Board Meeting
October 30, 2001
The meeting was
called to order at 7:00 pm by President John Elliott. The
meeting agenda and consent calendar were approved by unanimous
action.
Engineering
and Operations Manager, Roger Kuhlman, reported on the status
of the Northwest Viticulture Center under construction for
Chemeketa Community College. The $2 million project in Salem
Electric's service area is scheduled for completion by
December 2002. Chemeketa officials have offered to be
available for the January 2002 board meeting to make a
presentation about the center.
Member
Services Manager, Terry Kelly, reported that Salem Electric is
co-sponsoring a 28-page Energy Savings Guide scheduled to
appear in the November 4, 2001 issue of the Statesman Journal.
Kelly
announced the four winners in our Residential Conservation
Incentive Program. Kelly said the winners will be featured in
the November issue of the Information Bulletin.
General
Manager, Bob Speckman, reminded the board of the annual
meeting of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association (ORECA)
being held in December. Speckman also reported on the ORECA
strategic planning session that he and John Elliott attended.
The strategic planning participants agreed to increase the
ORECA board from five to seven members. Salem Electric, by
board action, agreed to approve a waiver of notice so the
issue could be acted upon at the ORECA annual meeting.
Anderson was appointed as Salem Electric's voting delegate for
that meeting, with General Manager Bob Speckman serving as the
alternate.
Jim
Dyer reported on actions of the Last Mile Electric
Cooperative. He said the co-op has selected a manager and that
a test site is up and running, the group will meet every three
months.
The
2002 Proposed Budget was presented by Speckman.
Administrative
Services Manager, Jack Belleque, described the format and
answered questions from the board. Directors were encouraged
to review the proposed budget over the next month and to
contact staff with any questions or concerns. The budget will
be approved at the November board meeting.
Board
members Horn and Bonesteele attended the Northwest Innovations
Conference sponsored by the Northwest Public Power Association
and chaired by Salem Electric's Member Services Manager Terry
Kelly. They reported that it was a very good conference.
Meeting
adjourned at 8:10 pm.
Jeff Anderson
Secretary/Treasurer
|
|
 Navigating
the Storm
Flying into
Victoria, B.C. for the Northwest Public Power Association (NWPPA)
conference over the verdant green fields and forests of
Vancouver Island dispelled all thoughts of drought conditions
in the great Northwest. On the ground was a different story.
Reservoirs are at 29% of capacity and lawns have not been
watered since late March. The fear of rising electric rates
reflects the same conditions that plague the entire West. We
came to participate and listen to solutions to the myriad of
problems facing the over 200 publicly-owned utility members of
the NWPPA.
Nancy
Horn and I, both directors of Salem Electric, attended this
conference to keep abreast of current and future developments
in the energy field that affect all of us. Salem Electric's
Member Services Manager, Terry Kelly, chaired this Northwest
Innovations Conference, with nearly 100 members in attendance
from 12 states and Western Canadian provinces, all with
similar concerns.
As
this was an innovations program, some extra-special ideas for
energy savings were presented. Two of the presenters gave
dramatic testimonies, with slides of solar energy as it is
used and adapted for schools, churches, commercial and
residential buildings, from Finland and other colder countries
and back to the U.S. in states such as Wisconsin and
Minnesota, where darkness can be excessive in winter. The
possibilities seem endless.
We
heard from B.C. Hydro, which gets 42% of its energy from the
Columbia River, the rest from the Peace River. Vancouver
Island has serious energy problems, due to cables being
retired. They are looking into methane gas and the use of wood
waste.
All
of us are aware of the crisis California has faced: declining
reserves, old power plants, and lack of transmission lines.
Before the crisis, California was one of the most
energy-efficient states, but with no new power plants and the
unknowns of deregulation, the state remains optimistic but
cautious. California was and is innovative in wind power
generation. Many of the Western States have invested in wind
turbines and Salem Electric has been active in this area.
Another
note: our luncheon speaker, a former CIA official, reminded us
that terrorism could hit the electrical grid shutting down our
whole country. Not a pleasant thought, but one we must be
aware of in these times. We deal with electrical energy 24
hours a day. Like the Columbus Day Storm of 1962, we don’t
need a reminder of the importance of our dependence on
electricity in our lives.
Alicia Bonesteele
Vice-President
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