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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.

“Serving our youth is one of the best ways to help our community,” said Tri-County CEO Hill Bentley as he recognized this year’s Washington Youth Tour delegate and scholarship recipients totaling $10,500. He also commended nine individuals for their years of service to the EMC:  Beverly Pounds (5); Buddy Queen (5); Bill Williams (5); Mike Hulett (10);  Greg Mullis (15); Jerry Greene (20);  Ray Hill (20);  Thomas Noles (20) and Brenda Appling (25). 

Tri-County EMC Directors Sammy Hall, Chester Mercer, Marion Nelson and Chairman Tom Thompson Jr. were recognized as becoming Credentialed Directors in January by the National Rural Electric   Cooperative Association as a result of completing this director training program. 

Bentley recapped the year by acknowledging  the following: 
•  Tri-County employees and Pike Electric, Inc. contractors helped with power restoration due to Hurricane Katrina; 
  
•   Green Power EMC was the first renewable energy program in the state; 

•  Georgia HB 431 enabled Tri-County to return more than $67,000 to the comunity from unclaimed capital credits;

•  Forest Lake substation was energized; 

•   The installation of the Two-Way Automatic Communication System began;  and

•   Operation Roundup will make the half-million dollar mark in community contributions this year. 

The results of the Board of Director’s consideration of the five new standards of PURPA (Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act of 1978) are noted below. Although Tri-County EMC is not required to consider these standards due to size requirements, members were encouraged to comment on them as published in the August issue of Current Lines.

1. Net Metering     PURPA: “Each electric utility shall make available upon request net metering service to any electric consumer that the electric utility serves.”      TCEMC: If a member has a way to generate electricity on-site, he may use that energy to offset purchases. We will work with said member to facilitate use of any energy generated as long as all system interconnection requirements are satisfied. 2. Fuel Diversity      PURPA: “Each electric utility shall develop a plan to minimize dependence on one fuel source.”

TCEMC: Our fuel mix is: •   natural gas   41% •   coal  37% •   nuclear  11% •   hydro  11%  •   renewable energy  1%  3. Fossil Fuel Generation Efficiency     PURPA: “Each utility shall develop a 10-year plan to increase the efficiency of its fossil fuel generation.”     TCEMC: We are exploring the use of pulverized coal or coal gasification, liquefied natural gas and modified combine cycle natural gas generation plants to meet future load requirements.

4.  Smart Metering            PURPA: “Each utility shall offer to each customer class a time-based rate schedule.”    TCEMC: We offer Time-of-Use and load management rates for industrial and irrigation applications. 5.  Interconnection     PURPA: “Each utility should make available, upon request, interconnection service to any electric consumer that the utility serves.”      TCEMC: Tri-County members must meet Georgia Transmission Corp. standards (at the customer’s expense) to connect generation to the Integrated Transmission System.