utility. Merlin Goehring For many members who have General Manager Bon Homme Yankton Electric grown up with the cooperative or remember when electricity to their home or farm was still a new thing, they understand the difference between not having access to electricity at all compared to their current service opportunities. While most electric cooperative members understand that we serve a very sparse population, only about 2.7 consumers per every mile of power line that we own, people forget what it takes to get those electrons from the generator down the power lines, to the substations and then delivered onto the distribution system to their homes or farms. The amount of money that it takes to provide funding for the infrastructure becomes mind boggling when you consider what materials cost today compared to when the system was first built over 65 years ago. With requests for new services increasing in some places and decreasing in others; we are seeing over a million dollars a year invested into our distribution system for all of our upgrades. While this amount is just at our local level we also have to pay our share of the costs for the transmission upgrades and increased generation expense that comes along with being a cooperative owned system. Now don’t get me wrong, the IOU’s and Municipal systems have to pay the same for their materials, the big difference is that they may have 30 or more consumers per mile of line to help pay for these expenses and that is where the major difference is between an electric cooperative and an IOU or municipal electric utility. Just recently I saw a comment in response to some recent regulation items in the news on the Clean Power Plan or CPP. The current CPP rule is being held up or “stayed” at this time until the courts can review this rule from the EPA. There are many states, including South Dakota and other mid-western states that do not agree with this EPA rule but there are many states that support this rule too. In the comment section of that article one of the people responding stated that the rural electric utilities should not receive any more grants to build their systems if they don’t support the EPA rules. First of all,
2 May 2016 • Cooperative ConneCtions
electric cooperatives have never received these so called “grants” that this person had referred to. In fact all of the money to build the local electric distribution system has come from only two funding sources and that is money from the memberowners and loans (not grants) from the Department of Agriculture under the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) or the old REA program. Currently our funding comes through approved loans with the Federal Financing Bank and these are processed through RUS. These loans have an interest rate slightly higher than the cost of funds to the government therefore our loans are not any part of a subsidy or grant program as suggested by this unknowing person on social media. While we continue to improve the system and add new services, we need to maintain enough cash to fund our normal operating expenses and to provide the electrical needs of our members. The electricity is used to provide the comforts of heating, cooling, labor cost savings, grain movement, water pumping and just about any other convenience that is provided through electrically powered devices or equipment. When you use electricity to provide the comfort to your home or power for use on your farm, please remember that your power delivery system costs money but it is YOUR POWER DELIVERY SYSTEM. Your electric cooperative was established to meet a need that no other electric company would provide so local people banded together and started their own electric distribution system. Today the current members maintain the responsibility to oversee the continued success of their local electric cooperative. With cost increases coming in the near future we will continue to review our rate schedules and look at the financial requirements from our lenders. We are implementing an increase in our base facility fee effective May 1st which will be included on your June 1st power bill. This increase is the first change in our base rates since 2012 and we will be conducting a rate study this year to review the appropriate rates for our capacity, power demand and our energy components. The days of charging based only on the energy or kWh’s alone is no longer an appropriate way of billing. Rate adjustments based on our current and future power supply costs will need to be made due to their increases for system improvements and additional cooperative loads being served. Our rate increases will be limited to the amounts needed and we will continue to use our Margin Stabilization Plan as we have in the past to help level out our required revenues. We will keep you informed through this newsletter and other communications so keep watching for articles. As always if you have any questions on your billing or other issues at the cooperative please feel free to give us a call.
Co-op
news
Exciting New SmartHub Feature-Scheduled Payments (USPS No. 018-973)
Bon Homme Yankton Electric Assn, Inc. PO Box 158 134 S Lidice Tabor, SD 57063 Office Hours: Monday through Friday 7:30am to 4:30pm
To Report an Outage Call: Local From Tabor, Tyndall and Yankton 605-463-2507 or Toll Free in South Dakota 1-800-925-2929 NOTICE: Electric bills must be paid by 10:00am on the 20th of each month to avoid a $10 late fee. Bon Homme Yankton Electric Cooperative Connections is published monthly by Bon Homme Yankton Electric Association, Inc., PO Box 158, 134 S. Lidice St., Tabor, SD 57063-0158 for its members. Families subscribe to Bon Homme Yankton Electric Cooperative Connections as part of their electric cooperative membership. Bon Homme Yankton Electric Cooperative Connection’s purpose is to provide reliable, helpful information to electric cooperative members on matters pertaining to rural electrification and better rural living. Subscription information: Electric cooperative members devote $6.00 from their electric payments annually for a subscription. Nonmember subscriptions are available for $12 annually. Periodicals Postage Paid at Tabor, SD 57063 and at additional mailing offices.
If you are signed up for the SmartHub online services website or mobile app, you now have the ability to schedule future payments. You can only schedule one payment at a time for now. To schedule your payment to be paid by the due date, we recommend scheduling it no later than the 19th of the month. If you schedule it for the 20th, the payment may not be posted until the end of the day after we have calculated the late payment penalties and generated the late notices. To sign up for SmartHub go to https://byelectric.smarthub.coop/ and click on the sign up link. The SmartHub mobile app can be downloaded from iTunes or Google Play. Returning users can just sign in with their email address and password. After selecting to pay your bill, you can pay the total amount due, or choose other or edit to change the amount. You have the option to save your payment information for the next time, so select your saved information or enter new payment information. After the continue button is selected, you have the option to pick the payment date. Confirm your information on the next screen and hit submit. You have the option to view and edit your scheduled
payments until they are posted. Scheduled payments will not count as a payment arrangement unless you have contacted the office for approval. Payments scheduled after the due date will not prevent a late fee. Payments scheduled after disconnect date, will not prevent disconnection for non-payment. Contact the office if you have any questions or need assistance with SmartHub.
Welcome new Members Lesterville Leroy Pedersen Springfield Derrik Dvoracek Tabor Rebecca Koupal Robert I Ferr Daniel Pavel Tyndall Joshua Pesek Yankton Roy R Markee Jody L McCord Bob Waters Sheila Sik Don P Cuka
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Bon Homme Yankton Electric Cooperative Connections, Bon Homme Yankton Electric, PO Box 158, Tabor, S.D. 57063 TELEPHONE (605)463-2507: FAX (605) 463-2419. Design assistance by TDG Communications, Deadwood, S.D.
statement of non-Discrimination This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer. If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov.
Cooperative ConneCtions • May 2016 3
Safety
tips
D.I.Y. Electrical Safety Each year, thousands of people in the United States are critically injured and electrocuted as a result of electrical fires, accidents or electrocution in their own homes. The current economic downturn has inspired more homeowners to tackle do-it-yourself projects than ever before. Faced with declining home values and aging properties, homeowners may choose not to pay for the services of a licensed electrician. However, most do not have the training or experience needed to safely perform home electrical work, increasing the risk of immediate injuries and electrocutions and potentially introducing new dangers into the home. Working with electricity requires thorough planning and extreme care and cutting corners can be a costly mistake.
D.i.Y. Facts and statistics • There are an estimated average of 70 electrocution fatalities associated with consumer products per year. • The most recent data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission shows that there are nearly 400 electrocutions in the United States each year. • Approximately 15 percent of electrocutions are related to consumer products. Wiring hazards, including damaged or exposed wiring and household wiring, accounted for nearly 14 percent of these deaths. • An estimated 360,900 residential building fires are reported to United States fire departments each year and caused an estimated 2,495 deaths, 13,250 injuries and $7 billion in property losses. The leading cause of the largest fires was electrical malfunction. • There are about 37,000 nail-gun injuries each year; a 200 percent increase since 1991. • Electrical failure accounted for 89 percent of electrical fires in residential buildings from 2003-2005. D.i.Y. safety tips ESFI strongly recommends hiring a qualified, licensed electrician to perform any electrical work in your home. However, if you do decide to do-it-yourself, consider the following safety tips before undertaking any home electrical project: • Make an effort to learn about your home electrical system so that you can safely navigate and maintain it. • Never attempt a project that is beyond your skill level. Knowing when to call a professional may help prevent electrical fires, injuries and fatalities. • Always turn off the power to the circuit that you plan to work on by switching off the circuit breaker in the main service panel. • Be sure to unplug any appliance before working on it. • Test the wires before you touch them to make sure that the power has been turned off. • Never touch plumbing or gas pipes when performing a do-it-yourself electrical project. Source: esfi.org 4 May 2016 • Cooperative ConneCtions
Kids’ Corner Safety Poster “take care when using electricity – it has the power to kill!” Evelyn Fritz, 10 years old Evelyn is the daughter of Jamie and Kristi Fritz, New Effington, S.D. They are members of Traverse Electric, Wheaton, Minn.
Kids, send your drawing with an electrical safety tip to your local electric cooperative (address found on Page 3). If your poster is published, you’ll receive a prize. All entries must include your name, age, mailing address and the names of your parents. Colored drawings are encouraged.
Reader
recipes
Comforting Casseroles Mexican spoon Bread Casserole 1-1/2 lbs. ground beef 1 large onion, chopped 1/4 c. chopped green pepper 1 clove garlic, minced 1 cup tomato sauce 1 can corn, undrained 1-1/2 tsp. salt 2 to 3 tsp. chili powder
1/2 c. sliced ripe olives Cornbread Topping: 1-1/2 cups milk 1 cup cornmeal 1/2 tsp. salt 3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 2 eggs, beaten
Brown first 4 ingredients in a large skillet until onion is tender; drain. Stir in tomato sauce, corn, salt, chili powder and olives; heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered while preparing cornbread topping. For topping: Mix milk, cornmeal and salt in saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Remove from heat and stir in Cheddar cheese and beaten eggs. Turn hot meat mixture into 2-1/2-quart dish and pour cornbread mixture on top. Bake uncovered at 375°F. for about 40 minutes.
Chicken Crescent almondine Hot Dish 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup sour cream Topping: 1 (8 oz.) can crescent rolls 2/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 1/2 cup slivered almonds 3 T. melted butter
Combine the first 8 ingredients in saucepan. Cook until hot and bubbly; pour into ungreased 9x13-inch pan. Separate rolls into long rectangles and place over chicken mixture. Combine remaining ingredients and spread over dough. Bake at 350°F. for 20 to 25 minutes. Nancy Noess, Mitchell
Chicken noodle Hot Dish 1 can each chicken noodle, cream of chicken and cream of celery soups 1 lb. ground beef, browned
1 lb. lean ground beef 1 large onion, chopped 1 large green pepper, chopped 1 small head cabbage chopped 1 cup reduced sodium beef broth
1 (10 oz.) can diced tomatoes and green chilies 1 (8 oz.) can pizza sauce 1 cup cooked brown rice 1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
In a Dutch oven, cook beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the cabbage, broth, tomatoes and pizza sauce. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes or until cabbage is tender; stirring occasionally. Stir in rice; heat through. Remove from heat. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and let stand until cheese is melted. Makes 6 servings Nutritional Facts Per Serving: Calories 140, Total Fat 7g, Cholesterol 10mg, Sodium 330mg, Carbohydrates 13g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Protein 7g (3.8g from dairy), Calcium 15% Daily Value Pictured, Cooperative Connections
turkey and Dressing Casserole
Carolyn K. Wickert, Baltic
3 cups cooked and cubed chicken 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 (8 oz.) can sliced water chestnuts, drained 1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms, stems and pieces 2/3 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise 1/2 cup chopped celery
inside-out Cabbage rolls
1 onion, chopped 1 T. soy sauce 2 cups water 1 cup uncooked rice
4 cups cubed cooked turkey or chicken 3 T. chicken broth 1 box stuffing mix, prepared 1 (4 oz.) can sliced mushrooms
1 (10 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup 1 (10 oz.) can golden mushroom soup
Place cubed meat in a greased 9x13-inch baking dish. Moisten with chicken broth. Top with prepared stuffing mix. Add canned mushrooms, if desired. Mix soups and spread over casserole. Cover with greased foil and bake at 350°F. for 45 to 60 minutes. Can be prepared and frozen; adjust baking time. Charlotte Hoverstadt, Webster
tuna Biscuit Casserole 1 can Cheddar cheese soup 1/2 soup can milk 1 can tuna, drained if using oil-packed
1 T. grated onion 1 T. parsley flakes, optional 1 pkg. or tube (10) refrigerated biscuits
Please send your favorite dairy, dessert and salad recipes to your local electric cooperative (address found on Page 3). Each recipe printed will be entered into a drawing for a prize in June 2016. All entries must include your name, mailing address, telephone number and cooperative name.
Mix soup and milk until smooth. Add tuna and break in chunks, then add onion and parsley flakes. Heat just to boiling. Put biscuits in ungreased pan (9x9 or 11x2 inch.) Pour heated mixture over top of biscuits. Bake uncovered at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until biscuits pop up through the Combine all ingredients in baking dish. Bake at 350°F. for 1 hour. sauce and are well browned. Michele Hoffer, Brandon
Elfrieda Postma, Sioux Falls
Cooperative ConneCtions • May 2016 5
Co-op
news
Capital Credit Allocation Notices Sent In order to share more detailed information regarding the members’ capital credit accounts, full page allocation notices were sent out again this year instead of postcards. This notice indicates your share of the margins from previous years of electric energy sales. What are capital credits? Bon Homme Yankton Electric is a non-profit, member owned cooperative. This doesn’t mean there are no profits earned, but that any profits or margins that are generated are split amongst the members based on how much they spent on electricity for the year that is being allocated. i have several accounts, why do i only receive one notice? Even if you pay a bill for several locations, you have just one membership with the cooperative and will just receive one official allocation notice. If you would like more detailed information, contact our office. When do you issue refunds? In the past, capital credit refunds have been issued approximately every other year using a first in first out method. The 2015 refund included allocations from 1993, 1994 and 1995. Depending on the financial condition of the cooperative, the next refund will start with the remainder of 1995 but has not been scheduled at this time. What happens if a member moves? Members cannot claim the balance of their account when they leave our system. As long as we have their current address, we will continue to send them
Keep in touch Contact Bon Homme Yankton Electric If: • You have a new mailing address • You have a new name • You have a joint membership and you have gotten divorced • A member has passed away • Your business or organization is no longer in existence 6 May 2016 • Cooperative ConneCtions
their refund checks on our regular refund schedule. Several checks go unclaimed because we are unable to locate previous members. The Affidavit of Address form as well as a list of members with uncashed checks are available at www.byelectric. com. What if a member passes away? Upon the death of a member, the bylaws allow the capital credit account to be refunded at a discounted amount up to the date of death. 30 days need to pass after the date of death and an application has to be made, reviewed by our attorney and approved by the board. Do members have to pay taxes on their capital credit allocation? It is not required that capital credit allocations be reported to the IRS at the time it is allocated. When the capital credits are refunded, the refund is only
considered taxable income in relation to the same portion of the electric bill that was claimed as a business or farm expense in the year that it was originally allocated. Most members either report the allocation or the refund as taxable income for their farm, but you should not report both--just be consistent. If you always report the allocation but have already filed your taxes, you may save this notice for your 2016 taxes. For more information, members should contact their tax preparer. Contact the office if you have any questions regarding capital credits. The actual notice will differ than the sample below because the new notices have not been printed as of the publishing deadline. You will not get a notice unless you purchased electricity in 2013.
Bon Homme Yankton Electric Association, Inc. PO Box 158 Tabor, SD 57063-0158 605-463-2507 www.byelectric.com by@byelectric.com
Notice Date: Current Allocation:
57063-
CAPITAL CREDIT ALLOCATION NOTICE YEAR
KWH Usage
Patronage
0
$0.00
$65.93
$0.00
$65.93
1994
0
$0.00
$73.08
$0.00
$73.08
1995
0
$0.00
$67.46
$0.00
$67.46
1996
0
$0.00
$75.99
$0.00
$75.99
1997
0
$1,448.77
$55.72
$0.00
$55.72
1998
0
$1,385.29
$34.00
$0.00
$34.00
1999
0
$1,472.32
$36.67
$0.00
$36.67
2000
23,600
$1,505.66
$222.57
$0.00
$222.57
2001
24,200
$1,603.21
$216.42
$0.00
$216.42
2002
26,300
$1,660.57
$156.04
$0.00
$156.04
2003
23,800
$1,581.05
$112.59
$0.00
$112.59
2004
23,491
$1,618.58
$136.95
$0.00
$136.95
2005
25,358
$1,705.60
$141.96
$0.00
$141.96
2006
25,363
$1,690.82
$181.60
$0.00
$181.60
2007
24,696
$1,629.17
$101.68
$0.00
$101.68
2008
55,334
$3,004.93
$441.71
$0.00
$441.71
* You have a joint membership and you have gotten divorced
2009
94,969
$5,266.02
$703.52
$0.00
$703.52
* A member has passed away
2010
62,584
$4,098.43
$404.09
$0.00
$404.09
2011
50,712
$3,704.24
$20.36
$321.04
$341.40
* Your business or organization is no longer in existence
2012
36,895
$3,208.30
$0.00
$38.42
$38.42
$3,248.34
Current Allocation
$359.46
Total Allocation
You are part owner of Bon Homme Yankton Electric Association, Inc. and one way your ownership is reflected is through capital credits or patronage capital--your share of what's left over after the cooperative pays all its expenses. This capital is held for a time and then refunded using a first-in-first-out method.
1993
Total Capital Credit Allocation
Previous Allocation
9999999
$359.46
This is NOT a bill. Do NOT pay. Do NOT deduct this amount from any energy payments.
DOE, JOHN PO BOX TABOR SD
3/26/2014
Account Number:
$3,607.80
The allocation of the current year margins are delayed due to the margin stabilization plan. This means that margins for the balance of 2012 and all of 2013 have yet to be added to your account. For any questions about tax issues in regards to capital credit allocations or refunds, contact your tax preparer.
Contact our office if: * You have a new mailing address * You have a new name
* You have any other questions regarding this notice or anything else about your cooperative Remember: We can't send out your future refund checks if we don't know your current mailing address!
* KWH and Patronage were not available for all years. * Capital credits have been refunded up through 1992. Amounts are held until a check is at least $5.00 for active accounts and $10.00 for inactive accounts. * Patronage figures do not include sales tax or penalties. * The figures from multiple accounts are added together as a total for the membership.
See the May issue of the Bon Homme Yankton Electric Cooperative Connections for more information about capital credits!
SAVE THIS NOTICE FOR YOUR RECORDS
Co-op
news
Rate Changes Effective May 1, 2016 These new rates will be used to calculate your bill that will be printed on June 1 for the May usage. These rate changes reflect the increase in wholesale power costs and other expenses and are necessary to meet our financial obligations for the current year. Facility Charges/Access Fees help offset the fixed costs which are incurred regardless of usage. The rates listed below do not include any state or local sales tax. Policy 50-01 Single Phase: Farm, Rural Residential, Small Commercial 25kva and under Current
New
Facility/Access Fee
$28.00
$35.00
1st 400 KWH
$0.128
$0.128
2nd 400 KWH
$0.107
$0.107
3rd 400 KWH
$0.085
$0.085
Over 1200 KWH
$0.065
$0.065
Policy 50-03 Three Phase: Farm/Small Commercial Facility/Access Fee
$39.00
$46.00
1st 400 KWH
$0.140
$0.140
2nd 400 KWH
$0.118
$0.118
3rd 400 KWH
$0.103
$0.103
Over 1200 KWH
$0.065
$0.065
Policy 50-04 Single Phase: Large Farm/Rural Residential 37.5 to 100 kva
Policy 50-02 Single Phase: Town Residential
Facility/Access Fee
$29.00
$36.00
Facility/Access Fee
$28.00
$35.00
1st 400 KWH
$0.130
$0.130
1st 400 KWH
$0.118
$0.118
2nd 400 KWH
$0.107
$0.107
2nd 400 KWH
$0.097
$0.097
3rd 400 KWH
$0.085
$0.085
3rd 400 KWH
$0.075
$0.075
Over 1200 KWH
$0.065
$0.065
Over 1200 KWH
$0.065
$0.065
Additional Transformer Fee: 37.5 kva $2.75/month, 50 kva $5.50, 75 kva $8.25, 100 kva $16.50
There’s Still Time to Send Your Kids to North Dakota! 2 0 1 6 Yo u t h E x c u r s i o n Join teens from around the state for a three-day, expensepaid excursion to North Dakota on July 25-28, 2016. Transportation, lodging and meals are paid for by Bon Homme Yankton Electric due to our commitment to tomorrow’s co-op leaders. Learn “The Story Behind the Switch” and see where South Dakota’s electric cooperatives’ electricity is generated. Tour the Great Plains Synfuels Plant where coal by-products are turned into synthetic natural gas, the Freedom Coal Mine and Antelope Valley Station electric power plant. Spend time swimming, dancing and shopping with new friends from other rural electric cooperatives across the state. This trip is great for kids interested in science, the future of wind energy, jobs in the utility industry and making new friends from around the state. The Youth Excursion is available to current sophomores and juniors who are dependents of Bon Homme Yankton Electric members. Fill out the form and send it to: Bon Homme Yankton Electric, PO Box 158, Tabor, SD 57063 by May 6, 2016. Three people will be randomly drawn to attend the 2016 Youth Excursion.
Registration
Name: _______________________ Address: _____________________ _____________________________ E-mail Address: _______________ Parents/Guardian: ____________ _____________________________ Phone Number: _______________ School: ______________________ Circle: Sophomore Junior Circle: Male Female T-Shirt Size: ___ Cooperative ConneCtions • May 2016 7
A Prescription for Energy Savings Wall Drug Turns to Co-ops for Tips to Save
W
By Brenda Kleinjan
hen Rick hustead, chaiRman of the Wall Drug Store in Wall, S.D., wanted to look at ways to cut the tourist destination’s energy bill, he knew just who to call: his local Touchstone Energy® Cooperative, West River Electric Association in Wall. Wall Drug has historically been one of WREA’s largest using members, and easily the largest user in the eastern half of the co-op’s territory which extends from Rapid City to the Badlands and north into southern Meade County. “We’re thrilled in Wall, S.D., to have WREA here, to have a major power company headquartered in a town of 800 is a big thing. When we have questions about our consumption and bill, we know who we’re talking to,” said Hustead. The Hustead family started The Wall Drug Store in 1931 as a simple pharmacy by Ted and Dorothy Hustead, Rick’s grandparents. “They were slowly going broke in the Depression.
8 May 2016 • COOPERATIVE CONNECTIONS
There was a constant drone of tourist cars going West on US16, which was a packed dirt road. Dorothy thought how hot and dusty travelers were,” Rick explained. The Husteads began advertising free ice water and once they could get the customers to stop then they could tempt them with purchasing items in the store and at the old fashioned soda fountain. The plan worked. The attraction, which Hustead notes is America’s No. 1 roadside attraction, which has grown from a single, 24 foot by 50 foot storefront pharmacy to encompass more than a square block, welcoming visitors from across the world to the prairie town year round. The store occupies 78,000 square feet on the street level. Storage areas extend below the store and above on a second story not open to the public. And as a business owner, Hustead looks for ways to make the operation run more efficiently while still
Shining a Light on Energy Savings
Left: West River Electric Association’s Robert Raker, Willy Nohr and Adam Daigle inventory the more than 5,400 light bulbs used at Wall Drug. Right: Under the watchful gaze of one of the denizens of The Wall Drug Mall pedestrian area, Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s Chad Reisenauer uses an infrared camera to look for energy leaks. Opposite Page: WREA’s Veronica Kusser and BEPC’s Reisenauer review the steps for the energy audit with Rick Hustead, Chairman of The Wall Drug Store. Cover: Using a meter, Reisenauer measures the lumens emitted from one of the 3,100 light fixtures at Wall Drug.
giving their guests the best experience possible. (By one estimate, more than two million people will visit Wall Drug each year.) “We want to be continually improving,” said Hustead. “In visiting with Veronica (Kusser) at WREA about our bill, I asked if we could have an energy audit, thinking there must be things we can do to improve our usage and consumption. We had started doing what we could to switch to LED lighting.” Kusser and her co-workers enlisted the assistance of Chad Resienauer, a certified energy manager at Basin Electric Power Coopera-
Home energy use is different for everyone and hinges on several factors, including size of home, members in your household, your location and preferences. Knowing how your energy is divided will help you prioritize your energy saving habits. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration www.EIA.gov
tive, in Bismarck, N.D. The group spent a day inventorying and assessing Wall Drug’s energy usage. One thing that was immediately apparent was that Wall Drug has a lot of lights. A lot of lights. More than 5,400 bulbs housed in 3,100 fixtures throughout all levels of the business. Combined, the six different types of bulbs used – if turned on all at once – would account for more than 125 kilowatts of load. So, Hustead’s steps to convert to LED lighting were certainly a good start. Reisenauer’s recommendations included continuing to convert the lights to more efficient bulbs, examining the amount of lumens of light needed for different tasks and sizing the lighting appropriately (in some instances, spaces may be over lit and fixtures can be removed, in other areas more lights may be needed.) While Resinaer’s recommendation are unique to Wall Drug, the basic concepts apply to most all homes and businesses: look for the things that use the most energy and see how they can become more efficient. For appliances, make sure that gaskets are tight and filters are clean and consider upgrading the appliance to an EnergyStar® model. Often times, the energy saved can cover the costs of the upgrade in a short timeframe.
Traditional lighting can amount to 11 percent of your monthly energy use. Energy saving light bulbs can slice lighting costs by 75 percent. • Replace outdoor lighting with its equivalant outdoorrated LED bulb. LEDs work well in cold weather. • Use fixtures with electronic ballasts and T-8, 32 Watt fluorescent lamps. • Use outdoor security lights with a photocell and/or a motion sensor. • Turn off unnecessary lighting. A lumen is a unit used for the measurement of visible light. A traditional 60 Watt light bulb produces 800 lumens. See the chart below to see how many Watts other bulbs use to produce the same amount of light.
WATT USAGE 800 LUMENS 0
20
Incandescent bulb CFL LED
40
60 60 Watts
13W 7W
Source: Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives 101 Easy Ways to Save Energy and Money For more tips and helpful videos, go to: http://www.touchstoneenergy.com/together-we -save/energy-saving-tips/
COOPERATIVE CONNECTIONS • May 2016 9
Co-op
news
Scholarship Winners Lea Wormsbecher and Spencer Huber were each selected to receive $500 scholarships sponsored by Basin Electric. The scholarship program is designed to encourage and recognize the achievements of the children of our cooperative members. Lea will graduate from Avon High School this spring and plans to attend Augustana University majoring in biology. Her career plans involve becoming a pharmacist. She is the daughter of Lori & Dale Wormsbecher of Avon. Spencer will be a 2016 graduate of Yankton High School. He plans to study mechanical engineering at South Dakota State University and expressed an interest in renewable energy sources. He is the son of Todd and Lisa Huber of Yankton. Congratulations to these outstanding students on their awards. Member Service Advisor Bob Felber congratulates Spencer Huber on his scholarship.
Petition Deadline
Bon Homme Yankton Electric is making plans for its annual meeting. The meeting will be held August 16, 2016 in the Beseda Hall in Tabor. The director positions with three year terms expiring this year are districts two and seven. Any person wishing to run for a directorship of Bon Homme Yankton Electric will need to file a nominating petition. The petition must have at least 15 signatures of district members of Bon Homme Yankton Electric. Petitioners must reside in the district and have an active membership in the cooperative. The petitions are available now and must be filed at the Bon Homme Yankton Electric office by 4:30 p.m. June 16, 2016.
Lea Wormsbecher receives award from Member Service Advisor Bob Felber.
Thank You Note Dear Bon Homme Yankton Electric, Thank you for choosing me as a recipient for your scholarship! It will help me greatly with my future plans at Augustana University. Thanks again, Lea Wormsbecher
WWW.BYELECTRIC.COOP 1 0 May 2016 • Cooperative ConneCtions
Classifieds June Issue Deadline: May 1, 2016. Email your classified ad to: by@ byelectric.com. Members can post one free ad per year. Repeats or longer ads are $1/ column inch. FOR RENT: 1 bedroom apartment. Tabor Manor. Contact John at 605463-2478 or Gary at 605-4632209.r Thinking about building a home? Don’t pick a floor plan or a builder until you’ve talked with the area’s ONLY Certified Agingin-Place specialist, Certified Green Professional Builder and ENERGY STAR Partner Builder. Call 4 Life
Homes today. 605-661-4488.r Beseda Hall, Tabor, SD for rent for any special occasion such as weddings, anniversaries, graduation or birthdays! For more information contact Linda Bares at 605-661-6220 or snlbares@gmail.com.r FOR RENT: Tabor Self Storage. Call 605-660-0247 or 605-6603497.r Registered Angus Bulls For Sale: Bred for calving ease & growth. Performance tested, guaranteed. Out of top bloodlines in the Angus Breed. At the Farm. Hauger's Stock Farm. Call Steven at 605-263-3774.
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Warm Air, Air to Air, Geothermal Heat Pumps WE DO EMERGENCY HOME REPAIRS Cooperative ConneCtions • May 2016 1 1
Hot Water on the Grid Can Your Hot Water Be a Battery?
M
ost people think of theiR WateR heateR as
By Thomas Kirk and Brian Sloboda
Advanced community storage strategies employ electric water heaters to help electric co-ops to beat peak prices and save members money. (Illustration by NRECA)
a device designed solely for heating bath water or helping to wash a sink full of dishes. But electric water heaters can provide some of the most rapidly responding, flexible, scalable and cost-effective energy storage available. By adding bidirectional control to electric resistance water heaters, GIWHs enable a utility or third-party aggregator to quickly and repeatedly turn the devices off and on. Bidirectional control is a much more powerful tool than standard direct load control, which only allows devices to be turned off, because it effectively turns the water heater into a battery. Traditional batteries supply power when generation is low and absorb power when generation is high. In this way, they help modulate the supply of electricity to follow the load. GIWHs can’t supply electricity, but they provide exactly the same functionality by reversing this equation: They can modulate the load in order to follow generation. In times of overgeneration, fleets of water heaters can be switched on to absorb excess power, and in times of undergeneration, they can be switched off to shed load and redistribute the existing electricity on the grid. Thus, aggregated GIWHs can act as virtual power plants to quickly and effectively control the amount of power on the grid. Moreover, these fleets are completely scalable and can perform this functionality within seconds.
Benefits To The Utility GIWHs enable the utility or aggregator to shift loads, perform demand response, conserve revenue via the arbitrage of wholesale electricity, generate revenue via ancillary services, and keep the grid stabilized during unexpected events. Load shifting and traditional demand response. In addition to traditional demand response, which sheds loads in times of peak demand, GIWHs
12 May 2016 • COOPERATIVE CONNECTIONS
can be used to shift loads and perform intelligent load control. Pre- or postcharging of GIWHs around peak times and smaller spikes throughout the day can smooth the load curve while maintaining customers’ supply of hot water. Instead of simply shedding the peak load, the energy consumption is redistributed to times of lesser demand Arbitrage of wholesale electricity. Electricity
providers can charge GIWHs when the price of energy is low and discharge them when the price is high, saving utilities and their customers money. This strategy can be especially useful for cooperatives and municipal utilities, where the savings can easily be passed along directly to customers. Revenue from ancillary services. Utilities can also use GIWHs for frequency regulation or other services. Frequency regulation – or just regulation – is the second-by-second matching of generation to the load. Depending on the market, there can be significant revenue potential from regulation. Furthermore, the need for regulation will only increase as more intermittent renewables are added to the grid. Solar and wind power, for example, inherently fluctuate with the availability of sun and wind, causing generation to spike and dip unexpectedly. Regulation is required to smooth these fluctuations and keep generation matched to the load. Not many resources are flexible enough to provide this service, but energy storage can do it very well. The monetary value of frequency regulation depends on the transmission organization that monitors and controls the delivery of high-voltage electricity on the grid. Regional transmission organizations (RTOs) cover large interstate areas, and independent system operators (ISOs) cover smaller geographical areas. Heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) can’t provide frequency regulation nearly as well as electric resistance water heaters can. Although they’re a great energy-efficiency technology and are gaining in market share due to efforts by the DOE and Energy Star, HPWHs can’t be cycled off and on nearly as quickly as electric resistance water heaters can. They also don’t draw as much power as electric resistance water heaters. As such, the revenue potential from regulating HPWHs is only one-eighth the revenue of electric resistance water heaters. Grid stabilization. Perhaps one of the most valuable services that GIWHs provide is the ability to respond to grid stabilization events within seconds. If a transformer trips or another unexpected event occurs, GIWHs allow the utility or aggregator to shed or increase load within seconds. Additional benefits and implications. Not all locations on the grid are created equal. GIWHs are more valuable to distribution-constrained areas than to areas with excess distribution resources because they can reduce peak demand, potentially allowing the utility to defer distribution upgrades. For territories that have plentiful renewable energy resources, utilities or aggregators can consider a renewable storage water heater (RSWH). RSWH systems use a dedicated auxiliary thermal storage tank (or tanks) to capture low-cost or no-cost excess renewable electricity. The auxiliary tank sits next to the original hot water tank and supplies the renewably generated hot water when it’s available. The tank uses a mixing valve to dilute the hot water to reduce temperatures to standard domestic hot water (DHW) levels before delivering the water to the customer.
What’s Happening With GIWHs Now? Great River Energy, a generation and transmission company in Minnesota, currently controls tens of thousands of large-capacity water heaters for arbitrage benefits to its customers. The co-op charges the GIWHs at night, when the wholesale market price for electricity is low, saving its customers money while providing the same amenity. Dairyland Power Cooperative, another generation and transmission company in Wisconsin, also has a large fleet of water heaters it uses for arbitrage.
Community Storage Gives Co-ops Flexibility By Cathy Cash –ECT.coop Energy storage—the holy grail of the electric power industry—that will save consumers money and give electric cooperatives new flexibility might be as close as your water heater. So says new research from The Brattle Group, a global economic consulting firm. NRECA, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Great River Energy, and the Peak Load Management Alliance commissioned the study, “The Hidden Battery,” to launch a “community storage” initiative to aggregate battery-like features of appliances. Electric water heaters rank third-largest in residential electricity consumption, behind space cooling and lighting, according to the research released in February. “The magnitude of this relatively untapped resource is significant.” Advanced community storage strategies can equip electric co-ops to beat peak prices and save their members as much as $200 a year – enough to pay for a gridenabled water heater within five winters, says the study. Further, these water heaters can interact with the electric grid to help with balancing and frequency response. Great River Energy controls more than 110,000 residential water heaters that can store more than 1 gigawatt-hour of electricity. Between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., 65,000 electric thermal water heaters mass enough hot water for an entire day; 45,000 water heaters are used to shave peak demand. “We believe there’s a battery hidden in basements all across our service territory,” says Gary Connett, director of member services at the Maple Grove, Minn., G&T. Community storage also is an important tool for meeting Minnesota’s “25 percent by 2025” renewable energy standard that is resulting in more variable generation resources. “When the wind is blowing or the sun is shining, large-capacity water heaters can be enabled to make immediate use of that energy to heat water to high temperatures,” Connett says. “Water heaters can be shut down when renewables are scarce and wholesale costs are high.” NRECA worked closely with NRDC in 2015 to achieve federal law that preserves the production of large gridenabled water heaters that 250 electric co-ops already rely on for energy savings programs. Editor’s Note: South Dakota electric cooperatives, especially those in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota, have a long history of using energy savings from water heating. Contact your local electric cooperative for more information. COOPERATIVE CONNECTIONS • May 2016 13
Celebrating Dedicated Employees April 11, 2016 has been designated by the National Rural Electric Association as National Lineman Appreciation Day. We also like to celebrate April 27 which is Administrative Professionals Day. It is appropriate that we take a moment to recognize the people at Bon Homme Yankton Electric that are here to provide reliable, affordable power to our cooperative members and makes this cooperative a great place to spend a rewarding career. The power behind your power Thankfully, responding to outages is only an occasional undertaking in the day of the operations department. The majority of time is spent building, upgrading and maintaining the infrastructure. Linemen often work in brutal weather conditions to ensure we all have safe and reliable power. While linemen work in highly visible settings, there are many behind the scenes employees that also labor tirelessly to help keep the lights on with little or no public recognition or acknowledgement. Calling for energy efficiency The Member Services Advisor is available to answer questions regarding usage, rebates and energy efficiency programs. Electricians are on staff to perform wiring work for members in need of such services and assist with outages after working hours. Member contacts The billing department is probably the most under appreciated group as they have this bad habit of sending out
Office Department (years of service) l-r: Linda Schenkel (2), Teresa Holland (17), Kara Zomer (9), Linda Bares (13), Karla Kortan (37).
bills and taking your money each month. The bills are generated using the latest technology to assure accuracy. Rates are structured to be fair to all members and cover the costs plus a little extra to meet our financial obligations. Most people admit the benefits of electricity are so great; the cost is small in comparison. Non-profit profits The Accounting and Finance department is responsible for the financial well-being of Bon Homme Yankton Electric. It includes budgeting, human resources and accounting. While we are a member-owned cooperative and operate differently than investor-owned utilities, we are still a business. As such, the accounting department ensures that revenue collected from the membership exceeds our expenses. Skilled workforce While most employees arrive with a special level of education, all personnel strive to grow their knowledge within their job as well as being educated on national cooperative issues. Continual
learning and training for co-op employees is crucial to having a skilled workforce. Safety is our business An equally important area of focus is safety. Working with electricity is an inherently dangerous task, and investing in a culture of safety for all workers is a major priority. Staying in sync Many different people and departments work closely together to serve you because you, the member, are at the heart of everything we do. As a relatively small cooperative, each employee routinely goes above and beyond their scope of assigned tasks in order to respond to the needs of the members. It takes the dedicated commitment of every employee in this co-op, to deliver on the promise to provide safe, reliable and reasonably priced electricity. They deserve a great, big round of applause for the excellent work they do!
Operations Department (years of service) l-r: Cody Auch (1), Joe Renner (22), Travis Gause (12), Kevin Meyer (16), Nathan Kloucek (3), Ken Carda (23), Wes Kloucek (4mos), Travis Zomer (15), Bob Felber (31), Tyler Suess (5). Not pictured: Floyd Burbach (29), Bill Cap (23). 1 4 May 2016 • Cooperative ConneCtions
Co-op
news
811: Call Before you Dig Making the extra effort beyond the 811 call will reduce confusion in regards to the responsibility of all parties involved. Anyone digging is required to call 811 at least 48 hours prior to starting. The person doing the work is required to make the call. If a contractor is working for you, ask them if they have called 811. Even if it is their responsibility, it could be your property that gets damaged. You are not required to call if gardening less than 12" deep or farming less than 18" deep, but if you have any doubts or questions, don't hesitate to call 811 or our office for more information. Before calling, have all of the necessary information ready such as the address, legal description and location of the dig. Jot down the ticket number that is assigned to you. Mark the area of the dig with white paint, stakes or flags. Here's where it gets confusing: utilities are only required to inform the One Call system of underground lines owned by them. The lines on the member side of the meter are owned by
the member. Your meter may be on a pole, a pedestal or on the side of your house, but any underground lines from the meter to your buildings are yours. We are not required to locate lines on your side of the meter and may not even get notified by One Call if we have no high voltage lines in the area of the dig. Feel free to contact our office after you have called 811 to ask us to locate the lines in your yard that you own. Non-members and extensive time consuming locating members electric lines may require reimbursement to do so. If minimal time is spent locating a member’s power line there may be no charge. Open communication regarding your intent to dig is the key to a safe and successful project. It is also beneficial to be present during the locate to explain your project to the cable locator. Any sort of permanent construction over utility lines should be discussed in advance. It may be OK to leave the lines as is or it may be better to have them moved out of the way usually at the member's expense. You wouldn't
want your new concrete driveway ruined when the underground cable needs to be accessed in the future. If you make any changes to your digging plans, you will need to call 811 again. After the buried lines have been marked and 48 hours has passed, digging can proceed. If digging is required within 18 inches of a buried line, hand tools should be used to avoid damaging the line and preventing injury. Locating underground cable is not an exact science, proceed with caution and try not to dig right on the marked lines. Never assume the buried line is the same depth throughout the area. Failure to call 811 can make you liable for any damage to the underground utilities. You could also be subject to penalties for not complying with the law.
Co-ops Launch Non-Partisan Voter Engagement Program America’s electric cooperatives have launched a non-partisan, nationwide effort to promote civic engagement and voter participation in the communities they serve. Jeffrey Connor, interim CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, unveiled the Co-ops Vote program at the association’s 74th annual meeting in New Orleans. “Through Co-ops Vote, we want to help our members know when elections are, what’s at stake and how to make their voices heard,” Connor said. “Who folks vote for isn’t really as important as the fact that they do vote.” The Co-ops Vote initiative will focus on eight issues that are important to the
health and prosperity of communities served by electric cooperatives: • Rural Broadband Access • Hiring and Honoring Veterans • Low-Income Energy Assistance • Cybersecurity • Water Regulation • Rural Health Care Access • Affordable and Reliable Energy • Renewable Energy “Electric cooperatives are perfectly designed to help address these important issues,” Connor said. “We can make politics ‘local’ again because civic engagement is part of our DNA.” For more information about Co-ops Vote and the impact of these eight key issues, visit vote.coop. Cooperative ConneCtions • May 2016 1 5
regional Dateline
Events of Special Note
April 23 RiverRat Marathon, Riverside Park, Yankton, SD 605-660-9483 www.riverratmarathon.com
April 23-24 Quilt Show, Swiftel Center Brookings, SD, 605-690-3246 April 24 Jeff Dunham: Perfectly Unbalanced Tour Rapid City, SD, 800-468-6463 April 30-May 1 Annual Art Show Chamber of Commerce Pierre, SD, 605-567-3562 dan46@gwtc.net May 20 11th Annual Custer Stampede Buffalo Art Auction Unveiling Custer, SD, 605-673-2244 May 21 Red Rock Ribfest Rowena, SD, 605-254-6367 mitch@snortzbbq.com May 26 Purses with a Purpose Sioux Falls, SD, 605-271-9703 May 27-October 10 Legends in Light® Laser Light Show, Nightly, Crazy Horse Memorial, Crazy Horse, SD
Photo CoURtESY of KRYSti BUxCEl BaRnES
April 23 Jeff Dunham: Perfectly Unbalanced Tour Sioux Falls, SD, 605-367-7288
May 7 Avera Race Against Breast Cancer, Sioux Falls, SD 605-322-8900 June 16-19 Tabor Czech Days, Tabor, SD www.TaborCzechDays.com taborczechdays@yahoo.com
To have your event listed on this page, send complete information, including date, event, place and contact to your local electric cooperative. Include your name, address and daytime telephone number. Information must be submitted at least eight weeks prior to your event. Please call ahead to confirm date, time and location of event.
June 1-4 South Dakota Senior Games Rapid City, SD, Contact Kristi Lintz at 605-394-4168
June 4-5 Spring Volksmarch at Crazy Horse Memorial Crazy Horse, SD, 605-673-4681
June 24-25 South Dakota Senior Games Mitchell, SD, Contact Barb Pierkowski at 605-995-8048
June 3-4 The Original SD BBQ Championships, Huron, SD 605-353-7340
June 10-11 Two Rivers Exposition Expo Center, Fort Pierre, SD 605-224-8686
July 8-9 South Dakota Senior Games Madison, SD, Contact Bernie Schuurmans at 605-270-3327
June 3-4 South Dakota Senior Games Sioux Falls, SD, Contact Scott Juhnke at 605-367-8222
June 10-11 South Dakota Senior Games Spearfish, SD, Contact Kris Harwood at 605-722-1430
July 22-23 South Dakota Senior Games Brookings, SD, Contact Traci Saugstad at 605-692-4492
June 3-5 Wheel Jam, Huron, SD 605-353-7354
June 14 Seventh Annual Ag Women’s Day, First Lutheran Church Activity Center, Brookings, SD 605-692-8003 Ext. 2
August 5-6 South Dakota Senior Games Yankton, SD, Contact Kristi Hauer at 605-665-4685 or Tracy Grotenhuis at 605-668-5238
June 3-5 Black Hills Quilters Guild Quilt Show and Sale Rushmore Plaza Civic Center Rapid City, SD info@bhquilters.org www.bhquilters.org
June 17-19 Crazy Horse Stampede Rodeo and Gift from Mother Earth Crazy Horse, SD
August 13 South Dakota Senior Games Huron, SD, Contact LaRon Klock at 605-353-8533