Volume 2019: Issue 2 (800) 696-7444 P O Box 425 Calais, ME 04619 www.emec.com (207) 454-7555 February 2019

SmartHub: More Info Than Could Fit On a Paper BillData, Analysis Tools, and a Prize Drawing

For several years, Eastern Maine Electric Co-op has offered online viewing and payment of bills through a website and downloadable app called “SmartHub.” SmartHub is more than an alternative to a paper bill however, because it puts useful tools at a Co-op member’s fingertips. More information is available than could ever fit on a one-page bill.

Much of this additional information deals with electric usage. EMEC’s paper bill has room to provide the basic information. SmartHub shows you a lot more.

The majority of meters in EMEC’s territory are read using automated readers. The automated readers take readings more than once a month, and when they do, the Co-op offers this added usage information through SmartHub. Having daily readings can be very useful when trying to understand how and where a home uses electricity. In parts of the system where metering has been upgraded, hourly readings are also available.

The information is presented in different ways to allow co-op members to more easily see the patterns in the way

they use power. The viewer can choose various reports showing average usage by month or by day of the week over any selected length of time in the past three years. It is also possible to compare usage between any two specific periods of time.

To help members gauge what impact the weather has on their electric use, SmartHub’s usage graphs includes information about the average outside temperatures as the energy was used.

SmartHub also offers a lot more information about past payments and past bills. Three years of payment history is available online. Members can also print off and compare electric bills from past months and years as well.

Monthly Prize in Draw TenMembers who sign up for SmartHub

qualify for the Draw Ten, a random monthly drawing of account numbers with the chance for a $100 credit. Ten SmartHub users’ account numbers are listed at www.emec.com. The first of these ten members to see his or her account number and contact the Co-op for identity confirmation wins the credit.

If no one claims the Draw Ten prize in a given month, the prize rolls forward to the next month, when new account numbers

are drawn. During that next drawing, there will be twenty account numbers listed and two drawings for a $100 credit.

Only Co-op members who are signed up for SmartHub are eligible for the Draw Ten.

Paperless or Not: It’s Your Choice

While paperless billing is an option with SmartHub, it isn’t automatic and it isn’t a requirement. SmartHub users can keep receiving paper bills if they wish. Some people

worry that they’ll forget to pay a bill if they don’t have a paper copy. Even members who still get a paper bill should sign up for SmartHub, though, because it provides a lot more information than can fit on a one-page bill.

Signing up is a simple process at www.emec.com. It requires only your account information, your confirmed identity, and an email address.

Circuit breaker technology has improved over the years, making homes safer against electrical hazards. Technology is now available to combat most electrical hazards.

Conventional circuit breakers have been around since the 1930s. They detect overloads and short circuits, and they respond by opening cutting the power to prevent appliance damage. They might trip if too many things are plugged into one circuit, or they might trip if they detect certain kinds of short circuits.

Regular circuit breakers can’t detect if something has shorted to ground or if a person is receiving a shock. Although they respond in an instant, they are still too slow to prevent injuries and some kinds of appliance damage.

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters

(GFCIs) can detect these problems, which is why they are credited with saving 200-400 lives a year since the 1970s. GFCIs monitor the amount of current flowing toward and away from a socket. The units are very sensitive to small reductions in return current, which may indicate someone is receiving a shock. They cut the power at the socket itself, with a little “reset” button that pops out.

GFCIs are generally required in areas where water might come in contact with the socket or an appliance. Most homes that have had wiring done since the 1970s will have GFCI sockets in their bathrooms, kitchens, wet basements, or outside sockets.

If there isn’t a reset button on the socket in your bathroom or kitchen, it doesn’t mean the circuit is unprotected. Some GFCIs are installed at the circuit breaker. The protection works the same way, but the GFCI will protect a whole circuit instead of just one socket.

Then in the 1990s, a study by the Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed another problem that wasn’t addressed by circuit breakers or GFCIs. The study found that as many as a third of home electrical fires were caused by arcing (rhymes with “parking”). An arc is a flash of light and heat that occurs when electricity jumps a gap between two conductors.

Some of the common causes of un in tended a rcs inc lude loose connections, corroded wiring, or other wire damage, like when a nail driven into a wall goes through electrical wiring. Such arcing may not be noticeable to people, but the heat they generate can be enough to cause nearby materials to catch fire.

In response to the study’s finding, Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs) were developed.

AFCIs are able to monitor circuits for signs of problems that might not trip conventional breakers or GFCIs. Since 1999, this new form of circuit breaker has been required in new sockets wired

in most occupied spaces of homes. The safety commission predicts that up to 50% of home electrical fires can be prevented by AFCIs.

AFCIs don’t replace Ground Fault Current Interrupters, though. Both are necessary in the home, because they protect against different kinds of electrical hazards.

To summarize, GFCIs prevent shocks and AFCI’s prevent fires, and each protector has an appropriate place in the home. GFCIs are required for areas where water may come in contact with appliances or electrical sockets. AFCI’s are required for new wiring in most other places within the home.

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Home Circuit Protection Updated Wiring Standards Improve Protection from Electrical Fire as Well as Shock

EVERY YEAR, Eastern Maine Electric Co-op must strike a balance between maintaining quality electric service and preserving natural scenery. Eastern Maine’s beautiful and abundant trees, which draw people to this area each year by the thousands, can also interfere with the kind of reliable, quality electric service our customers deserve.

All electric utilities must trim and clear trees and plants in line rights of way. If this work is not done, trees will brush the lines during windstorms, causing momentary power blinks. During worse storms, tree branches and fallen trees can land on the lines and put out power until the trees are removed by linemen. Eastern Maine Electric has these considerations in mind when maintaining the right of way.

What is power line “right of way?”

For electric utilities, “right of way” refers to a specified width of land

under and surrounding the power lines and poles. It is the legal path of the lines. The path widths vary from thirty feet to 150 feet depending on the type of overhead line.

Trimming and Clearing

The most labor-intensive right of way maintenance is clearing and trimming, which is performed with the help of bucket trucks, skidders, chippers, chainsaws, and hand-held tools. The Co-op contracts out this work to companies specially licensed in Maine to do this type of work.

Trimming and clearing efforts focus on trees close to or directly beneath the lines. Tall evergreens and hardwoods are cleared, unless they are in cultivated yards, where they are trimmed only as much as necessary to protect the power lines.

In remote areas, trees and shrubs are cleared to the ground. Even low growing bushes and cultivated plants are often cleared, because they will limit access by vehicles to the right of way. Some exceptions are made in more populated areas.

Selective Use of Herbicides

In some areas, it is necessary to use herbicides to prevent rapid regrowth of trees. Ultimately, clearing work is intended to last seven to ten years. Hardwood shoots that spring from stumps, however, can grow fast enough to interfere with the lines in five years or less.

Treating the stumps of cleared trees with herbicides will prevent this rapid regrowth. It will also cut down on the amount of work which will be necessary in the next clearing cycle.

The Cooperative uses only Maine-licensed contractors, and the herbicides used are approved for these purposes by state and federal regulators.

Power Paths: Maintaining Power Line Rights of Way Tree Trimming, Clearing, and Spraying

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Objective measures of toxicity indicate that the impact on animals from herbicide spraying is minimal. Sprays used by EMEC contractors have less impact on animals than the gasoline engines of the chainsaws and motorized equipment used to do the trimming and clearing. In fact, the herbicides most commonly used have lower toxicity rates to animals than aspirin.

Right of Way Consultation

The Co-op does its utmost to keep the right of way clear so that we may provide the most reliable service to our consumers. A regular program of trimming, clearing, and spraying are required, but EMEC is committed to maintaining service quality without spoiling the beauty that makes Eastern Maine so memorable.

While we have a responsibility to trim, clear, and sometimes spray the trees under and around our power

lines regularly, we do not want to affect any property more than is necessary.

This is especially true where cleaning must be done on land bordering landscaped or tended property. We therefore welcome your input.

If you would like to be consulted before trimming is done on or adjacent to your property, please write to:

EMECAttn: Trimming and ClearingP.O. Box 425Calais, ME 04619(207) 454-7555(800) 696-7444or email us at info@emec.com

NOTE: It may not be possible to consult with landowners during emergency clearing and trimming.

Maintaining Power Line Rights of Way: Trimming, Clearing, and Spraying (continued from page 3)

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A full-size version of these guidelines is available for download at www.emec.com/ROW.