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Limon Office Falcon Office Office Hours: |
June 2007
Manager's MessageAnatomy of the spring 2007 outage
As with all outages, our members call in to find out what is happening and when their power will be restored. Some comments we hear are: “Why don't I see any crews working?” “Why is it taking so long?” “Why does my neighbor have power and I don't?” “Why can't anyone tell me what is going on?” “Why do I get a busy signal every time I call the office?” I would like to address these questions to help our members better understand what is happening during an outage. When outages are widespread throughout the system, it is impossible to have crews working at every location. To get the power back on as quickly as possible, linemen typically start at the substations to verify whether circuits are energized or not. If not, they follow the lines to locate and isolate the damage on each circuit and reenergize whatever portion of the circuit they can. Once the damage is isolated, they can also work to back feed power from other parts of the system, if possible. The goal is to energize as much of the system as possible that is in good condition. As you can imagine, this is a very time intensive task. In this particular storm, over seven substations were involved and three of those were taken completely off line because of the damaged transmission line that supplied them power. The three de-energized substations supplied distribution power to the Hwy 94 corridor. By Tuesday evening, the damaged portion of the transmission line was isolated and two of the three substations were re-energized by rerouting transmission power from the north. Even after the two substations were re-energized, most of the homes were still without power because the circuits out of the substations were open due to the extensive damage to poles in the surrounding area. MVEA crews worked through the blizzard as long as they were able and, by Tuesday night, the number of members out of electricity was reduced to 3,500. Two crews were stranded at a substation near the town of Elbert until the storm broke enough for them to make their way to the Elbert Fire Station. They stayed at the station until the next morning. By Wednesday night, 2,500 people were still without power. Many of the damaged poles and transmission structures were located in fields drenched in rain and snow. The muddy conditions made repair extremely difficult. A caterpillar tractor, MVEA's weasel and snow cat pulled bucket trucks and got linemen through the fields so repairs could be made. San Isabel Electric Association in Pueblo , YW Electric Association in Akron , KC Electric Association in Hugo, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in Denver and Hamlin Electric Contractors sent linemen and equipment to help with the restoration efforts. Over 20 crews and more than 50 linemen worked 16-18 hours a day to get the power back on. Thursday night, 1,200 people were without power and that number was reduced to 950 by Friday. Most members still without electricity were located along the Highway 94 corridor starting from four miles west of Ellicott and extending east into Lincoln County . Crews worked through the weekend to get the power back on. Saturday night, 100 people southeast of the intersection of Ellicott Highway and Highway 94 and 50 homes in the Yoder area were still in the dark. By 8:30 p.m. Sunday, all MVEA members' homes had their electricity back on. Office personal remained on duty throughout the process answering member's questions and providing updates, but the crews do not have time to provide constant updates to our consumer relations personal. When a large area is reenergized, they are notified and can relay that information to our members. The phones were manned in shifts from 6 a.m. to midnight everyday. With the volume of calls coming in, it is very difficult to keep up. Our telephone lines were definitely overloaded so many times the lines were busy and members were unable to get through. This is going to happen whenever we have an outage because it is impossible to answer everyone's calls at once. We appreciate your patience. We also know it is frustrating when you look out the window and see that your neighbor's lights are on and you are still in the dark. This is usually because you are on a different circuit from your neighbor. This all relates to working out from the substation, as explained previously. Sometimes it is difficult to figure out why you have an outage when the weather is not bad at your house. This would relate back to the substation or transmission lines. They can be miles away and with our Colorado weather, a major storm could be happening at that location which could affect you. When we get the power back on to all of our members, this does not mean that all of the problems are fixed. What our linemen try to do is get everyone back on with quick fixes. If everyone had to wait until all the poles and lines were back up, it could be a month before your power was restored. After everyone has their power back on, the real repair work begins. Outages are not unique to MVEA's system. Every transmission and distribution company faces weather as a major problem in the interruption of power. We put a lot of work into our system to ensure it is a state of the art system and that our members have as few interruptions as possible. We appreciate your understanding during these times and the many cards and phone calls of thanks we receive after the outage is over. If you have any questions, please contact either of MVEA's offices and we will be happy to discuss them with you. MVEA Emergency Procedures It is good to always be prepared for outages. Following is a guideline that MVEA suggests: Pre-Planning:
During an Outage:
Scholarships Awarded To Area StudentsMVEA is very pleased to introduce you to the second half of our 2007 scholarship winners. We award 15 scholarships to graduating high school seniors to attend colleges located within Colorado . This year we had 120 great applicants from 32 schools apply. Congratulations to the following students who were awarded $1,000 MVEA scholarships. We wish them the best for their future. Dylan Glover is the recipient of MVEA's $1,000 Vocational/Technical Scholarship. He is the son of Lynn and Gerilyn Glover of Calhan. Dylan graduated from Calhan High School and plans to attend Northwest Kansas Technical College and major in welding. While in school, Dylan was on the football and wrestling teams. Kyla Maletsky and Nathan Schweizer each received $1,000 MVEA Scholarships. Kyla is the daughter of Kerry and Kris Maletsky of Monument and a graduate of Lewis Palmer High School . She will attend the University of Colorado , Boulder and major in engineering. While in high school, Kyla was a member of Serteen, El Pomar Youth, Girl Scouts and a Link board member. Nathan is also a graduate of Lewis Palmer and son of Philip and Jan Schweizer of Colorado Springs . He plans to attend the University of Colorado , Boulder and major in International Studies. While attending Lewis Palmer, Nathan was a member of the National Honor Society, Lacrosse, Cross Country and Track teams and the choir. Joshua Savage is the winner of the $1,000 E.A. “Mick” Geesen Memorial Scholarship. He is the son of John and Anne Savage of Ordway and a graduate of Karval School . He will attend the University of Northern Colorado and major in music performance. During high school, Joshua participated in all-state band, all- state choir, State Knowledge Bowl, National FFA Choir, Western States Honor Orchestra and was the class president and U.S. Army National Scholar/Athlete. Sara Holden will receive a $1,000 member dependent Basin Electric Power Cooperative scholarship. She is the daughter of Derek Holden and Paula Castro and a graduate of Elizabeth High School . Sara plans to attend Red Rocks Community college and major in game arts and development. While in school, she was a member of the marching and concert bands and FBLA. Travis Sandersfeld won a $1,000 employee dependent Basin electric Power Cooperative scholarship. He is the son of MVEA employee Patty Sandersfeld and husband, Rick, of Limon. Travis graduated from Limon High School and plans to attend the University of Colorado , Boulder . In high school, Travis was a member of the National Honor Society, football, basketball, baseball and track teams, “L” club vice-president and a Wendy's High School Heisman nominee. Kali Fox and Simone Perry will each receive $500 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Scholarships. Kali is the daughter of John and Kathryn Fox of Limon and a graduate of Limon High School . She plans to attend Colorado State University and major in animal sciences. Kali was a member of the National Honor Society, Honor and All-State band, class vice-president, softball team and knowledge bowl. Simone is a graduate of Ellicott High School and daughter of Alan Perry and Kimberly Parkins. She plans to major in theatre education math the University of Northern Colorado . Simon was a Serteens, debate team, and founder of the drama club while in high school. In the BoardroomWelcome to a new monthly column in your Colorado Country Life Magazine. We hope these articles will help our members to be better acquainted with the Board of Directors and some of their duties and responsibilities and at the same time, give our directors the opportunity to inform the membership on important issues that affect the association. Your MVEA board of directors consists of eight members, nominated and elected by the membership. The directors are charged with setting policy and determining the strategy and direction of the association. In addition, they assume the role of regulators for the association, setting rates and establishing rules and regulations. The success of the association is dependent on many of the decisions the board makes. Directors have significant legal and ethical responsibilities to the members. They must be: • Well-informed and stay abreast on current issues • Provide direct access to members • Serve as effective advocates for the electric industry • Provide input to the discussions on the decisions made by the board • Maintain the unity of the board, and • Pursue the mission of the cooperative In the future, this column will share information from MVEA board meetings, address questions from our members concerning MVEA's policies and bylaws and spotlight individual board members and their responsibilities. We hope you will find this column informative and look forward to hearing from you.
Life After Retirement---Just Horse'n Around
“Working outside and talking with the rural people is what I liked best about my job,” Frankie said. “I found it most difficult to collect from folks I knew were having a difficult time.” Frankie has always been one of those employees who truly cared for our members and helping them with problems was always a priority for this dedicated person. During her career with MVEA, Frankie's job responsibilities included collection of past due accounts, reading meters, identifying and investigating energy diversion cases, installing and removing single phase meters and completing the paper work related to these duties. Over the years, Frankie has witnessed many changes in the cooperative. “I miss the time when we were a small co-op and had a lot more time to spend talking with our members. But, I know with growth, we all have to work harder to keep that personal relationship with our members. It is just more difficult to accomplish,” reflects Frankie. Frankie's husband, Dale, retired from the Colorado Springs Fire Department. The couple have purchased a ranch south of Abilene and plan to raise barrel racing horses. Frankie is very active in the barrel racing sport and is a past president and board member of the Southern Colorado Girl's Barrel Racing Association. They are looking forward to their move south, but will miss all of their friends and co-workers here in Colorado . The MVEA employees and members wish them the very best for the future and know they will both enjoy their hard-earned retirement. Congratulations!
Effeciency Today At MVEA!MVEA is kicking off a new energy efficiency campaign and asking for your assistance. We would like to start by lowering our monthly power costs. A little change on your part and our part could go a long way in helping us stabilize our rates and reduce our peak need for power.First, let us explain how your co-op pays for the power we provide to our members. The largest portion of our monthly power cost is a component called a Demand Charge. MVEA is billed this charge based on our highest consumption period, or peak, of the month. By reducing these peaks and spreading out our usage, we could reduce our wholesale power cost and our need for unnecessary generation to accommodate our peak period. Here is how you can help. We will identify our peak hours based on MVEA's past history. We will publish the forecasted peak periods in the local newspapers and in Colorado Country Life Magazine so you can target these time periods to reduce your usage on a month-to-month basis. Your co-op has approximately 38,000 members spread out over 5000 square miles and residential usage is what drives our monthly peak. If you could picture our usage curve on a daily basis, it starts out low and rises dramatically when everyone gets up for work and school. Then around 9:30 a.m., it drops back down until the evening peak. The evening peak varies throughout the year based on when the sun sets. People generally go into the house after the sun sets and turn on lights, prepare dinner, take showers and start laundry. These types of activities help drive our peak. In the wintertime, this peak usually occurs between 5 and 6:30 p.m. and in the summer, between 8 and 9:30 p.m. With a little concentrated effort and awareness of these time periods, we could take a few giant steps toward reducing this peak demand. The smallest of adjustments from each of us could make a big difference. With a force of 38,000 cooperative members and neighbors, we can definitely make an impact. For those of you that have the flexibility to shift the majority of your power usage to off peak periods, MVEA offers a time of day rate. This rate's peak times are between 5:30a.m-12:00p.m and 4:30p.m-10:30 p.m. While this rate will benefit you with lower energy charges during off peak times, you will pay a premium for energy used during the peak times as well as a small increase in the monthly facility charge. Please feel free to contact our office with any questions regarding our time of day rate. So, let's ban together and get the ball rolling. Watch for our peak period notification and remember every little kilowatt counts! More New Employees Join MVEA
Janet Swierkosz and Todd Gilliland joined MVEA in May as new meter readers in the Falcon Center . Janet also came to us from Colorado Springs Utilities and R Turn Machining employed Todd. Welcome to MVEA! Touchstone Energy Dutch Oven Cook-off information
The dates for this year's cook-offs are: Elbert County Fair in Kiowa, Friday, August 3; Lincoln County Fair in Hugo, Friday, August 10 and Deer Trail Rodeo, Sunday, August 19. For those of you who do not know, Deer Trail is the site of the world's first rodeo and now a great Dutch oven contest. There will be four categories to enter: bread, main dish, side dish, and dessert. You can enter as many as you like. No entry fees are charged. There is a limit of 10 teams per cook-off. Great prizes are awarded for 1st , If eating is more your forte, come on out to the cook-offs ‘cause there's some great samplin' going on after the judging. For more information call Patsy at 719-775-2861. Need Help Paying Your Utility Bill? The Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) is designed to help low-income households with winter home heating costs. It is not intended to pay the entire cost of home heating . Following are phone numbers for your county LEAP offices. Applications will be accepted from November 1 through April 30. El Paso – 719-442-0007 Elbert – 719-541-2369 Douglas – 303-688-4825 Lincoln – 719-7432404 Washington – 970-345-2238 Pueblo – 719-583-6356 Crowley – 719-267-3546 Arapahoe – 303-636-1100 or, go to the LEAP website at Other agencies in the area to assist with emergency situations: Health & Human Service Information & Referral – 211, 719-955-0742, 866-488-9742 www.ppunitedway.org Pikes Peak Community Action Agency: Administration office - 719-471-7870 Eastern El Paso County – 719-347-2976 Eastern Colorado Springs – 719-385-7930 Fountain Area – 719-382-8515 Northern Churches Cares - 719-277-7470 Tri-Lakes Cares – 719-481-4864 Salvation Army – 719-636-3891 Red Cross - 719-632-3563 New Hope Shelter - 719-578-9190 (Colorado Springs) Silver Key (60 and over) – 719-632-1521 Army Emergency Relief (military personnel and retirees) – 719-526-4783 The Home Front Cares (active military, reservists and National Guard) – Military Service Center Time is running out---get those photos sent in!
Get in the LOOP with compact florescent light bulbsMVEA urges you to join in conserving power by installing compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in your home and business. The Energy Star© qualified bulbs can last up to 10 times longer than a standard light bulb and use 2/3 to ¾ less energy. The first CFL bulbs were developed in the 1980's and were expensive. Many people complained about dim light output, flickering, noise, funny colors and sizes that were too big to fit in many fixtures. Today's CFLs cost much less while offering great performance. They have instant turn-on, quick warm-up and great light quality. They come in a wide variety of shapes, most of which are no larger than the standard bulbs they replace. MVEA has joined the national Energy Star© campaign to encourage all Americans to install CFLs. A component of this effort is MVEA's CFL Fund Raiser in which non-profit organizations can sell CFLs as a fundraiser for their organization. MVEA will provide these light bulbs to the non-profit groups at less than wholesale cost. Groups can expect to make approximately $1 for every bulb they sell. If you are a member of a non-profit group within MVEA's service territory and would like more information on how your group can participate, contact MVEA member services department at 719-495-2283 or 719-775-2861. Energy Efficiency today at MVEA! DCP Utility Consulting |
2007 News Archive |
A spring blizzard swept through Mountain View Electric Association's territory breaking over 250 electric poles, damaging 10 transmission structures and pulling down electric lines on Tuesday afternoon, April 24. Over 5,000 MVEA members were out of electricity at the beginning of the storm in over 200 different areas. A combination of high winds, ice and heavy snow on electric lines caused the poles to snap and pulled the cross arms off of transmission lines. In the Monument area, heavy snow on trees caused branches to fall onto the lines. The damaged transmission lines left three substations without power. The downed lines and other damage to the distribution system caused circuits to open in many substations throughout the service territory resulting in the wide spread outages. 
After 27 years of serving the members of MVEA, Frankie Drullinger is retiring to Texas to do what she loves best—raise horses. Frankie has worked in the administration department her entire career with the co-op. Starting as a meter reader in the Falcon Operations Center , she later became a collector and then a consumer relations specialist. 
With our baby boomers getting to retirement age and our membership growing by leaps and bounds, MVEA is experiencing both a turnover in its employees and an increase in positions. This month we have more new employees to introduce to our membership. Luann Larmers is the new receptionist in the Falcon Operations Center . She started with MVEA in March. 
Let's get cookn'! MVEA's Dutch oven contests are just around the corner. This is the 9th year we have sponsored the cook-offs and they just keep getting better and better. 
Our 2007 calendar was absolutely great with some wonderful photos from our members. So for the fourth year, we are inviting you to send in your photos taken within MVEA's territory and reflecting the seasons and the people, lifestyle or landscape of our area. The winners will be included in our 2008 calendar. The deadline for entry is July 1, 2007. If you have questions, please call Deborah Skillicorn or Patsy Tompkins at either MVEA office.
Fund raising opportunities!