A Service of Midwest Energy Cooperative 4 Your Co-Op Offers Power Tools 5 Weathering the Storm Together 9 Strengthening Schools Inside front cover AD January 2014 Vol. 34, No. 1 Executive Editor Casey Clark Editor Gail Knudtson Publisher Michigan Electric Cooperative Association IN THIS ISSUE HOME COOKING Cooking for One Michigan Country Lines, USPS- Christin McKamey 591-710, is published monthly, & Our Readers except August and December, 6 with periodicals postage paid at Okemos, MI, and additional offices. It is the official publication OUR ENERGY of the Michigan Electric Coopera- Generation Series: tive Association, 2859 W. Jolly Rd., Okemos, MI 48864. Time-Tested Renewable Subscriptions are authorized Hydropower for members of Alger Delta, Cher- 7 ryland, Cloverland, Great Lakes, HomeWorks Tri-County, Midwest Energy, Ontonagon, Presque Isle, and Thumb electric cooperatives COVER STORY by their boards of directors. Sub- Shaggy's Makes Cool Skis scriptions for nonmembers are Mike Terrell $6 per year. POSTMASTER: SEND ALL UAA 10 TO CFS. Letters to the editor should be sent to Country Lines, 2859 W. SAFETY Jolly Rd., Okemos, MI 48864. Phone 517-913-3531. Email: gknudtson@ How to Stay Safe With meca.coop. Electricity: At-home Association officers are Ken & Away Swope, Midwest Energy, chairman; 13 Robert Schallip, Cloverland, 1st vice chairman; Jon Zickert, Cher- ryland, 2nd vice chairman; Eric READERS' PAGE Baker, Wolverine Power, secretary- treasurer; and Tony Anderson, Ramblings, Mike Buda, Cherryland, past chairman. Craig Quilt, Mystery Photo, Borr is president and CEO. Letters Unsolicited letters, photos and 14 manuscripts are welcome. Country Lines, however, will not be respon- sible for their safe keeping or return. The appearance of advertising ON THE COVER does not constitute an endorse- John (L-R), Shari and Jeff Thompson have made ment of the products or services over 1,000 pairs of skis at their family shop, Shaggy’s advertised. Copper Country Skis, in Boyne City. Featured Change of Address: Please notify are their “Brockway” model, and the best-selling your electric cooperative. See page 4 for contact information. “Tubby” (red) all-mountain ski. They have also started making skateboards, and are members of Michigan’s Electric Great Lakes Energy Cooperative. Cooperatives Photo - Roger Boettcher, Leavenworth Photographics countrylines.com January 2014 | 3 CEO’s MESSAGE VAN BUREN KALAMAZOO CASS ST JOSEPH LENAWEE MONROE PRESIDENT & CEO Power Tools: Adding Convenience Robert Hance and Ease to Your Experience CASSOPOLIS OFFICE P.O. Box 127 (901 E. State Street) he weather radar showed it all on significant dollars in a more robust Cassopolis, MI 49031-0127 Sunday morning, Nov. 17, and telephone system with considerably more M-F, 8 a.m.– 5 p.m. people across the Midwest braced incoming lines, but that would be overkill Drive-up window: M-F, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. themselves for a day of raging for our regular, daily needs. We always Tstorms. Over 60 tornadoes touched down attempt to balance what’s in the best TELEPHONE in seven states, and the widespread system interest of all of the co-op’s members, 269-445-1000 or 800-492-5989 left hundreds of thousands of and “bulking up” with staff and Fax: 269-445-3792 people without power. phone lines for the occasional The southwest Michigan major outage isn’t the best use of PAW PAW OFFICE area was hit pretty hard. One your ownership dollars. 59825 S. LaGrave confirmed tornado and fierce The good news is that we Paw Paw, MI 49079 M-F, 8 a.m.–1 p.m. and 1:30–4:30 p.m. winds and thunderstorms left have options. Over a year ago, more than 12,000 Midwest we introduced outage reporting ADRIAN OFFICE Energy members without power by text message. You need to 1610 E. Maumee St. late Sunday afternoon. The Robert Hance complete a short registration Adrian, MI 49221 damage across our territory was President/CEO process, but it allows you to M-F, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. extensive, but we were largely spared quickly and easily text your outage, compared to our Indiana and Illinois and the system notifies you when your TELEPHONE neighbors. outage was reported and again when 517-263-1808 or 800-492-5989 The outage calls began flooding our it is restored. system right away, and many of you We’re even more excited about INTERNET TeamMidwest.com received the ever-frustrating “fast SmartHub, our online and mobile busy signal,” which means there are platform that opens up a new world of E-MAIL [email protected] more callers than available lines. That account management, including outage frustration quickly spread across email reporting! It allows you to access your EDITOR and social media account through Patty Nowlin platforms. your computer BOARD OF DIRECTORS What you or mobile device need to know to report service Clarence (Topper) Barth Chairman is that we share issues, make Three Rivers your frustration payments, monitor when we can’t usage and a host Kenneth Swope Vice Chairman adequately serve of other options Adrian our members. that can make your The reality, life easier. It’s our Colyne Sorsby Secretary however, is that newest power tool, Cassopolis we take between and over the course 300 to 500 calls of this year we’ll John Green Treasurer SmartHub is now available online at Dowagiac on a typical day help you learn all and our phone TeamMidwest.com, or through the free app the great features available through your mobile device app store. Ron Armstrong, Lawton system is more Just search SmartHub and look for this logo. and benefits than adequate available to you. Jerry Campbell, Decatur to handle that. A major outage like We’re imperfect people using imperfect the one in November is anything but technologies and processes, but the James W. Dickerson, Bloomingdale typical. Even our after-hours call center team at your cooperative is committed couldn’t keep up with the influx of calls to providing you with information and Harry Gentz, Blissfield as they were dealing with outages across options that add value and convenience Ben Russell, Constantine many systems and states for the partner to your experience. Innovations for life cooperatives they serve. and solutions for living! Thank you for It’s an issue we wrestle with after every your patience and encouragement as we major outage event. We could invest weathered another storm together! 4 | Michigan Country Lines YOUR CO-OP A Mighty Wind ere is a snapshot of the storm the Midwest Energy team weathered together with you: • 12,000+ members without power H• 41 broken poles and 106 downed power lines • 75 hours of non-stop manpower in the field • 420 calls answered live by customer care reps, and over 2,000 outages reported through the automated phone system on Sunday evening • 1,343 calls answered live on Monday, with each rep averaging 103 calls • 200+ new Facebook followers and hundreds of comments logged • Mutual aid support from two fellow Michigan co-ops and numerous contract crews • All service restored 48 hours earlier than originally projected ‘Dinner and Dialog’ Watch for a Coming to Your District Letter in the Mail very year in January we send out a letter n February and March, Midwest Energy for how it could impact your life and bill. It’s on behalf of our CPA auditing firm, the will host its annual member “dinner and an effort to equip you with innovative ideas ETraverse City-based Harris Group. Idialog” events across our service territory. and solutions to help you understand and The letter is on Midwest Energy Coop- We pick up the dinner tab for you and your manage your own energy experience. erative letterhead and sent to a randomly guest, asking in return for your active partici- Members are invited by random selection selected group of business and residential pation in what we hope is a meaningful and from our system, and invitations will be members to confirm account balances as productive two-way conversation. mailed this month. The number of attendees of the end of the year. It includes a self- Everyone is busy, but you are an owner is limited, based on the size of the venue and addressed, stamped envelope. of this co-op, and your input is important. to promote a meaningful and productive This is a legitimate outreach and an The evening is less about us talking, and exchange. If you are interested in attending important part of our annual audit more about us listening to and learning from one of these events, please contact Nicole process. If you receive you. We want to know what works and what Barfell at 269-445-1112 or sign up at Team- this letter, please help by doesn’t so that we can improve your service Midwest.com and we will add you to the completing and returning experience. We also want to educate you mailing list or put you on a preferred waiting it in order to assist our about the energy landscape and prepare you list if invitations have already been mailed. auditors in their process. January 2014 | 5 HOME COOKING | Christin McKamey Curried Chickpea Stew 1 t. olive oil 1 c. onion, diced Cooking For One 1½ c. carrots, diced 2 cloves garlic, finely dice Cooking for one? 1½ -2 T. curry (depending on taste) 1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes These single-serving 1 16-oz. can chickpeas 1½ c. water recipes will help you 1 cube chicken or vegetable bouillon 1 whole chicken breast cut into ½-inch pieces save time and energy, 1 T. butter 1 t. sugar are easy to prepare, In a 4½-quart stock pot, add ½ c.