2009 Annual Meeting Recap

Tri-County EMC’s 70th Annual Meeting was held October 15, 2009 at the Gray Headquarters. The annual meeting is the most important cooperative event each year, the opportunity for members to participate in directing the EMC’s future.

This year, 1,370 members voted, all through mail balloting. Re-elected for Post 2 were incumbents Chester Mercer (District 1-Bibb, Jones, and TwiggsCounties), Tom Thompson, Jr. (District 2-Jasper, Morgan, and Putnam Counties) and Tommy Noles (District 3-Baldwin and Wilkinson Counties).

In his remarks, Chairman Tom Thompson, Jr. commented on the advantages afforded Tri-County because of the high calibre of the cooperative’s board of directors, senior staff, and employees.

C. Hill Bentley, Tri-County’s CEO, also addressed the members, employees, and guests present. He talked briefly about the cooperative’s challenges in obtaining needed future power supply. “Despite a reduction in projections for future needs, due mostly to the downturn in the economy, Georgia cooperatives still need to roughly double our existing generation by the year 2018.”

Bentley also discussed the results of the challenge he issued last year to employees and cooperative members. “I asked our employees to cut cooperative energy use by ten percent,” said Bentley. “By reducing lighting levels, installing motion sensors, moderating heating and cooling thermostat settings, and other efficiency modifications, our employees reduced the cooperative’s energy usage by 17% in the last twelve months.” “Operating efficiently is nothing new to our employees,” said Bentley. “Thirty years ago, the cooperative’s operating costs were above 25% as a percentage of total revenue. This past year, operating costs were about 15.5%.”

A goal of the cooperative is to increase member participation through mail balloting. By having the opportunity to vote without attending the meeting, more members are able to stay involved. To encourgage participation, eleven cash prizes were drawn from members voting in the election. The grand prize, $500, was won by Sidney and GawldeanBostick of Gray.

Directors Chester Mercer, Tom Thompson, Jr, and Tommy Noles were re-elected.

2009 Mail Balloting Prizes Awarded 

To encourage participation in mail balloting, eleven prize winners were drawn from 1,370 completed ballots.  Congradulations to the winners.

$50 Prize Winners

$500 Prize Winners 

LED Pilot Project Started

Flashlights, alarm clocks, and even traffic signals come to mind when LED lights are mentioned. But light emitting diodes, or LEDs, have come a long way. Tri-County EMC’s staff recently decided to put them to a test.

EMC employees replaced several existing 48” T-8 fluorescent tubes in the cooperative’s headquarters. According to Jonathan Stewart, an energy services representative for Tri- County, “When the price per lamp dropped below $60 [compared to less than $2 for a T-8], we decided to try a pilot program to replace fluorescent lamps in our Control Center, an area staffed 24 hours a day.”

Shaped like the 32 Watt T-8 fluorescent tubes they are designed to replace, each contains 300 tiny LEDs and draws only 15W. They do not require a ballast and give off virtually no heat, reducing air-conditioning loads. Most importantly, the lifespan of the LEDs is rated at 50,000 hours, five times that of a T-8 lamp.

Using 17W less than the T-8 fluorescents, energy usage with the LED lamps will be cut in half. But more significant may be the life-cycle cost savings. Without the need for replacement ballasts and fluorescent tubes, and the labor to change them, savings over the life of the LED tubes should be considerable, perhaps as much as $544 per three tube fixture.

“The initial reaction to the LEDs has been good,” says Stewart. “We will monitor the LEDs to see how they perform, especially to see if they reach the 50,000 hours of rated life. And we will share the progress of the pilot program here in the newsletter in the future.”

For more information on lighting efficiency or other ways Tri-County EMC’s energy experts can help you save money, visit us on the Internet or call for a free energy audit.

EMC Employees Reach Out

 Applications for fourth quarter funding from the Tri-County EMC Foundation are due by December 1, 2009.  Applications may be obtained from the cooperative's Website or by calling Michelle Scott at 478-986-8145.

Tri-County EMC Foundation Awards Funds

In September, Tri-County EMC’s Foundation Board awarded Operation Roundup funds to eight organizations benefiting nine projects or community needs. One grant recipient, the Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department, received $1,000 toward the purchase of an automated defibrillator. “This lifesaving device will go on one of our firetrucks where it can save lives immediately,” commented Chief E.D. Burks. Operation Roundup isfunded through the voluntary contributions of EMC members. Participating accounts are rounded up to the next dollar with the difference contributed to the foundation.