Peninsula Light Company News

Supervising Editor: Jonathan White • 253-857-1514 • newsletter@penlight.org • Produced by Peninsula Light Company

DON’T FORGET THOSE HIDDEN NUMBERS!Every month, five randomly chosen account numbers are hidden in Lights. If you spot yours, call Cathy at 253-857-1525 and receive a $50 credit on your next bill.

INSIDE:

To report an outage, call877-853-1388. Learn more at PenLight.org/Power-Outages.

Ken Wheeler's unforgettable World War II experience strengthened his tie to the Gig Harbor community.

PenLight 253-857-5950 • PenLight.org • PenLight Office: 13315 Goodnough Drive NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98332

Continues on page 2

7 20

294 252

36

1301

632

320

MemberDamage

EquipmentFailure

Vegetation Misc.

Bomber forced to bail out but received help along the way Richard "Kenneth" Wheeler, a navigator in the Army Air Corps, sat on the edge of a hatch inside the belly of a B-17 bomber in December 1943. Wheeler and his crew were on a mission from southern Italy, with a primary target in Poland. They never made it that far.

Wheeler's plane was hit by German anti-aircraft fire–a scenario for which they had trained. Crew members snapped on parachute packs and dropped out of the plane over the eastern slopes of the Dinaric Alps–part of Yugoslavia at the time–from about 6,000 feet.

Once Wheeler was safely on the ground, he and two other crew members began a 10-day westward journey through present-day Croatia, hiding from German soldiers along the way. A non-English-speaking family that was part of the Yugoslavian resistance provided shelter.

Wheeler, now 93, was raised in Gig Harbor, a Croatian community. When he needed it the most, Croatians provided a way to safety. They jeopardized their lives

to save strangers, and Wheeler was forever humbled by the experience.

Arrangements were made for a middle-of-the-night meeting at a harbor in Split, Croatia, where a British-operated air rescue boat picked up Wheeler and seven Allied airmen. They jumped onto the boat at 4 a.m. and immediately came under German fire as they sped away.

The boat safely motored into the Adriatic Sea and traveled about 40 miles to the Partisan-held island of Vis. Coincidentally, Bertha Skansie, the matriarch of one of the pioneering families of Gig Harbor, was from the Croatian island of Brac, not far away. Once

Basic Charge to Increase in JanuaryThe basic charge for electric service will increase $2.50 to $23 per month starting Jan. 1, 2017. This is the second part of a two-step process approved by the PenLight Board of Directors in 2015 to minimize a one-time impact to our members.

The basic charge is the monthly service fee that helps maintain our $160 million electric distribution system. It differs from the consumption rate, which applies to how much electricity is used at each meter. The consumption rate, which increased in April 2016 in response to a new two-year rate cycle from the Bonneville Power Administration, will remain unchanged. The BPA rate cycle runs through Sept. 30, 2017.

The basic charge covers the cost of capital improvements and maintenance to our local grid. Since 2007, PenLight has invested about $6 million a year toward system upgrades, including overhead-to-underground conversion and the installation of tree wire throughout our 112-square-mile service territory.

Despite the challenges of living in the Pacific Northwest during storm season, we have seen a vast improvement in our service reliability following our investments in system improvements. PenLight was measured in 2005 to be in the fourth quartile of utilities nationwide in terms of outage frequency and duration. After years of steady improvement, PenLight reached the first quartile in 2013 using those same standards. The company remains in the top 25 percent of system reliability today.

November/December 2016 Holiday Closures: Veteran's Day & Thanksgiving Day

Project Help

Outage TrackerSeptember 1-30, 2016

OUTAGES BY CAUSE:

# of Members Duration (minutes)

Member Damage

Equipment Failure

Vegetation

Misc.

Solar Ribbon CuttingCommunityCALENDAR

GIRLS NIGHT OUT – NOV. 10 The Downtown Waterfront Alliance’s annual Girls Night Out event presents an all-day opportunity to shop and dine, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Presales for goodie bags will be at participating businesses while supplies last. For more information, email info@ghhwa.org.

WINTER WARMUP CRAFTS FAIR – NOV. 12, 9 A.M. The ninth annual Winter Warmup Crafts Fair and Chili Competition will take place at the Key Peninsula Civic Center, 17010 S. Vaughn Road KPN, Vaughn. There will be more than 50 booths, with handmade crafts and local artisans. Concessions will be available along with kids’ crafts, entertainment and more. For more information, call 253-884-3456 or email kpciviccenter@centurytel.net.

FINANCIAL LITERACY SEMINAR – NOV. 15, 6:30 P.M. The third installment of a free three-part series of classes on financial literacy will be at the Peninsula branch of the Pierce County Library System, 4424 Point Fosdick Drive NW. The class, “Key Life Decisions: Are You Prepared?,” will contain estate-planning information from a team of local experts.

THE STORY OF SALMON IN DONKEY CREEK – NOV. 18, 1 P.M. Harbor WildWatch Science Specialist Stena Troyer will present a special program called “The Story of Salmon in Donkey Creek” at the Harbor History Museum, 4121 Harborview Drive, Gig Harbor. The cost is $2 for museum members, $5 for nonmembers. For reservations, call Elizabeth Langford at 253-858-6722, ext. 6 or email Elizabeth@harborhistorymuseum.org.

TURKEY TROT – NOV. 24, 8 A.M. The annual Turkey Trot run will kick off in front of the Gig Harbor Post Office, 3118 Judson St. Race-day registration and food drop-off starts at 6:30 a.m. For more information, visit www.harborlifechiro.com/turkey-trot.html.

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY – NOV. 26 Founded by American Express in 2010, Small Business Saturday celebrates local neighborhoods on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It encourages holiday shopping at local businesses and neighborhood pride.

FIRST SATURDAY ART WALK – DEC. 3, 10 A.M. The First Saturday Art Walk features six galleries and free demonstrations, refreshments and displays. Pick up a passport at the first gallery you visit, and drop it off at your last stop. Stamps from each stop make you eligible for a drawing for a $50 gift certificate. Galleries include Ebb Tide Gallery, Gallery Row, Water’s Edge Gallery & Framery Inc., Blackwater Trading Company, Sea Hags, Morso and Maritime Jewelry, Dolly Mama Boutique and Harbor WildWatch.

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA AND MRS. CLAUS – DEC. 3 Tell Santa and Mrs. Claus your holiday wishes at Key Pen Parks’ Breakfast with Santa at the Key Center Fire Station, 8911 Key Peninsula Highway N. There will be seating times at 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. Pre-sale tickets are $5 per person. Tickets at the door are $10.

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA – DEC. 3 The sixth annual Breakfast with Santa event hosted by PenMet Parks and the Peninsula Athletic Association will be from 9-11 a.m. at the Boys & Girls Club, 8502 Skansie Ave., Gig Harbor. The Gig Harbor Kiwanis Club will provide a pancake breakfast, and other events will be included. To register, call 253-530-0722 or visit www.penmetparks.org.

TIDEFEST ARTS & CRAFTS FAIR – DEC. 3-4 Gig Harbor High School’s annual Tidefest event brings in arts and crafts vendors from across the Northwest. It will be at the school, 5101 Rosedale St. NW, Gig Harbor. The festival raises money for the school’s activities and athletics programs. Tickets are $5 at the door.

GH Veteran Recalls Harrowing Rescue

Lighting Project at Volunteer Park

16

6

4

06

78

89

06

80

25

6

08

33

21

01

44

78

2

Continues from page 1

Participants Celebrate Harbor Community Solar Project

Key Pen Parks is upgrading the lighting at Volunteer Park by replacing the metal halide lights on Field 1 with LEDs. The changes will improve the lighting efficiency by 50 percent and help reduce the parks district’s annual operating and maintenance costs. New LEDs also were installed on Fields 2 and 3 to help expand the use of the facilities for youth and adult sports.

The total project cost is $625,000. Funding included $225,000 from the Washington State Youth Athletic Facilities Grant Program, Key Peninsula Little League, PenLight and Key Pen capital improvement funds. The project was designed by Cross Engineering. The lighting was installed by MB Electrical and PenLight.

The new LEDs will allow the park district to expand the use of its facilities not only for baseball, but also for soccer and rugby.

Volunteer Park Gets New LED Lighting

Follow PenLight for the Latest News: facebook.com/PenLightCo twitter.com/PenLightCo

Peninsula Light Co. Newsletter November/December 2016

Help Your Neighbors by Donating to Project Help Sometimes there’s not enough to make ends meet.

During the winter, many living expenses go up and often make it difficult for families who are struggling to make ends meet, let alone stay warm. We can help.

Our Project Help program is designed to help income-qualifying families with up to $200 of support each year. The program provides funds through a partnership with Key Peninsula Community Services to offset costs for those who need assistance with their electric bill.

The economy is still hurting, and the need continues to rise. We’re looking for additional support from the community. The best part is, we will match your donations dollar for dollar.

THREE WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE PenLight members can donate to help their neighbors in one of three ways:

• One-time gift.

• Recurring monthly donation.

• Rounding up your bill each month to the nearest whole dollar.

The round-up campaign is the newest way members can contribute. On average, those who enroll add only about $6 to their annual bill. Those donations go a long way to help neighbors who sometimes have to choose between food and heat.

Since last year, more than 1,500 people have signed up to donate funds. That brings the total number of supporters to about 1,900. Our goal is to encourage 10,000 of our members–one-third of our service area–to sign up for the Project Help Round-Up campaign. You can help by visiting www.penlight.org/project-help, or by calling our Member Services Department at 253-857-5950.

PROGRAM BENEFITS About 550 Gig Harbor-area families have benefited from an average of $110,000 through Project Help annually since 2009. Yet the program needs more funds because demand is on the rise. No administrative costs are deducted. All contributions are tax-deductible. Every dollar goes to help your neighbors in need.

Contact us today to learn how you can give the gift of warmth this winter.

she heard about Wheeler’s experience later in life, she invited him over for cookies and coffee to hear all about the adventure and to learn about the conditions in her homeland.

About a week and a half after he was stranded in the mountains, Wheeler and other airmen were rescued by a C-47 cargo plane that landed on a dirt road on Vis. Once he was safely returned to his squadron, Wheeler got new orders, was promoted to first lieutenant and returned to the air after only a two-week break for rest and relaxation.

In all, Wheeler flew more than 10,000 military hours and 52 bombing missions, 35 of which were successful. He continued his career into the 1950s and ’60s, and flew to locations all over the world. He still resides in Gig Harbor.

0 6 4 0 1 9 0 7 8 0 6 5 0

Peninsula Light Company CEO Jafar Taghavi, left, thanked 60 Harbor Community Solar participants Friday, Sept. 16, during a ceremony at the Harbor History Museum.

About 100 PenLight members bought at least one of 1,850 available units last year. The 60-kilowatt array was installed last fall by A&R Solar of Seattle.

The project falls in line with Washington state’s renewable energy incentive program. Each participant will receive a check annually through 2020 based on the amount of energy produced by the system. The solar energy is used by

the Harbor History Museum, which has seen about a 30 percent decrease in its electricity bills. The Harbor Community Solar project has been generating power since November 2015.

0 9 2 0 2 2 1 0 4 3 3 6 3 0 4 3 4 4 7 0 7 8 3 8 4 5

Ken Wheeler, back row, second from left, stands in front of a B-17 bomber with his squadron during WWII.