Going with the Flow Pg 4 & 5 • Mcvey & Mcgonagle Discuss Natural Gas Transmission Direction Shift and Its Financial Impact
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JANUARY & FEBRUARY • 2015 TIMES...KEEPING YOU CONNECTED Pictured is The Energy Cooperative's Zane Storage and Natural Gas Compression Station located in Zanesville. Going With the Flow pg 4 & 5 • McVey & McGonagle Discuss Natural Gas Transmission Direction Shift and Its Financial Impact INSIDE THIS ISSUE: pg 2 • Ware Reflects on 2014 pg 6 • Member Spotlight: St. Louisville Glass pg 11 • Scholarships & Youth Tour Available pg 14 • Featured Recipe & Recipe Contest ELECTRIC • NATURAL GAS • PROPANE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE REFLECTING ON 2014 & FOCUSING ON THE FUTURE BY TODD WARE, PRESIDENT & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER A s we move into the New Year, propane in the tanks, I would like to take time to reflect kept our variable prices ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS on events in 2014 and look for- low and saw no issues ward into 2015. Personally, the receiving propane from • During the coldest past year has flown by and it’s hard our suppliers. winter in a century, to believe that I am finishing my In 2014 we continued we out-performed our third year as President/CEO of The improving our safety propane competition Energy Cooperative (TEC). Each day culture, pipeline replace- by keeping propane in I am reminded of what great em- ment, natural gas AMI the tanks and honor- ployees we have as they strive to ing our fixed pricing. Todd Ware (Advanced Metering meet our mission of providing safe Infrastructure), cutout and reliable energy with responsive service. Often I get • Due to electric and replacements* and emails, calls and cards from our members pointing out natural gas expansion, moving to a wireless the great work our employees do each and every day. we are well-positioned workforce. In addition, for growth in New Al- Because the winter of 2014 was one of the coldest on we broke ground on bany, Johnstown, Mt. record during the last one hundred years, I am pleased our new Smith’s Mill Vernon and large parts with our systems' performance during the deep freeze. Substation in New of Licking County. A record cold winter or a grueling hot summer are often Albany which will allow the only times to determine how well each system is us to serve new electric designed. For our electric and natural gas systems, we growth plus add reliability for the Johnstown area. We saw only minor issues and those were quickly fixed also started our natural gas expansion into the John- to prevent them from happening again. Our propane stown area. We are pleased that many of those new system performed very well and better than our compe- members will soon be receiving their first TEC Times tition in the area. We honored all of our fixed prices, kept Member Newsletter. Looking forward, TEC is well-positioned and primed for growth in 2015 in the areas of New Albany, Mt. Vernon THE ENERGY COOPERATIVE and large parts of Licking County. As a committed com- munity partner, we are proud to be part of new business growth and additional jobs in the area. TIMES As we roll into 2015, I am still very concerned about the Contact us: Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) power plant [email protected] rules and the consequences for our members' rates and Todd Ware, President & CEO reliability. Thanks to all of you who submitted your com- ments and concerns to the EPA through www.action. Gary Baker, Director of Marketing & PR coop. The NRECA** members throughout the nation Andrea Kubik, Communications Manager submitted over 675,000 comments. The Energy Cooperative Times is the official I want to thank the board of directors for all their many publication of The Energy Cooperative. years of dedication and hard work. As you can see, With a circulation of over 60,000, things are moving at a rapid pace for The Energy Cooper- it is the bi-monthly communication link ative. All of us here hope the improvements will enhance between The Energy Cooperative based in our service to you, our members. I am very proud to be Newark, Ohio and its members. your CEO and to lead this organization. Have a great New Year and I look forward to serving you in 2015. Cooperative members – please report any change of address or phone number to us at (800) 255-6815 or [email protected]. * Cutout: also known as a fuse cutout switch. In electrical distribution, this equipment protects transformers from current surges and overloads. The replacement of a cutout can improve safety and reliability. **NRECA: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association 2 THE ENERGY COOPERATIVE TIMES • JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2015 (800) 255-6815 SAFETY FIRST LINEMEN GEARED UP FOR SAFETY BY CONNIE HOGUE, DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES & SAFETY C an you imagine working a job that requires you to lift heavy equipment and perform detailed tasks near deadly high voltage? Now imagine doing this 40 feet in the air and sometimes in extreme weather conditions. This is the life of linemen at The Energy Coopera- tive (TEC). Connie Hogue These brave employees answer when called, and they do so to ensure that you are pro- vided with safe, reliable electric service. But how do they stay safe when working in these conditions? TEC’s line- men are required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) at all times when on the job to keep them safe and protected from a variety of hazardous elements. Linemen with The Energy Cooperative work to remove damaged equipment from a pole. Let’s take a look at a lineman’s PPE. Hard hat. No matter how tough or proficient our linemen Fire resistant (FR) clothing. While our linemen do every- are, the work they do requires head protection. Insulated thing possible to prevent them, fires can happen. Fires hard hats are worn at all times to protect them from typically occur with an arc flash—an explosion caused falling objects and head injuries. by a low-impedance connection to a ground phase in an electrical system. FR clothing will self-extinguish, thus Foot protection. A lineman wears specific foot protec- limiting injury due to burn. tion when working in areas where there is a danger of foot injuries. A lineman’s heavy-duty safety boot is Insulated gloves. Linemen must wear insulated rubber taller than a typical work boot and designed with extra gloves when working on any type of electrical line. These support in mind. The height of the boot shields them gloves provide protection against electrical shock and from gouges and serrated heels provide a better grip burn, and are tested at 30,000 volts. when climbing poles. This boot provides sturdier support and protects the feet from objects that could potentially pierce the feet. "Hot boots" are also worn when they are working on or near energized lines or equipment. Safety glasses. Linemen must wear protective goggles or glasses, whether working on electri- cal lines or clearing rights-of-way. This protects them from loose debris and other hazards that could potentially injure their eyes. These items make up a lineman’s basic PPE. While working on electrical lines, they also may be required to wear equipment belts, tool pouches, safety straps and other types of equipment. A lineman’s gear usually weighs about 50 pounds—that’s a lot of extra weight when working in hazardous conditions. So, the next time you see a lineman—be sure to send a big thank you their way for keeping the SAFETY... lights on. But more importantly, thank them for the hard—and often times dangerous—work they We’re Raising the Bar do, day in and day out. Pictured: Linemen with The Energy Cooperative WWW.THEENERGYCOOP.COM JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2015 • THE ENERGY COOPERATIVE TIMES 3 GOING WITH THE FLOW SHIFT IN DIRECTION PROVIDES AFFORDABLE GAS SUPPLY BY DAN MCVEY, VP & COO OF GAS OPERATIONS N atural gas consumed by mem- bers of The Energy Cooperative Pictured: (TEC) now comes mostly from Contract crews and horizontal shale wells drilled in TEC crews installing Pennsylvania, West Virginia and a natural gas pipeline in South Zanesville. Ohio. This new source of natural gas has made a dramatic shift in the way transmission and storage facilities operate. In the Dan McVey past, interstate pipelines typically moved gas from western produc- ing regions such as the Gulf of Mexico to the Midwest and Eastern consuming areas. Now gas flows in the opposite direction to move gas from the Utica and Marcellus Shale producing areas to the Midwest. TEC’s transmis- sion pipeline system inter- The Energy Cooperative’s gathering, transmission connects with and high pressure distribution pipelines. a number of interstate pipe- lines such as, Texas Eastern, Dominion and Tennessee Gas that can trans- port shale gas to us from produc- After the fields are filled ing regions. The in the summer, they are cooperative’s 171 ready to flow gas back mile-long trans- into the transmission mission system system. On most winter extends from days, these storage fields eastern Musk- are used to balance and ingum County supplement gas supply to into Perry and the system. However, on Licking Counties. a cold winter day, these Depending on fields may provide up to system demand, natural gas may be transported from 50 percent of all the natural gas consumed by members. any one or a combination of these interstate transmis- Another important source of natural gas supply for TEC sion pipelines into TEC’s transmission system for delivery is local production. These wells are generally vertical to members in Licking, Muskingum, Perry, Fairfield and wells producing from shallower formations. This supply Franklin Counties. feeds directly into our pipelines and doesn’t require the Natural gas is also transported in the summer and interstate pipeline system for delivery to us.