Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.

10700 Fairgrounds RoadP.O. Box 477

Huntingdon, PA 16652-0477814/643-2650

1-800-432-0680www.valleyrec.com

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OUR NATION’S electricutility industry is headinginto a “perfect storm.”While the amount of elec-tricity we use every daysteadily increases, thecapacity to generate andtransmit that power isrunning short. In the past,fossil fuel-fired powerplants were often the go-tooption to meet growingnew demand, but looming

federal regulations on carbon dioxideemissions are changing that. The costof complying with new regulationscould make electricity less affordablefor everyone — which is of great con-cern to us here at Valley.

In December 2009, the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA)declared that six key greenhouse gasesfrom auto emissions, including carbondioxide, are “endangering the publichealth and welfare” of current andfuture generations. Four of those green-house gases (including carbon dioxide)emitted from motor vehicles are said tocontribute to dangerous air pollution.

The endangerment finding puts afoot in the door for the EPA to issuesweeping new rules that could imposestrict limits on carbon emissions,including those from power plants. Thecost of generating electricity would goup, and, in the end, those costs wouldhit your pocketbook.

Congress is mulling over its own setof carbon dioxide regulations. Ifpassed, congressional legislation wouldpreempt any other existing laws, com-pounding a regulatory disaster thatwould create a mess of overlapping red

tape and add to the costs for you. So,we must continue to ask that anyresulting legislation be fair, affordableand technologically achievable.

Whatever the political outcome, thehonest truth is that change won’t comeovernight. Fossil fuels currently accountfor more than 70 percent of all electrici-ty generated in the United States. Newtechnology will be key to not only keep-ing these traditional options up to datebut also to refining new ways to keepthe lights on affordably.

Fortunately, Valley already getsnearly 60 percent of its energy needsfrom no-emissions nuclear power. Andwe get another roughly 8.5 percentfrom renewable, clean hydropower.That means we are in a great positionto weather the impending regulatorystorm. Even so, we don’t plan to sitsmugly on our hands. We are alreadysupporting research projects that aimto expand the current limits of renew-able energy, make coal- and naturalgas-fired power plants cleaner andmore efficient, and possibly even cap-ture carbon dioxide from plant emis-sions before they go up a smokestack,storing them deep underground andkeeping them out of the atmosphere.

Rural electric cooperatives have nev-er backed down from a challenge in thepast, and I have no doubt that ourresponse to this challenge will be thesame. But we need your help to relay toCongress just how important it is tokeep climate change legislation fair,affordable and backed by achievabletechnology. To make your voice heard,join the Our Energy, Our Future grass-roots awareness campaign atwww.ourenergy.coop. l

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 • P E N N L I N E S 14a

One of 14 electriccooperatives servingPennsylvania and

New Jersey

COOPERATIVEconnection

F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T & C E O

Weathering the ‘perfect storm’Valley

Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.

by Wayne MillerPresident & CEO

ALTHOUGH MOST electrical systemsin older homes have been upgraded overthe years, safety shortcomings may stillexist. Since a third of American homeswere built more than 50 years ago, homebuyers and those living in older homesshould be aware of how wiring haschanged during the last century.

Electric capacity is a major concernwith older wiring systems. Homeown-ers in the 1930s didn’t use a lot of elec-trical appliances, except for a refrigera-tor, a few lights and a radio.

An explosion of appliance purchasesoccurred in the late 1940s and early1950s. But the arrival of air conditioningduring the 1960s soon rendered manymid-century home electrical systemsobsolete. In addition, residences builtmore than 20 years ago might be insuf-ficient for handling entertainment sys-tems and personal computers.

Each year, household wiring and light-ing cause an estimated average of 32,000home fires. These fires result in about 950injuries, 220 deaths and nearly $674 mil-lion in property damage, according to theNational Fire Protection Association.

“Residential electrical systems areseldom inspected after they areinstalled,” explains John Drengenberg,consumer affairs manager for Under-writers Laboratories, Inc. (UL), an inde-pendent product safety testing and cer-tification organization. “Homeownersshould not assume all is well simplybecause fuses aren’t blowing, circuitbreakers aren’t tripping, or they’re notreceiving shocks or smelling burnt plas-tic. Inside the walls, wire insulationcould be cracking and crumbling, espe-cially if wires are drawing more currentthan they were designed to handle. Thewood frame above plaster ceilings couldalso become charred by lightbulbs that

are too close to the ceiling or higher inwattage than the light fixture’s rating.”

To avoid such hazards, consumersshould understand the limits of homewiring systems. Often, this depends onwhen a home was built. In other cases,though, telltale signs may indicate aproblem.

“Any time you receive a shock froman electrical appliance, outlet or wallswitch in your home, it’s a warning thatyou should talk with a qualified electri-cian,” John cautions. “If a fuse blows ora circuit breaker trips right after youreplace or reset it, you have troublesomewhere. Flickering or dimminglights could mean loose connections,overloaded circuits, improper wiring orarcing and sparking inside walls.”

In older homes, heat means that toomuch electrical current is being drawnthrough outlets.

“If your receptacles or plugs are hotto the touch, you may have an over-load,” John says.

Another issue associated with olderhome wiring systems is the number ofreceptacles in each room. Today’s electri-cal code requires outlets be placed every12 feet of running wall space, about oneper wall in the average 10-by-12-foot room.Houses built before 1956 were onlyrequired to have outlets placed every 20feet, while homes built before 1935 weren’trequired to have wall outlets at all.

“Relying on extension cords is notthe answer,” John points out. “Exten-sion cords are meant for temporary useonly and should not be a substitute forpermanent wiring.”

Proper grounding, meanwhile, pre-vents painful or even deadly electricalshocks when electricity flows throughan improper path. Every home electricalsystem should have some type ofgrounding. Newer homes are wiredwith cables that include a ground wire.The ground wire allows for use ofthree-pronged receptacles needed topower certain appliances, particularlyones with metal shells, such as refriger-ators and washing machines.

Many wiring systems installed in the1950s and earlier used non-metallic wiring,which lacked a ground wire. Homes fromthis era boast only two-pronged outlets,unsuitable for many modern conven-iences. Simply replacing two-prongedreceptacles with three-pronged receptaclesviolates the National Electrical Safety Codeif no ground path exists.

In some cases, older homes may fea-ture newer wiring systems. But the erawhen the wiring was upgraded impactselectrical limitations. Before buying ahome, have someone certified in electricalwork inspect the system to be safe. l

Information courtesy of the NationalRural Electric Cooperative Association andUnderwriters Laboratories, Inc.

SHORT CIRCUITS:

14b P E N N L I N E S • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Old wiringcould behazardous

WHEN OLD MAN WINTER movesinto rural Pennsylvania, most of us, inturn, move indoors, resigning ourselvesto a few months of cabin fever.

But for co-op personnel who spend thebulk of their time working on power linesand substation equipment, the cold weath-er doesn’t mean that projects get put onhold.

“During the colder months, when theconstruction season starts to slow, weshift our focus toward maintenance,upgrading and line re-building,” saysRandy Boonie, Huntingdon districtmanager.

In fact, the Huntingdon district just

finished relocating a three-phase line fora bridge replacement on Route 26 northof McAlevy’s Fort.

“We’re also rebuilding some lines inthe area of Trough Creek,” Randy adds.

The Shade Gap district is battling bittercold and snowy conditions to rebuild linesand improve reliability in the HarrisonvilleSubstation area of Fulton County.

“This is a major project for us that willcarry us through the winter and beyond,”explains Harry O’Donnell, Shade Gapdistrict supervisor. “We’re upgrading fivemiles of three-phase line, plus about 25-30miles of taps that come off of those mainfeeders — basically everything fromRoute 30 to Clear Ridge.”

At the Martinsburg district, crewshave been busy on new construction jobsthis winter, which is interesting consid-ering current economic conditions.

“We’ve had three new residentialprojects take off since December,” saysJason Hey, Martinsburg district stakingengineer.

In addition, Martinsburg line crewsjust finished a tie line project on RidgeRoad near Williamsburg, Blair County.And they’re also replacing outdatedtransformers and underground serviceequipment throughout the territory theyserve.

Fortunately, crews from all districtshave, so far, been able to stay on taskwithout interruption from major outagescaused by weather.

“We never know what MotherNature will bring, but our aggressiveright-of-way maintenance program hasreduced a lot of the outages we used toget from downed trees on lines,” Randynotes.

Of course, when outages do occur, allefforts turn to power restoration. l

WINTERWORK

Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0 • P E N N L I N E S 14c

Line personnel brave

elements to keep

plans on scheduleB y S u s a n R . P e n n i n g

Director of Member Services

NO REST FOR THE WINTRY: Despite snowy condi-tions, (from left to right) Adam Atherton, Jeff Rubyand Richard Sunderland of the co-op’s Huntingdondistrict set a pole for a new home in FergusonValley, Mifflin County.

A review of your annual electric billsmay make you feel like you’ve boarded anamusement park ride. The bills go up inthe winter heating months, then down inthe spring. They may peak again duringair-conditioning season, then trail off inthe fall.

If a steady ride is more your speed, theco-op can help. The levelized billing pro-gram eliminates the major fluctuations soyou can better estimate, and budget for,your utility expenses.

Here’s how it works. Your currentmonth’s kilowatt-hour use is combinedwith that of the previous 11 months, tak-ing into account your status (whether youhave a debit or credit). This amount isthen divided by 12 to obtain a monthlyaverage. You are billed the levelizedamount, while a running balanceaccounts for the difference between actualand levelized charges. The wide variancebetween seasonal bills is thus reduced.

Levelized billing is not the same asfixed budget billing, where you payexactly the same amount each month

and then make up for any shortfall (orreceive a credit for overpayment) at theend of the year.

Because of the ongoing monthly recal-culations, levelized billing represents atrue reflection of your electric use over thepast year. As the 11-month period changes,so will your levelized bill. This meansthere is no need to reconcile differences atthe end of the year.

The chart to the right is a snapshot ofthe yearly payment record of a co-opmember on the levelized program who

uses an electric heating system. The sec-ond column displays the actual charges foreach month; the third column shows thelevelized charges that appear on the bills.

To qualify for the levelized billing pro-gram, it is not necessary to have a 12-monthbilling history on your account. Even newmembers are eligible. Consumers with elec-tric heating and/or cooling systems benefitmost from the program.

Switching your billing to the levelizedsystem will help you avoid high electricbills during peak months. You’ll be betterprepared for each bill when it arrives,knowing it will vary from the previousone by only a few dollars.

So if you’re ready to get off the pay-ment roller coaster, contact the co-op’sbilling department at 814/643-2650 oremail billing@valleyrec.com. l

14d P E N N L I N E S • F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0

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B y S u s a n R . P e n n i n g

Director of Member Services

Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.

GET GROUNDED: The levelized billing program elimi-nates major fluctuations in monthly electric bills.

Get off the payment roller coasterCo-op’s levelizedbilling program offersbetter budget control