Current Lines: December 2006

Welcome to the December edition of Current Lines newsletter, a monthly publication of Tri-County EMC. Below are a few samples of the articles in this current newsletter. To read the full article, just click on the "Click here to read more" link.

Annual Meeting Yields PURPA Results; Post 2 Directors Re-elected “Powered by you” was the theme of Tri-County’s  Annual Meeting held Oct. 19 at the headquarters office in Gray. Post 2 incumbent directors re-elected to serve a three-year term are Chester Mercer of District 1, Tom Thompson Jr. representing District 2 and Thomas Noles of District 3. A total of 1,369 ballots were cast. “We depend on you for the power of the cooperative,” Tri-County Chairman Tom Thompson Jr. said as he opened the meeting reporting a drop in the EMC’s average residential cost per kWh from 8.21 cents in 1990 to 8.09 cents in 2005, despite a more than 40 percent rise in inflation. He conveyed that this rate falls below the state average. Thompson stated that operating costs are at an all-time low of 16.4 percent compared with 28 percent in 1960 and commended employees and directors for holding this number down.     Post 2 Directors Re-elected   District 1 Bibb, Jones & Twiggs counties District 2 Jasper, Morgan & Putnam counties District 3 Baldwin & Wilkinson counties Chester Mercer Tom Thompson Jr. Thomas Noles Click here to read more.

Annual Meeting Cash Prize Winners As a member of this cooperative, your input is vital to us. That’s why we reward voting members with a chance to win cash. Ten ballots were drawn at the Annual Meeting for $50 and one was awarded $500. Click here to read more.

Looking Back on 32 Years of Service Staying with one employer for an entire career is increasingly uncommon, but for Tri-County Service Lineman Kirk Childs, 2006 saw the celebrated end to a 32-year career. His pleasant demeanor and passion for what he did was unique. “He was very dedicated to his job and was good at trouble shooting,” says 20-year Tri-County veteran and former South District Operations Supervisor Jerry Greene. “Kirk could quickly get to a problem area and isolate the outage to get the most people on as fast as possible.”  Click here to read more. >> Kirk Childs rescues a stranded cat in Deer Ridge Subdivision in 2000. <<

High-voltage Demo Moves Fifth Graders

>> Keamber Pearson was one of about 150, 5th Grade Gray Elementary students to see  Tri-County EMC’s high-voltage demonstration.  She wanted to get a feel for what it would be like to work in rubber gloves that the linemen wear. <<

December Capital Credits

Capital credits, or margins, are refunded to members after 20 years. Active eligible Tri-County EMC members will receive a capital credit refund in their December bill. Inactive members  who qualify will be mailed their Capital credit checks on Dec. 12.