March 2003

Member Profile: Mary Kuhn

Each week a small group of women in West Salem get together to socialize and snip grocery-sized plastic bags into thin strips. Once tied end-to-end, the knotted plastic strips form a giant ball of “yarn,” from which these women crochet medium-sized handbags. From the sale of the purses, they fund church activities, repairs and even charity missions. “It has always bothered me to see plastic bags blown by the wind into fences along the highway,” said Mary Kuhn, 94, who has been a member of the church from the time she moved to West Salem in 1930.
Born in Heppner, Oregon, Mary moved with her grain-farming parents to the Nez Perce Indian Reservation at 18 months old. After attending 1st grade there, in a one-room school with 20 students sprinkled among eight grades, the family moved back to Oregon. The proceeds from the sale of their land, a herd of 50 horses and the horse-drawn combine bought a 20-acre farm on Wallace Road near Dayton. The house was new, with two bedrooms, but had no indoor plumbing until much later.
     Mary wed Don Kuhn two years after she graduated from Dayton High School, in 1927. Don had found work at the Boise Cascade paper mill in Salem and by 1934, the couple and two children had moved to West Salem, still a separate town. “West Salem really started booming as a result of WWII, when people began coming to the Northwest to work in the shipyards,” she said.
     The couple’s first home, a comfortable two-story place built in 1937, not far from Rosemont Park, cost $2,500, Mary recalled. “I was pretty happy to finally be able to replace the wood cooking stove with an electric range and oven,” she said, proudly displaying a membership certificate to Salem Electric, Number 80, dated 1945. Furnace technology in her lifetime—from wood to sawdust then fuel oil—has come a long way. “The house is all-electric now,” Mary said, including a heat pump that cools the place down, “but only on the hottest days, when the temperature gets near 100°.”
     Mary clerked at Coast to Coast Hardware for 16 years, once the children were grown. “I never wanted to get my hands grimy,” she admitted, “but I learned enough about electricity and power equipment to rewire lamps and help customers with their questions.” The Kuhns bought farmland near her parents’ place and became part-time cherry growers until Don retired from the paper mill in 1947. The orchard provided their livelihood until sold in the early 1990s, after Don passed away. The couple was married 62 years.
     “Crocheting the plastic handbags wasn’t our idea,” Mary said, returning the conversation to her present activities. “But it is a great way to recycle and to raise money for good causes.” The bags are not only sturdy, but attractive, with flecks of brightness (from the printing) swimming in a neutral background. When she’s not crocheting, Mary is involved in other fundraising activities. Otherwise, she can often be found among the regular breakfast or lunch crowd at the Edgewater Cafe. “They’re such nice people,” she said, “and their meals are more nutritious than I could make, just cooking for myself. Plus I don’t drive, so it’s a good way for me to get some exercise everyday.”

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Compact Fluorescent Bulbs & Mercury 

Consumers are buying compact fluorescent bulbs (CFs) in record numbers. This has raised some fears about the mercury levels in CFs. Do CFs contain mercury and is it harmful?
CFs contain less than 5 milligrams of mercury, a typical mercury thermometer contains approximately 1 gram of mercury, (1 gram equals 1000 milligrams). Therefore, the mercury from one liquid thermometer equals the mercury level of 200 CFs.
     Consumers are uneasy about liquid mercury escaping from a thermometer and endangering their children. There is also a similar fear about CFs. However, the mercury in a CF is in a vapor, not a liquid form. Therefore, it would be released as vapor when the CF is broken. This mercury vapor cannot be handled by someone like the liquid mercury from a thermometer.
     Additionally, the miniscule amount of mercury inside a CF slowly bonds with the phosphor coating on the bulb interior as it ages, making it generally unavailable to the atmosphere or human consumption. In fact, the lack of available gaseous mercury is one reason the bulb eventually fails.
     No individual health problems associated with this vapor have ever been documented; however, one should take reasonable care and not inhale the vapor. Keep children away from broken CFs. No definitive documentation exists, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) believes that vapor released from millions of these CFs could accumulate in the environment and eventually create some health risk.
     Household waste of this type is exempt from EPA and state regulations. But, you should consider recycling all household items when possible. Know about any waste transfer recycling station near you, and join your local recycling program.
     Commercial users should follow EPA’s disposal regulations, which can be found at www.epa.gov.
     The bottomline: The conservation benefits of installing a CF far outweigh any individual or   environmental hazard associated with this product.

Information provided by BPA

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DEREGULATION UPDATE - 
California & Oregon

California’s deregulation experiment recently ended. The California PUC unanimously voted to cancel the 1994 order that initiated the process of opening the state’s electricity market to competition, allowing customers to choose power suppliers. Commissioner Carl Wood called the state’s experiment “the most expensive public policy mistake in the history of California.” Even though the Oregon numbers are not as high as California’s, according to the Oregon PUC, $115 million has been spent on the Oregon deregulation plan and, to date, only a couple of industrial customers have purchased power from a non-utility power supplier. The PUC numbers only reflect the direct cost to PGE and PacifiCorp. It’s frightening to think of the costs associated with the rule-making process that have not been included in this figure. In the end, what PGE and PacifiCorp customers got from Oregon’s deregulation plan were high rates, a public purpose charge, a low-income billing assistance charge—and a whole lot of bill stuffers.

Information provided by ORECA.

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Safety First:  Don't Go Near the Utility Lines!

Each year, people are injured or killed in accidents involving electricity; many involve CB or TV antennas. The tragic thing is that these accidents can be prevented. Salem Electric attempts to place power lines in a safe location, but we need your help. Take time to notice where electric lines are BEFORE installing antennas or gutters. Antennas for televisions, CBs, or ham radios can fall across electric lines. Never use a metal ladder when working near electric lines.
     Never fly a kite around electric lines. A wet kite string can conduct electricity and cause fatal accidents. You should also avoid the use of products containing metal, foil, or tinsel on kites.

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In Your Neighborhood

THE SEVENTH STREET REALIGNMENT PROJECT: Our crews will be trenching the area from Seventh Street NW behind Westgate Shopping Center to Wallace Road to install service for street lighting and signals. We will also be installing conduit for future growth and street lighting from Moyer Lane NW to Glen Creek Road.

BRUSH COLLEGE ROAD WIDENING PROJECT: We will be relocating a number of poles for the widening of Brush College Road NW from Wallace Road to Doaks Ferry Road.

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Salem Electric’s power supplier, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), has begun a process which will probably result in their raising wholesale power rates this October. BPA says the increase could be as high as 15%, which would translate to a 9%–10% retail increase to our customers.
     The process would trigger BPA’s Safety Net CRAC or Cost Recovery Adjustment Clause. This is the third of BPA’s three CRACs. The other two have already added over 40% to the wholesale cost of BPA’s power.
     BPA projections indicate a January-to-July runoff forecast at 70% of normal. This, coupled with the 2001 drought, volatile energy prices and the West Coast energy crisis, puts BPA in a terrible cash position.
     The next annual treasury payment from BPA is due September 30, 2003. So, they say, a new rate structure must in place by then.
     Your Salem Electric staff and board are involved in the process by participating in many groups and organizations to keep abreast of these issues.
     Efforts are underway to urge BPA to reduce the size of this increase in ways that would not jeopardize BPA’s future.
     Although BPA has adjusted its rates several times in the past two years, Salem Electric’s rates have remained unchanged since October 2001.
     We’ll keep you updated as we receive additional information.

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