Tornadoes hit across RECC areaSome members out for two days after heavy damage

Over two thousand members of Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative had their power knocked out by strong storms on Tuesday evening, April 19, and a few had their homes destroyed or severely damaged. At least four areas appear to have been hit by tornadoes, and high winds caused problems across most of our service area. Homes, barns and grain bins were knocked down west of Girard, southwest of Kincaid, south of Loami and north of Litch� eld before dusk on Tuesday, as a huge storm cell passed through with high winds, hail and heavy rain. Fortunately, no deaths or serious injuries occurred, although some residents were fortunate to be away from their homes when the storm swept through. Five of RECC’s nine substations were out of service due to transmis-sion outages on Ameren’s system. Ameren’s transmission lines carry wholesale power to eight of our substations. Two of the subs were re-energized later in the evening, but Farmersville and Honey Bend were out until early Wednesday morning and the Girard sub out until � ursday morning. We were able to back feed power to most

A section of Brain Abshire’s home was torn off by a tornado south of the Kincaid power plant, while nearby farm machinery and bins were mangled together.

Pages 1, 3 Storm damage repaired

Page 2 March Board report

Page 4 Youth Day held in Springfi eld

Page 5 Transmission rate increase will affect RECC

Page 8 Glenwood school rebate

Volume 62, #5Volume 62, #5May 2011

(Continued on page 3)

members during the extended trans-mission outages. In the areas of heavy damage, however, repairs took some time even with extra help that was brought in. Ten linemen from Croft Electrical Contractors arrived in Auburn before midnight on Tuesday to assist the RECC crews that were already work-ing on repairs on our distribution sys-tem. Another four-man Croft crew followed later, and Adams Electric

Cooperative in Camp Point sent four men during the night as well. When the extent of the damage was seen clearly in the daylight Wednesday morning, calls went out for even more help, and M.J.M. Electric (Carlinville) and Illinois Rural Electric (Winchester) co-ops also sent crews. Lou DeLaby, RECC’s Manager of Operations and Maintenance, says

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Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative3973 W. State Route 104

P.O. Box 19

Auburn, IL 62615

217/438-6197

Fax: 217/438-3212

e-mail: recc@recc.coop

Board Of DirectorsJimmy L. AyersChairmanChris WilcoxVice ChairmanMel RepscherSecretary-TreasurerJohn A. BeattyAsst. Sec.-Treasurer

Clayton BloomeThomas “Ted” DowsonCassie L. Eigenmann Erv ShoresLou Weitekamp

President/CEODavid Stuva

Rural Hilights(USPS 473-140) is published monthly for $3 per year by Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative Co. Publication Offi ce, P.O. Box 19, Auburn, IL 62615. Periodical postage paid at Auburn, IL and at additional mailing offi ces. Postmaster: Send address changes to Rural Hilights, P.O. Box 19, Auburn, IL 62615.

Dana Smith, editor

Resume of MinutesRegular Board MeetingMarch 29, 2011

� e regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative Co. was held at the cooperative headquarters at 6 p.m. on March 29, with all members present. Also present were President/CEO David Stuva; Director of Member and Public Relations Dana Smith; Manager of Of-� ce Services Dean Fuchs; Manager of Opera-tions and Maintenance Lou DeLaby; Executive Assistant Sandy Lex; and Attorney Jerry Tice. * � e minutes of the February 28 regular Board meeting were approved as presented. * CEO Stuva introduced Lou DeLaby, who reported on the Palmyra Substation trans-former upgrade completed by RECC crews on March 16 and 17. He said the old transformer was sold to a broker in Cleveland, Ohio. * CEO Stuva discussed plans for the June 9 Annual Meeting meal, and the Board expressed their desire to have the Mid-Illinois Pork Producers group cater the meal again. * CEO Stuva presented the IMEA Report. He said that IMEA is planning a recycling program for used refrigerators. * � e AIEC report was presented by Chairman Ayers. He reviewed the Executive Summary of the AIEC Board Meeting held March 17.

* � e Attorney’s report was given by Jerry Tice, who reported that a conference call was held regarding changes in the Service & Maintenance Agreement for the GobNob wind turbine.

President/CEO’s Report CEO Stuva reviewed the following reports, which had either been mailed or distributed to all directors and attorney: Job Training and Safety, Meters and Outages, Operations and Maintenance, Engineering and Construction, Cash Disbursements Summary, and Check Listing. � e Board accepted the reports. � e � nancial and statistical reports for February were reviewed and accepted. CEO Stuva also: * Reviewed the Nominating Committee report from their meeting held March 3. * Reviewed plans for upcoming meetings.

Board Action � e Board acted on the following: * Approved the application for, or reinstate-ment of, membership and electric service for 14 persons. * Set a tour of the co-op’s service territory for Board members on June 16, to familiar-ize directors with RECC’s facilities and large loads served. � e meeting adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

Board report

You’re invited to your co-op’s Annual Meeting! When: June 9, 2011

Where: Glenwood High School, Chatham

Dinner: 5 – 7 p.m.

Business meeting: 7 p.m.

Bring a Donation: � e Salvation Army truck will be on hand to collect any donation of clothing, appliances, house wares or other usable items.

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about 80 poles were broken in the storm, and many others were left leaning over in the wet ground and strong winds. Many of the poles were on large three-phase feeder lines, and some were on soggy right-of-way land that posed access right-of-way land that posed access right-of-way land that posed access right-of-way land that posed access problems for large line trucks. After many long hours of work, After many long hours of work, After many long hours of work, After many long hours of work, After many long hours of work, it became apparent that not all of the lines would be repaired by Wednesday night, and the crews were required to take a rest period. Most of the members still out of service were south of the Honey Bend substation, where a total of 22 poles had been damaged.

� e cooperative’s new Notify 24 � e cooperative’s new Notify 24 � e cooperative’s new Notify 24 � e cooperative’s new Notify 24 � e cooperative’s new Notify 24 phone system was used to call about phone system was used to call about phone system was used to call about phone system was used to call about phone system was used to call about phone system was used to call about phone system was used to call about phone system was used to call about 240 members on Wednesday after-240 members on Wednesday after-240 members on Wednesday after-240 members on Wednesday after-240 members on Wednesday after-240 members on Wednesday after-240 members on Wednesday after-240 members on Wednesday after-noon, to let them know that they noon, to let them know that they noon, to let them know that they noon, to let them know that they noon, to let them know that they noon, to let them know that they noon, to let them know that they noon, to let them know that they would not have power overnight. � is would not have power overnight. � is would not have power overnight. � is would not have power overnight. � is would not have power overnight. � is would not have power overnight. � is would not have power overnight. � is would not have power overnight. � is would not have power overnight. � is was to assist those members in plan-was to assist those members in plan-was to assist those members in plan-was to assist those members in plan-was to assist those members in plan-was to assist those members in plan-was to assist those members in plan-was to assist those members in plan-ning for the extended outage period.ning for the extended outage period.ning for the extended outage period.ning for the extended outage period.ning for the extended outage period.ning for the extended outage period.ning for the extended outage period. Pole replacements were completed Pole replacements were completed Pole replacements were completed Pole replacements were completed Pole replacements were completed Pole replacements were completed Pole replacements were completed Pole replacements were completed in Honey Bend on � ursday, along in Honey Bend on � ursday, along in Honey Bend on � ursday, along in Honey Bend on � ursday, along in Honey Bend on � ursday, along in Honey Bend on � ursday, along in Honey Bend on � ursday, along with projects at the Lowder substa-with projects at the Lowder substa-with projects at the Lowder substa-with projects at the Lowder substa-with projects at the Lowder substa-tion and on Ne� Road near Girard. tion and on Ne� Road near Girard. tion and on Ne� Road near Girard. tion and on Ne� Road near Girard. A line crossing Interstate 55 was also A line crossing Interstate 55 was also A line crossing Interstate 55 was also A line crossing Interstate 55 was also A line crossing Interstate 55 was also A line crossing Interstate 55 was also replaced, which is a complicated proj-replaced, which is a complicated proj-replaced, which is a complicated proj-replaced, which is a complicated proj-replaced, which is a complicated proj-replaced, which is a complicated proj-ect in itself. ect in itself. ect in itself. ect in itself. Power was restored to members Power was restored to members Power was restored to members Power was restored to members between Honey Bend and Litch� eld between Honey Bend and Litch� eld between Honey Bend and Litch� eld late � ursday night, after the Girard late � ursday night, after the Girard

Tornadoes (Continued from page 1)(Continued from page 1)

area repairs were completed � ursday afternoon. A few electric services were in need of repairs before power could be reconnected, and a lot of follow-up work was done by our crews after the Easter weekend to clean up problems and put the distribution system back to normal operation. Neighbors and communities pulled together to help those who lost their homes or su� ered damage in the storms, and RECC is proud to be part of that recovery e� ort. We thank those who helped our crews in any way, and our members for having patience while we worked to get the lights on again!

RECC’s crew prepares a new pole to be set across the road from the Lowder substation at the intersec-tion of Route 104 and Johns Creek Road. The pole in the foreground was an anchor pole that broke off near the top.

A crew from M.J.M. Electric Cooperative repairs the line on front of a damaged home on Henry Road in Girard, just north of Emmerson Airline Road. An EF-3 tornado traveled about six miles along a northeasterly path, damaging several RECC member homes and farms.

The three-phase line going south of Route 104 from the Lowder substation had four poles broken and several more leaning in the soft ground after heavy winds hit on April 19.

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Despite their busy schedules and pressing issues to be resolved, our local state legislators took a few minutes to talk to high school juniors attending the Rural Electric/Rural Telephone Cooperative Youth Day program on April 6. Besides describing their own work, they urged the students to consider their future plans and how they intended to pursue those plans. RECC sponsored a group of � ve students who were able to meet with Senators Larry Bomke and Sam McCann as well as Representatives Jim Watson, Rich Brauer and Wayne Rosenthal at the Capitol. � ey all talked about the important budget decisions that the legislators must make this spring, and the e� ect that their actions will have for the future of the young visitors. � e RECC students attending the 2011 Youth Day were Bryan Diemer and Logan Kuhn of Au-burn, Mary Kate Berger of Cha-tham, Kelly Schmidt of Litch� eld, and Kyle Waldeck of Waggoner. � e Youth Day program started with breakfast at the President Abra-ham Lincoln Hotel in downtown Spring� eld. Spending the morning at the Capitol, they met their legis-lators in the state Senate chamber, and heard from Lt. Governor Sheila Simon and Secretary of State Jesse White. After lunch at the hotel, the group of 300 students walked to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and the Old State Capitol, where they gained insights beyond the standard public tours. After the day’s group activities, individual interviews were held to select two winners to represent RECC on the Youth To Washington

Rural Electric Youth Day at Springfi eld

trip in June. � e Illinois participants will travel by bus from Spring� eld in one of the best-recognized youth programs in the nation’s capital. RECC’s winners for the Washington trip were Mary Kate Berger and Logan Kuhn. Watch the Rural Hilights for news on Rural Hilights for news on Rural Hilightstheir trip this summer!

Pictured from left on the state Senate fl oor are: Rep. Rich Brauer, Bryan Di-emer (Auburn High School), Kyle Waldeck (Lincolnwood HS), Logan Kuhn (Auburn HS), Mary Kate Berger (Glenwood HS), Kelly Schmidt (Litchfi eld HS), Rural Electric Convenience Director of Member and Public Relations Dana Smith and Sen. Larry Bomke.

Representative Brauer with RECC’s Youth Day participants.

Lt. Governor Sheila Simon talking to students.

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Proposed Ameren transmission rate increase will affect RECC rates

Refrigerator recycling coming this summer

RECC is a distribution coopera-tive, which means that our job is to take electricity from wholesale deliv-ery points and distribute it through our 1,345 miles of lines to our retail member-consumers. We purchase our power supply from the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA), which generates or buys the electricity needed by RECC and 33 municipal electric systems in the state. � e electricity supplied by IMEA is actually delivered over a grid of high-voltage transmission lines owned by Ameren Illinois Com-pany. In addition to feeding their own substations, Ameren delivers power to municipal and cooperative systems across downstate Illinois,

collecting a transmission fee for the energy transported. It’s an e� cient system that avoids duplication of power lines around the state. Early this year, Ameren � led for a dramatic increase in wholesale dis-tribution services, including the cost for the “sub-transmission” of elec-tricity at 69,000 or 34,500 volts. � e new rates are more than a 200 per-cent increase over the rates Ameren has charged during the past decade. IMEA and electric co-op groups have protested the huge increases and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has agreed to set a hearing on Ameren’s Rate Request. � e revised rates went into e� ect March 30, 2011.

Even if the requested rates are cut back to some extent, the cost to RECC and our members will be signi� cant. President/CEO Da-vid Stuva says that, for our typical annual purchases of 120 million kWhs, the increase would be over $175,000 a year. “We’ve kept our annual budgets very tight, and there’s little room to absorb an increase like that,” Stuva says. “If the transmission charges are not reduced, we will need to add a Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) item to our monthly billing statements to recover the higher costs.” IMEA is preparing for the hear-ing with FERC to make sure that any transmission price increase is based on the actual costs by Ameren Illinois. Ameren’s initial proposal was to put the higher rates in e� ect on Feb. 1, 2011, but FERC denied Ameren’s re-quest to waive the 60 day notice.

� at “extra” refrigerator in your garage or basement may be cost-ing you $20 or more each month to operate, while adding to our nation’s consumption of fossil fuels and the resulting emissions into our environ-ment. RECC members will have the opportunity to rid themselves of these extra power guzzlers this summer, disposing of them in an en-vironmentally friendly manner, and making a little “green” in the process! Our wholesale power provider, the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA), will be o� ering a $35 rebate to residential members to turn in their working refrigerators to be recycled. Members will be able to call and re-quest a pickup of their old refrigerator, which will be taken apart and most of the components recycled. Look for details and the start date for the refrigerator retirement program in our July newsletter, or on our website.

At the April 26 RECC Board Meeting, the directors agreed to implement a Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) to recover the increased transmission costs. The PCA will begin for all member accounts on the July monthly billing statements, with the exact amount to be determined by the cost increase passed through from IMEA.

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News & NotesNews & Notes

At RECC’s Annual Meeting on � ursday, June 9, we’ll have the usual two-hour period when members come in for registration, dinner, and browsing at displays. We invite any area crafters or business vendors who want to set up a display to register for a free

space! Registration opens at 5 p.m., so all displays should be ready by then. We expect 400-500 members and guests to be at the meeting, held this year at the Glenwood High School in Chatham. Call the RECC o� ce to register a display, or e-mail to

recc@recc.coop. � e cooperative does reserve the right to deny any display at our discretion.

Crafters and vendors wanted

Do you use an electric mower?

All-electric cars are being introduced in the U.S. this year by major manufacturers, but electric lawnmowers have been around for some time now. We’re looking for some real-world insight into the operation of battery-powered mowers used by our members. We may discuss any local experiences in a future Rural Hilights article on electric Rural Hilights article on electric Rural Hilightsmowers. How long will the batteries run on a single charge? How much power do they have? As the price of gas goes up, and lawn sizes shrink in suburban settings, electric-powered mowers may be a great alternative! Call Dana Smith to share your recent experience with these machines, at 438-6197.

Lighting rebate to Sloan Implement Sloan Implement in Taylorville received an energy e� ciency rebate check in March for $5,104, for lighting improvements made in their shop and o� ces. � e rebate was presented by Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative, through the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency’s (IMEA) Electric E� ciency Program. Rural Electric purchases its wholesale power from IMEA, and provides retail service to Sloan’s and other businesses on Taylorville’s southwest edge. � e company removed a total of 71 older � uorescent and metal halide light � xtures, replaced by newer “T-8” and “T-5” � uorescent lamps, which are thinner tubes and use less electricity to give the same or even higher light levels than the older lights. Making the rebate presentation was Melvin Repscher (right) of Taylorville, RECC’s board member from District 9, to Store Manager Rod Carls. “� e di� erence in brightness in our shop areas is amazing,” Carls commented, adding that the old � xtures were starting to have maintenance problems as well. � e lighting conversion was done by Tick Tock Energy of Teutopolis, IL.

THURSDAYJUNE

JUNE

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_______Clothes Dryer, Electric Replacement – $$25_______Clothes Dryer, New Home or Gas Conversion – $25_______Electric Range, Electric Replacement – $25_______Electric Range, New Home or Gas Conversion – $25

_______Water Heater, Standard Warranty – $$200 (less than 10-yr waranty)_______Water Heater, Life–long Warranty – $250 (10-yr or longer warranty)

MEMBER RESPONSE PAGE

Electric heating equipment rebatesAn electric heat rebate form must be completed. Minimum system sizes apply.

• Geothermal System – $250/home

• Air Source Heat Pumps – $250/home (with electric back-up)

• Air Source Heat Pumps – $100/home (with gas back-up)

_______Peak Switch_______Dual Meter Heating Rate_______Security Light Rental_______Convectair Heaters

_______New Home Energy Guidelines_______Surge Suppressor Lease_______Co-op Power Plus™ Visa_______DTN Wireless Internet

_______Marathon Lifetime-Warranty Water Heaters_______Long Distance Saving Rates_______AT&T Wireless Cellular Phone Savings

Please send me information on services from RECC:

Member NameMember Name Account No.

Mailing AddressMailing Address

Town Phone

Rural Electric Convenience CooperativeP.O. Box 19, Auburn IL 62615P.O. Box 19, Auburn IL 62615Telephone: (800) 245-7322 (RECC) or (217) 438-6197 • www.recc.coopNormal offi ce hours 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.Normal offi ce hours 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Please include a copy of your sales receipt for your new electric equipment, purchased and installed within the past 12 months.Electric equipment rebate request

� is water heater is for: _______New Home� is water heater is for: _______New Home _______Gas Conversion _______Electric Replacement

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P.O. Box 19Auburn, IL 62615

At the Ball-Chatham School Board meeting on March 28, the district received an energy e� ciency rebate check for $20,822.02, for lighting improvements made last year at the Glenwood Middle and Intermediate Schools. � e rebates were presented by Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative, through the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency’s (IMEA) Electric E� ciency Program. Rural Electric purchases its wholesale power from IMEA, and provides retail service to the Glenwood Middle and Intermediate Schools. Among other e� ciency projects at the schools last year, over 1,100 � uorescent lighting � xtures were converted to newer “T-8” lamps, which use thinner � uorescent tubes and use less electricity to give the same the same or even higher light levels than the older lights. Making the rebate presenta-tion was Jimmy Ayers (right), board chairman of Rural Electric Conve-nience Cooperative, to school board president Jim Neuses. “We’re glad to have Ball-Chatham Schools as mem-bers of RECC, and to partner with you on using electricity wisely and economically,” Ayers told the board. Other lighting projects done at the schools included several outdoor lights converted to new light emitting

diode (LED) � xtures. � ese bulbs are more e� cient than high pressure sodium or metal halide lamps, which have been used for many years in street and parking lot lighting instal-lations. � e LEDs are also expected to last longer than the old bulbs.

Chatham schools receive lighting rebates

More energy e� ciency projects are planned for this summer at the Glenwood school buildings, and the RECC/IMEA grants will be available to o� set some of these costs as well.

Jimmy Ayers (right) presents a lighting rebate check to Ball-Chatham School Board president Jim Neuses.