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FROM YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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March 2004
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Board
Meeting Summary
January27, 2004
The
meeting was called to order by President Jim Dyer. All members were present,
including Leadership Youth Representative, Rachel Knotts.
A
customer came before the board with a complaint regarding the way a credit
matter had been handled last month. He said he has always been satisfied with
Salem Electric and wanted to be clear on where he stands. General Manager Bob
Speckman apologized for any miscommunication that may have occurred between the
customer and the staff and said he would look into the matter and contact the
customer.
Sara
Patton, the Executive Director of the Northwest Energy Coalition (NWEC), and
Jay Formick, Executive Director of Oregon Heat and Chairman of the NWEC board
made a presentation to the board. They stated that Salem Electric is exemplary
in its conservation programs and is ahead of most in helping its low-income
customers. Patton provided an update on the coalition’s activities and
accomplishments and urged Salem Electric to consider rejoining the NWEC.
Administrative Services
Jack Belleque, Administrative Services Manager,
presented year-end statistical information regarding: kilowatt hours sold,
revenue, net margin, write-offs and revolvement. He noted that the 2003 total
operating budget was 3.0% below budget.
Engineering and Operations
Roger Kuhlman, Engineering & Operations Manager,
reported that Salem Electric has completed its third consecutive year without a
lost-time accident. He provided highlights from the written report, noting that
capital expenditures for 2003 were 80% of budget. He summarized the outages
during the December-January snow and ice storms. In December there were 1,038
customers out of power, and within 24 hours everyone had power back. During the
second storm, 1,706 customers were out of power, due to continuous limb
breakage and ice-related problems, outages continued to occur for the next
several days. Director Jerry Berger complimented staff on the way outage calls
were handled during the snowstorm. The average outage in 2003 was 16:49 minutes
due to internally-caused interruptions and 1:39 minutes for externally-caused
interruptions. Kuhlman reported that 331 new services were connected in 2003.
Information Items
Cindy Lenker, Administrative Assistant, summarized the
customer contacts received in 2003. Out of a total of 372 received; 108 were
inquiries, 159 were complaints (which included high-bill checks), 63 were
compliments, and 42 were initiated by SE. Of the total complaints received, 82%
were unfounded.
Member Services
Terry Kelly, Member Services Manager, distributed and
reviewed a comparison of the last seven years’ statistics for our conservation
programs. He called attention to a recent WeatherWise program review by a
weatherization consultant; everything was found to be in order.
Leadership Youth
Rachel Knotts, Leadership Youth Representative,
reported that the Leadership Youth group sat in on Judge Abernathy’s hearings
and were able to talk to a member of the Oregon Supreme Court. She said the
experience, part of their education on the judicial system, was very
interesting and that she enjoyed learning more about the legislative process.
Manager’s Report
Speckman noted that two directors would be eligible
for computer upgrades this year, as outlined in the board computer policy. He
said he appreciates being able to communicate and share information with
directors in a quick and efficient manner.
Speckman
reported that the BPA/IOU settlement did not go through. Had the agreement been
approved, BPA’s wholesale power rates would have gone down by about 7%. Salem
Electric had submitted a letter in support of the settlement to BPA
Administrator, Stephen Wright, prior to last week’s deadline. He said BPA is
trying to figure out how they will proceed without the settlement.
Speckman
said the annual membership meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 11, 2004. The
same format will be used as in past years, with employees making
presentations.
Carl Beach called attention to the revised Board
Policies booklet and the recommended changes from the sub-committee. Following
discussion, the Board Policies booklet was approved as presented.
Meeting adjourned at 9:43 pm.
Carl Beach
Secretary/Treasurer
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Salem Electric offers a number of
highly effective weatherization and conservation programs to help us conserve
electricity and keep our bills as low as possible. During the cold snap in
January, it became painfully obvious to me that energy conservation is an
ongoing process and not something that you do once and forget about. It needs
to become a part of our lifestyle.
On our electric bills we find a handy bar graph that
Salem Electric provides to help us track our electricity usage over the past
year. You can also access your personal energy usage, payment history and view
your current bill through our website, salemelectric.com, by clicking on “log
in,” then “register.”
I live in an all-electric home and my graph usually
makes a smooth, up-and-down curve with peaks in December and January and a
valley in the mid to late summer. My goal is to see the current month’s bar no
higher, and hopefully a little lower, than the corresponding month from the
prior year. This January I saw a huge spike, and of course my bill was very
high as well.
This triggered my mind. I almost immediately
remembered that I had turned on the electric heater in my greenhouse during the
coldest night when the arctic front moved in, to try to save some plants I was
keeping out there. What I forgot was to turn it off for almost three weeks. So
a simple lapse of memory had cost me a couple dozen dollars and ruined my nice
smooth graph.
The reason I point this out is to remind you to use
the tools that your co-op gives you. Not just the weatherization programs and
incentives, but also the easy-to-read information on your bill, to help you
monitor your energy use, save money and conserve electricity.
Paul Ennor
Vice President
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