Volume 60, #8 Page 2 June Board report August 2009 Page 3 Capital credit allocation

Page 4 Member’s wind turbine online

Page 6 News & Notes

Page 8 Co-ops at Farm Progress Show

Life is good in the country! You don’t have to be a farmer to be a co-op member

RECC and other electric co- ops were formed over 70 years ago, largely by farmers wanting to bring electricity’s labor-saving advantages to their farmsteads. Electricity is now a vital part of every modern farm operation, but our electric lines also serve many rural residents today who don’t know a grain dryer from a feed grinder. As a matter of fact, the last member survey taken in 2007 showed that less than 20 percent of our members receive their main income from farming. Meet the Cramblits Steve and Becky Cramblit are a good example of folks who wanted to live in the country, but have no Becky Cramblit has plenty of room for her horses, Mac and Abby, with a pasture and barn ties to production agriculture. ey behind their home. moved to a home not far from RECC’s offi ce in Auburn fi ve years ago, drawn by aff ordable prices and poor condition, but when I saw this place net to work on his swing year-round. eir room for a horse. I knew it was the one!” says Becky, who is two children, Olivia and Walker, also enjoy Really more than just available the horse enthusiast in the family. the horse riding space, not to mention Walk- room, as a two-stall horse barn After moving from rural Quincy for a er’s 4-wheeler ATV. and small pasture were already in job in Springfi eld, and living in a Chatham e Cramblits work in television, an- place behind the attractive brick subdivision for a few years, Steve and Becky other innovation of the 20th century. Steve home. “We looked at places with found their comfort zone in Auburn. Besides is Director of Sales at WICS/WICD in a nice home, but a bad-looking the horse barn, there’s another small building Springfi eld and Champaign, and Becky has barn, or a nice barn with a home in where Steve (an avid golfer) has a practice Continued on page 3 … Rural Electric Conve- nience Cooperative Board report 3973 W. State Route 104 P.O. Box 19 Auburn, IL 62615 Regular Board meeting Public Relations, Job Training and Safety, 217/438-6197 June 22, 2009 Meters and Outages, Operations and Main- Fax: 217/438-3212 tenance, Engineering and Construction, Cash e-mail: [email protected] e regular monthly meeting of the Board Disbursements Summary, and Check Listing. Board Of Directors of Directors of Rural Electric Convenience e Board accepted the reports. Financial and Cooperative Co. was held at the cooperative statistical reports for May 2009 were reviewed Jimmy L. Ayers and accepted. Chairman headquarters at 7 p.m. on June 22, with all members present. Also present were Presi- CEO Stuva also: Chris Wilcox dent/CEO David Stuva; Director of Member * Distributed a draft of the minutes of the Vice Chairman and Public Relations, Dana Smith; Manager RECC 2009 Annual Meeting for review. Cassie L. Eigenmann of Offi ce Services, Dean Fuchs; Field Engi- * Reviewed plans for upcoming meetings. Secretary-Treasurer neer and Purchasing Agent, Martin Hinton; Mel Repscher Accountant, Matt Sheerin; and Attorney Jerry Board Action Asst. Sec.-Treasurer Tice. e Board acted on the following: Offi cers for 2009-2010 were elected by bal- * Approved the application for, or reinstate- John A. Beatty ment of, membership and electric service for Thomas “Ted” Dowson lot, with the following directors elected: Chairman – Jimmy Ayers 13 persons. Lee W. Marten * Approved delegates and alternates for Erv Shores Vice Chairman – Chris Wilcox meetings associated with the AIEC Annual David E. White Secretary-Treasurer – Cassie Eigenmann Assistant Secretary-Treasurer – Mel Rep- Meeting and NRECA Regional Meeting. scher * Conducted elections to select Jimmy Ay- President/CEO * e minutes of the May 28 regular Board ers for a 2-year term on the AIEC Board of meeting and the June 11 meeting held after Directors, and David White as alternate direc- David Stuva the Annual Meeting were approved as pre- tor. sented. * Approved a Resolution to submit the Rural Hilights * CEO Stuva introduced Matt Sheerin documents needed for a $7 million loan from (USPS 473-140) is who explained the Renewable Energy Pro- Federal Financing Bank for the co-op’s long- published monthly for duction Incentive (REPI) Program. He noted term Work Plan. $3 per year by Rural that he is exploring whether this program * Approved a Resolution to extend the Electric Convenience may provide some funding for the GobNob Energy Resource Conservation loan program Cooperative Co. Publi- wind turbine project, and said the program with RUS. cation Offi ce, P.O. Box has not been fully funded by the government. * Approved a Resolution to amortize a por- 19, Auburn, IL 62615. e board authorized staff to apply for REPI tion of the PPI buy-out loan over 10 years. Periodical postage paid funds as applicable. * Approved amendments to the Net Me- at Auburn, IL and at ad- * CEO Stuva introduced Martin Hinton, tering and Interconnection policies for mem- ditional mailing offi ces. who reviewed the co-op’s peak demand days ber-owned generating systems. Postmaster: Send ad- for the months January through April 2009. * Changed the date of the next Board dress changes to Rural Stuva noted he and the staff would be meeting meeting to August 31 at 7 p.m. Hilights, P.O. Box 19, with IMEA to discuss demand side manage- Auburn, IL 62615. ment practices and incentives. e meeting adjourned at 10:40 p.m. * CEO Stuva presented the IMEA Report. Dana Smith, editor He reviewed the regional meetings which sev- eral directors and staff also attended. * Director Beatty presented the AIEC re- port. He reviewed the executive summary of the June 18 AIEC board meeting. * e Attorney’s report was given by At- torney Tice. He reported on contracts that are being developed with various organizations.

President/CEO’s Report CEO Stuva reviewed the following reports which had either been mailed or distributed to all directors and attorney: Member and

2 Life is good … Continued from page 1

been a program host on PBS station WSEC for 12 years. She’s done travel stories from Taiwan and Great Britain, and is now hosting an “In Life” series with stories from western Illinois. “We don’t exactly draw a crowd when we walk through the grocery store,” says Steve dryly, unlike the news and sports anchors at his Channel 20 station. Rural neighborhood So, besides the open space, what do the Cramblits like about living in their rural neighborhood? “We have a great community among many of the homeowners in our area,” says Becky. “People are willing to help out when needed, and we have some really interesting neighbors.” One of the traditions that has developed along their stretch of BAB Road is an annual “Tractor Party,” where everyone drives something other than a car between houses for an extended meal. An antique tractor pulling a manure spreader was a reminder of the rural setting this year, she says. So, maybe the Cramblits aren’t so far removed from agriculture after all. eir two sleek horses are related to the heavy work horses that once plodded across the surrounding fi elds, and Becky has worked like many a farmer to establish plantings of fl owers while pulling ob- Steve and Becky Cramblit moved to their home in noxious weeds and grasses. ey’re part of rural America rural Auburn fi ve years ago. today, and we’re glad to have them! 2008 capital credit allocation notifi cation

On your July electric bill, to be nual margins. Your share of these as payments on your electric bill. mailed on August 7, you will see a margins is called “capital credits”. ese monies are used by your Co- message on the left hand side of the At the end of each year, these net operative for long-term debt retire- bill indicating the amount of capital margins are allocated to each mem- ment, reserves, emergencies, system credits allocated to you for electric- ber on a basis of the dollar amount improvements and other contingen- ity purchased in 2008. is message of energy used during that year. We cies. Capital credits may be paid to only appears on your master account are providing you with the amount members as the board of directors and only appears if you were a con- of the allocation for the year, shown deems appropriate and as the fi nan- sumer in 2008. on your July electric bill. cial condition of the Cooperative As a member-owner of your ese allocations are not avail- permits. Cooperative, you share in any an- able as cash nor can they be applied

3 More renewable energy online Small wind turbine connected to RECC’s system It’s a small electricity e Suits’ turbine will generator, but it’s a big step mainly provide a small part of for Duston and Linda Suits the electricity they use each of Loami. month. ere may be times eir 2.4 kilowatt wind when it’s spinning well, and turbine is spinning with the very little power is being used wind, making some of the in the house. If that happens, electricity they use in their RECC’s Net Metering pro- home from a clean, renewable gram will allow the extra pow- resource. It’s a goal they’ve er to feed backwards through been pursuing for almost the billing meter, being re- three years. corded through a special elec- e Skystream 3.7 (named tronic meter. Later, when more for its blade diameter of 3.7 Field Engineer Martin Hinton (left) explains the elec- power is needed in the home, meters, or about 12 feet) is tronic meter installed to gather operating information the stored energy is used at no running at the Suits’ small cost. is allows the turbine for the wind turbine to Linda and Duston Suits. acreage west of Loami, on owners to utilize all the wind Maxwell Hall Road. Even energy available, without the with its 70-foot tower, it’s almost easy to miss as you expense of installing their own storage system. drive by, standing with their 150-year old home amid a RECC has also provided another meter at the tur- cluster of fruit and shade trees. bine pole, to measure all energy produced or consumed. “We’re on a bit of a high spot right here,” explains We’re interested in fi nding the potential of these small Linda. “We get a good breeze all the time, and we sel- systems, and Duston Suits is ready to share the infor- dom have to run our air conditioning for the house if mation and lessons he’s learning from his wind genera- the windows are open.” tor. (See information on a planned Open House Sep- Turning at up to 400 rotations per minute, the three tember 12.) turbine blades whir as they adjust to the wind’s speed and direction. Unlike larger turbines, the blades of the Skystream are downwind from the generator, instead of facing into the wind. It can operate in winds up to 50 mph. e turbine was installed by Midstate Renewable Energy Services from Champaign, and it’s no simple back yard project. e steel tower is held in place by guy wires to four concrete anchors, with a clever “gin pole” Turbine design to tip the pole down for any repairs or inspec- tions. All of the electronic components and controls are Open House in the generator at the top of the pole. Operating information from the generator and in- Sat, Sept. 12 verter are sent to a home computer (Duston, a computer systems analyst for the State of Illinois, has six comput- Duston and Linda Suits invite you to an infor- ers), where graphs of wind speed and energy output are mational Open House for their wind turbine on displayed. If the power goes off from RECC, the tur- September 12, from 1 – 4 p.m. They will share their bine’s electronic brake stops the blades immediately. early operating experiences. Representatives from at’s a vital safety factor for the co-op, as it prevents the turbine contractor, county zoning board, and the turbine from putting electricity into the power RECC will also be on hand to talk about small wind lines during an outage. ere’s also a manual disconnect systems. The address is 13500 Maxwell Hall Road, switch at the bottom of the tower to keep the turbine about 2.5 miles west of Loami. A map is available offl ine if necessary. at our Web site, www.recc.coop.

4 WE NEED YOUR HELP.

Senators are drafting climate change legislation NOW, and you can impact the outcome. Climate Change legislation should be:

Fair. Climate Change legislation needs to recognize regional differences in how electricity is produced.

Affordable. Any climate change plan must keep electricity affordable for all Americans.

Achievable. Climate Change legislation must be realistic to ensure long-term success.

Go to www.ourenergy.coop to make your voice heard.

5 NewsNews & Notes& Notes Recycle your rechargeable batteries

American consumers buy more pose severe health risks. e use in new products such than 350 million rechargeable bat- Rechargeable Battery as new batteries and teries each year for use in wireless Recycling Corporation stainless steel. telephones, cameras, music play- (RBRC) has set up a Many large elec- ers, cell phones and other mobile public service pro- tronic retailers, devices. When the batteries no gram to collect old hardware stores and longer hold a charge, most of them batteries and send cell phone dealers are tossed into a trash can and them to a recycling off er free recycling eventually make it into the envi- plant in Pennsylvania. for rechargeable bat- ronment. e U.S. Environmental A thermal recovery teries. Just drop off Protection Agency says this is a process reclaims the reus- your spent batteries at problem, as pollutants from the able metals (nickel, iron, cad- these locations, and help pro- batteries can leach into the soil mium, lead, and cobalt) from the tect our environment! and water, get into our food, and batteries and prepares them for Keep kids Attaching signs engaged to poles is a no-no during Although seemingly innocent vacation enough, putting signs or other items on utility poles creates seri- ous safety hazards. Staples, nails, Looking and tacks used to hang signs — for some- as well as the signs themselves thing to — pose dangers to RECC line- keep kids’ men who must climb poles when minds either restoring power follow- engaged during ing storms or while performing summer break? e Touchstone routine maintenance to ensure Energy Kids Zone is a cool place system reliability. Posters or other to learn about electricity, en- objects (birdhouses, balloons, ergy savings and electrical safety fl ags, and even basketball nets) through games, activities and lots can create dangerous obstacles. of information to share with fam- Also, the nails and tacks left be- ily and friends. e character hind from signs can snag utility CFL Charlie greets visitors and workers’ boots or puncture safety invites them to explore energy clothing, making line workers savings and renewable energy. vulnerable to slipping or even ere’s even a section for teachers electrocution. looking to add energy education (Photo credit: Butler Rural Elec- to their lesson plans next year. tric Cooperative) Get into the Kids Zone at www.TouchstoneEnergyKids.com!

6 MEMBER RESPONSE PAGE Please send me information on services from RECC:

______Peak Switch ______New Home Energy Guidelines ______Marathon Lifetime-Warranty ______Dual Meter Heating Rate ______Surge Suppressor Lease Water Heaters ______Security Light Rental ______Co-op Power Plus™ Visa ______Long Distance Saving Rates ______Convectair Heaters ______DTN Wireless Internet ______AT&T Wireless Cellular Phone Savings Electric heating equipment rebates An electric heat rebate form must be completed. Minimum system sizes apply.

• Geothermal System – $500/home • Air Source Heat Pumps – $500/home (with electric back-up) • Air Source Heat Pumps – $200/home (with gas back-up)

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

______Clothes Dryer, Electric Replacement – $25 ______Water Heater, Standard Warranty – $200 ______Clothes Dryer, New Home or Gas Conversion – $25 (less than 10-yr waranty) $ ______Electric Range, Electric Replacement – $25 ______Water Heater, Life–long Warranty – 250 (10-yr or longer warranty) ______Electric Range, New Home or Gas Conversion – $25 is water heater is for: ______New Home ______Gas Conversion ______Electric Replacement

Member Name Account No.

Mailing Address

Town Phone

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

7 P.O. Box 19 Auburn, IL 62615

Visit us at the Farm Progress Show!

RECC and other central-Illinois Each day of the show will begin cooperatives will have a display with an opening ceremony at the at the 58th annual Farm Progress main gate at 8 a.m., with the Touch- Show in Decatur, Sept. 1-3. is stone Energy Hot Air Balloon rais- huge show is coming back to the ing the fl ag as the Star Spangled “Progress City” site in Decatur (ev- Banner is played. e show closes at ery other year it’s held in Iowa), next 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, to Richland Community College. and at 4 p.m. on ursday. e display area has paved streets, e electric co-ops are also help- with storm and sanitary sewers ing sponsor the popular Live Line installed along with underground Demo program at the show, along electrical service. with Ameren and the Safe Elec- e Touchstone Energy electric tricity group. is entertaining and cooperatives will be in the Varied vitally important safety demonstra- Industries Tent, near the main gate tion will be located just south of the on the west end of Progress City. Varied Industries tent. You can see the Touchstone Energy e Farm Progress Show attracts plug-in hybrid electric car, and a over 300,000 visitors each year, with home energy display that shows displays by ag companies, univer- Touchstone Energy cooperatives diff erent types of insulation, good sities and Extension offi ces, auto of Illinois will be at the 2009 Farm and bad examples of weatherization makers, and many other organiza- installations, lighting systems and tions. You can learn more at www. Progress Show, the largest out- other energy-saving ideas. We’ll be farmprogressshow.com. e site also door farm show in the world. handing out some “fun freebies,” includes maps and directions to the and co-op members who bring in show. Bring your Co-op Connections their Co-op Connections cards will We hope to see you at the 2009 card to receive a free gift! receive a special gift! Farm Progress Show!

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