www.pdec.com PRESIDENT & CEOMichael S. Fuller

CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF TRUSTEESJames A. Goodson

TRUSTEESPreston Gainey, Vice-ChairmanPatricia Thomas Toney,   Secretary/Treasurer LaShon Sellers, ChaplainDavid Howell Robert NortonHamer ParnellW. F. RogersDon TealLee C. White

OFFICE HOURS8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS1355 East McIver RoadPO Box 491Darlington, SC 29540

MARION PAYMENT CENTER2523 US-76 Highway8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Tuesday and Friday

REPORT POWER OUTAGE (843) 665-4070Toll-Free (866) 747-0060

CO-OP NEWS EDITOR Katie W. Wilcox

Pee Dee Electric Cooperative is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

We are all in this together–not some of us, all of us.

BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 pandemic, we are adhering to the recommended guidelines set forth by Gov. Henry McMaster and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—social distancing, stay home, wash your hands and consider wearing a cloth mask.

We hope all our members are following these guidelines as well.

There is a light at the end of this tunnel, and we will get through this together.

Today, we want to stay focused on what matters most: Our No. 1 priority is the health and well-being of all our neighbors. That must be our main goal, and we cannot forget to say a prayer for all the healthcare workers and other first responders, who are working tirelessly to combat the virus and mitigate its spread through our communities.

We also understand the coronavirus outbreak may have caused unintended financial hardships within our community. PDEC has taken steps to support members who, through no fault of their own, are juggling financial obligations as their jobs have been negatively affected. Some members may have faced a reduction in employment or layoffs while others have been confined to their homes, which makes 24-hour electric service vital.

PDEC has temporarily suspended disconnections for those unable to cover their electric bills. Please call one of our member service representatives at (843) 665-4070 if you need extra time paying your bills. This is just one way we can assist our members during this crisis. We have been and will remain here for you.

Members who are facing unusual hardships may apply for an “Operation Round Up” donation. This program has

been in existence since 1991 and more than $3 million has been distributed to needy organizations and individuals throughout our communities. PDEC remains committed to the members we serve. For more information and an application, visit pdec.com/our-community/operation-round-up/.

And let’s remember to shop local and boost those small businesses, which have felt this crisis the most. Supporting our local communities has always been our priority at PDEC.

Again, we’re here to help. Call us at (843) 665-4070 to discuss your situation. We’ll get through this together.

MICHAEL S. FULLER

President & CEO

Leonard Howard, member services representative, takes a member’s phone call while PDEC’s lobby is closed due to COVID-19.

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Forms available for petition candidatesTO RUN AS a petition candidate for trustee at the 81st Annual Meeting of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, a member must use an Official Petition Form. Forms are available weekdays at the PDEC corporate headquarters. Completed forms will be accepted at 1355 East McIver Road, Darlington, SC, 29532, any business day between June 16 and July 16 by 5 p.m.

To the Members of Pee Dee Electric CooperativeTHERE ARE MEMBERS AND FORMER MEMBERS of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative whose capital credit checks were returned to us due to an incorrect or undeliverable address. If you think you may be on our online list, go to PDEC.com and click on our searchable site.

If your name is on the list, please contact us at (843) 665-4070 to have a check reissued. Please be prepared to provide information that confirms verification of your identity

Local students to have Virtual Youth ExperienceAnnual trips canceled due to the coronavirusIN FEBRUARY, Pee Dee Electric selected five local high school students to represent the cooperative and be a part of two memorable summer experiences. Caden Booth and Ethan Shaw—both from Mayo High School for Math, Science, and Technology—and Cameron Graham of Darlington High School were scheduled to go to Washington, D.C. for the Rural Cooperative Youth Tour in June. Ar’Kadius Benjamin of Lake View High and Grace Johnson of Mayo High were slated for the Cooperative Youth Summit in South Carolina’s capital city.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis has forced the cancellation of both of those events. However, the local students will still have the opportunity to connect with new friends and learn this summer. The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina will hold a Virtual Youth Experience for students selected by their local cooperative. The multi-day event is planned for June 22–25 and will occur over the

web-conferencing platform WebEx. During the experience, the students will learn about

cooperatives and how they are handling the COVID-19 crisis, hear from lawmakers on Capitol Hill and at the Statehouse, and learn from citizen leaders around the state about what is being done in response to the crisis. Students will also have the opportunity to earn a $5,000 college scholarship by creating a video or podcast detailing how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted their lives.

“During these times, we have to be innovative in order to continue supporting our communities and members,” says Katie Wilcox, who handles community development for Pee Dee Electric. “We’re disappointed that these students don’t get to take the trips as they were originally planned. But, we’re glad that this experience is available to them. We think it will still be one they will always remember.”

Ar’ Kadius BenjaminLake View High SchoolActivities: football, weight liftingPlans to study: athletic training

Caden BoothMayo High SchoolActivities: chess, roboticsPlans to study: biology, dentistry

Cameron GrahamDarlington High SchoolActivities: student governmentPlans to study: political science, history & law

Grace JohnsonMayo High SchoolActivities: 4H, oboePlans to study: genetics

Ethan ShawMayo High SchoolActivities: soccer, chess, roboticsPlans to study: engineering

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Use SmartHub and Save

With SmartHub, you can:

» pay your bill

» receive bill reminders and usage alerts

» check your energy usage

» contact member services

Register at pdec.com, or download the free SmartHub app today!

Questions? Call us at (843) 665-4070 or (866) 747-0060 toll free.

Pee Dee Electric has launched SmartHub, an easy-to-use online payment and account management system, to improve your customer experience.

Gives you a detailed look at your past and current usage, all in one place.

Lets you compare two bills worth of usage history side by side.

Shows your typical or average usage for a selected time period.

U S AG E C O M PA R I S O N

U S AG E E X P L O R E R

AV E R AG E U S AG E

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PDEC linemen help restore power in BoliviaDuo leaves behind modern equipment to set crooked cuchi wood polesJOSH P. CROTZER

WHEN HURRICANES and ice storms decimated the poles and power lines in Mississippi, Florida, and Kentucky, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative’s Eugene Bryant and Chris Blackmon were among the army of linemen that drove their trucks up and down the interstate to help the cooperatives in those areas return power to their members.

But when they were needed in Bolivia, Bryant and Blackmon had to leave their trucks behind. In February, the two flew to the South American country with six other linemen from North Carolina and Arkansas for two weeks of restoration work in and around the province of Robore. Months earlier, fires had charred over 400 million acres in the Bolivian rainforests and rural provinces where electrification is still ongoing.

Cooperativa de Rural Electrificación (CRE) reached out to electric co-ops across America for help and Pee Dee Electric was one of the first to respond. The missions, and many more like

them, are coordinated by NRECA International, a division of the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association that has brought electricity to more than 160 million people in 45 developing countries.

“Usually these missions bring power to people who didn’t already have power,” says Bryant. “We were doing maintenance work that would prevent future outages.”

The scope of the work seemed simple enough—reconstructing power lines and poles damaged and destroyed by the fires. But Bryant and Blackmon had to do things a little different in Bolivia. Despite working on the system of the largest

electric cooperative in the world, they were without much of the modern equipment they depend upon at home.

“They didn’t have one-sixteenth of what we have to work with in the U.S.,”

Eugene Bryant Line crew leader 22 years with PDEC From Darlington

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On a day off, their Bolivian hosts took them to a local hot springs waterfall. Blackmon and Bryant enjoyed the outing but admitted after working in 100-degree temperatures, they’d hoped the water would have been cooler.

Blackmon says. “It’s mostly manual labor.”There were no digger trucks, those

powerful and efficient machines that burrow deep into the ground to create holes for a utility pole to easily slide into. Instead, Bolivian line workers use the same type of post-hole diggers a weekend gardener might wield. As for the poles, they weren’t made from treated, straight lumber most often used in the United States.

“They have what they call cuchi wood,” explains Blackmon. “It’s really hard. They told us it would last 100 years (as long as it’s not burned). But it looks like a spaghetti noodle.”

The crooked wood is so hard, the Bolivians doubted their American counterparts could climb the poles, but Bryant and Blackmon proved them wrong. And they were glad to do it, especially without the use of a bucket truck.

“They worked on ladders 40-feet in the air, which was completely weird to me,” says Blackmon. “I’d much rather be in my hooks (the spiked leg irons used to climb poles).”

The Bolivian equipment wasn’t the only challenge. Neither lineman spoke Spanish and the hosting lineworkers weren’t fluent in English, especially their brand of it.

“There was a language barrier, but we had Google translate on our phones,” says Bryant. “There was a lot of talking into phones. And they laughed a lot at our Southern accents.

“Once you start working, though, you do what you do. We all do the same things, it’s just different ways of getting to the end point.”

That end point was putting up about six poles per crew, per day in 100-degree heat across mountainous terrain. That’s about three times as many as Bolivia’s two-man crews would have been able to accomplish without the extra hands. That doesn’t mean those crews don’t have the respect of Bryant and Blackmon.

“It was impressive to see them do what they do with the equipment that they have,” says Bryant. “They don’t have a lot, but they get a lot done with what they have. They take a lot of pride in their work.”

“I can’t speak highly

enough of them,” says Blackmon. “I think we got to work with the best guys they had.”

Part of the mission was to train the Bolivian line crews in modern techniques and best practices of line work and safety. However, the Pee Dee Electric lineman say it was actually an education for them.

“You’ve got to have an open mind

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Chris Blackmon First class lineman 6 years with PDEC From Darlington

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Blackmon and Bryant were not used to using a ladder to do line work, nor

were they accustomed to climbing the crooked cuchi wood poles.

Blackmon said they’d set poles on top of a mountain and a few miles down the road set another at the bottom of a jungle.

going into it because it’s just so different than what we do,” explains Bryant. “I think we learned from them more than they learned from us.”

But the two did leave some things behind to benefit the crews they worked with.

“We left them our tools and belts,” Blackmon says. “They didn’t have much more than a leather belt. They were sticking screwdrivers in their back pockets.”

With permission from Pee Dee Electric CEO Mike Fuller, some of the Bolivian line workers are now equipped with high quality climbing belts, tool bags, channel locks, bolt cutters, rain suits, safety glasses, work gloves, and much more. Blackmon said they were envious of their boots, but the size differences made it impractical to leave them behind.

Bryant and Blackmon brought back with them a heart for their Bolivian brothers and a desire to return.

“They made us want to work hard to get everything done before we left,” says Bryant. “I would definitely do it again.”

“I’m ready to go again,” says Blackmon. “I want to do some electrification.”

They’ll have their chance. Pee Dee Electric has already signed up for another international trip to Bolivia in 2021 that will bring power to areas that have yet to receive it.

Continued from page 16A

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