Manager's Moment
by TEC Manager Steve Foshee
Posted: Mayl 2010
How’re we doing?
From time to time, I am asked how things are going here at Tombigbee. Generally, I tell people that things are going pretty well. I suppose when asked this, it is like someone casually asking, “How are you feeling?” Most of the time the question is asked as a pleasantry and, as we do on occasion, we reply generally with an “OK” or “Pretty Well” whether that is true or not.
With all that is going on in the country, this state and around us, I have begun to think about our member-owners and how are things at your company. We are all thinking about not only ourselves but the others in our communities and hope that all is really going “pretty well.”
With that in mind, I would like to tell you about some important areas that I think you would be interested in.
Most of the time there are two questions of primary concern with one being “will the lights stay on?” Last year, and so far this year, it has stayed live over 99.9% of the time! There has not been a major storm (and let’s hope that as soon as I write this there won’t be one) and the maintenance we do is working. The last big outage we have had was in one of our substations where an older transformer failed. We lost power to almost 2,000 homes. Many of you got busy signals as we only have six telephone lines coming in and the system was overloaded.
With the exception of the station located on Highway 129 most are pretty old and we spend a lot of time taking care of them. Regardless of what we do some equipment fails. Already this spring we have had some problems with squirrels as they like our poles and wires but our poles and wires do not like them. Our goal is always to keep the lights on and no matter the cause we work to maintain that goal.
The next question we hear a lot about is power rates and how are things going. We are still holding steady with no rate increase. The last two wholesale increases to us we have absorbed and not passed along to you. Fuel costs (coal, natural gas, some nuclear) have been steady of late. The costs, while not great, are also not too bad so those cost are not having to be passed along for now.
However, due to record colds this past winter over an extended period of months you most likely spent more on your power costs. While costs are steady at this time, I do not look for that to remain so. Costs will go up at some point due to environmental, fuel and the “cap and trade” legislation likely to pass in Congress. When that will happen, however, is unknown. If you have higher bills than you like the best remedy is in reducing your energy usage. That will be the key thing in the future and we have information in this magazine, at the cooperative and online to help you.
If you wonder if the local economy affects Tombigbee, the short answer is yes. We continue to see folks move from the area as they have to have better paying jobs and that is something that is in short supply in our communities. The good news is the three county jobs creation group is formed and moving ahead with nearly all communities supporting it. Its sole responsibility is to bring jobs to the area. Additionally a new hotel is being constructed in Winfield with one more planned in another community. So there is potential. We must be wise for our children’s sake. Like many of you I am concerned about what is happening on the state and national scene and that could impact us in a negative way.
Financially Tombigbee is holding steady. We operate like many of you - in a very conservative way. We are paying down our debts and planning for the future, cutting costs where ever possible. We are very lean.
So, how are things at Tombigbee? They are ok and holding on just like many of you. Please remember that if you need us for something just give us a call.
Steve Foshee
205-468-3325 X 232
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From April 2010:
Has Spring sprung?
After a very difficult winter warmer weather is finally upon us, and it is a welcome relief! With lower power bills I am sure it also brings some relief to your pocketbooks as well. We know that most of you are as concerned about your power bills as we are here at Tombigbee. Due to the unusual extended period of cold weather over the last year, most of our member-owners had up to 36% higher power bills.
I have discussed in previous articles how we are adding a lot of capability to our computer systems to help you understand where the energy is being used. That is one thing, but what about ways to use less energy? To help you learn how to cut your energy use we have some wonderful information that can guide you on lowering your power bills by lowering your energy usage. I know it is strange for a power company to help you lower your bills, but you own us and our goal is to help you first!
Even though our costs have risen by some 2.5% we have not had a rate increase. This was accomplished by us absorbing much of last year’s costs. We are doing all that can be done to lower our operating costs and by doing that we are more able to help you, our member-owners. We will continue on this course and hope that we can work together to keep your energy bills within your budget. If you will do your part, we will do ours!
Over the last several years I have written about the need to have jobs in our area. As many of you are aware, your board and I have tried in many ways to bring jobs into the area. We have attended countless meetings, completed hours of planning in regards to the possible construction of industrial sites and many other activities to forward these goals. Many of your elected leaders and many volunteers who have other jobs have done a tremendous amount of work.
If you are retired or have a job, why should you be interested in this? For one, it is the most important problem we have in our area. Because of it we are seeing members of our communities who are moving away in order to seek work. As of this writing another plant closed with a loss of over 200 jobs. Where are those folks going to find work? Most will have to move to find employment. This happened in the 1950’s and of those who left to find jobs elsewhere, most did not move back. That means that there will be less of us to pay for electric power, road construction, schools, fire protection, police protection and the like. We will either learn to do without, get used to paying higher costs or work together to create jobs so folks can move back into our communities.
If you agree with me I hope you will call your elected officials and let them know we need jobs. With your participation – a phone call, a letter, an email - they will know we are behind their efforts to bring in good quality jobs.
We all hope you have a great April,
Steve Foshee
205-468-3325 X 232
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From March 2010:
EIGHT YEARS..no loss time!
It has been a very brutal winter for us here in North Alabama and we realize that your power bills may reflect this as well. It has been a long while since I have seen such consistent cold weather both during the day and night. This type of weather results in significant higher energy costs for all of us.
You will be reading this at the first of March and I am writing this at the beginning of February so I do not know yet how March will fare. As I write this article it is raining outside and quite cold. It has also been a wet period of time going back for months and I don’t recall it raining so much before.
Many of you have told me of your record breaking power bills and I can identify with that as mine has been higher (no, I do not get mine free). We have tried to give you a lot of information on how to save energy and how to keep your bills somewhat in check. Soon, we will launch a number of new ways to help you on our web site. It will have a lot of helpful tools that you can get a lot of ideas on what costs you and what you can do about it. If you do not have Internet you can go to any public library or stop by here and we will help you. If you can’t get here, call us. We want you to know where your energy dollars are being used, why they are being used, and what your options are.
Some of you are still moving into older mobile homes. I want to let you know if you are heating with an electric furnace or with a window air conditioner for cooling -- that is not a heat pump -- and you are going to have very large power bills as your dwelling is very inefficient as a whole.
We lost quite a bit of money last year on uncollectable bills and that hurt the cooperative very much. As a result, we have to get a little bit more aggressive in collecting unpaid bills. There is a fine line in being compassionate and understanding to our members and being taken advantage of. Unfortunately, we have to pay for power just like our members. If we do not collect for it, then other members have to make up for it in higher rates as a non-profit. It is a fine line and we are trying to walk it. Let us know if we can help you in any way.
On a very happy note, I could not be happier for our workers here at Tombigbee! They have finished their 8th year in a row without a loss time accident. This achievement is a remarkable accomplishment and sets all kind of records for the state, and perhaps the nation. It takes dedication and commitment from everyone to make this happen. It also saves you, our rate payers, money as we are at this time not having to raise rates. We are doing whatever we can to hold costs down and part of that is insurance costs. The most significant aspect of this achievement, however, is that there was no human suffering by the employee or their families! If you see one of our staff, please join me in giving them a well-deserved pat on the back, and while you’re at it, give them a “job well done!”
Steve Foshee
205-468-3325 X 232
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From February 2010:
2010 Rates Holding Steady...
It has been a very cold winter but hopefully our weather will become warmer this month. With this extreme cold your power bills may be a bit higher than last year at this time due to more energy usage. However, I am pleased to announce that the Board has decided to hold rates as they were in 2009 and there will be no rate increase for the time being.
As they did previously, the board has approved absorbing our wholesale cost increase of some 2.5% for 2010. This is not a easy thing to do since everything is going up in cost but we have worked very hard to reduce expenses across the board including having reducing our work force by some 15%. We are actually doing more work with less people now in more effective ways. Of course this cannot go on long without some revenue as we have been hopeful that we might increase our revenue with industrial plants rather than rate increases.
There has been a lot of information published in the papers concerning a jobs creation group called “C3”. This organization was initiated by Bill Atkinson, an attorney here in Marion County, Judge Johnny Rogers in Lamar County, and Judge William Ozwalt in Fayette County. The sole purpose is for all three counties to work together to bring good paying jobs into the area... Not a specific area... but the area as a whole. Whereever the industry would want to locate in the area would be fine. With the unemployment approaching 18% and the discouraged workers being some 3 to 4% more, we are approaching depression level unemployment in the area, similar to 1932 in scope. The only way to get out of this is to recruit new industry to locate here and do so with the best recruiter we can afford and one that will get the job done. Most of the communities are 100% behind this effort as people want to pay their bills but they do not have a job to do so. It is simply a very bad situation. It cannot get better unless the people in our community can secure a good job. Many of our neighbors are having to relocate for employment. They are having to move to a larger community within Alabama. If you are a college graduate it is almost impossible to find work here. I hope this will all come together soon for all of our sakes.
Hopefully, we will have some very exciting news next month to report or perhaps the next month after that about some local efforts to bring growth and well being to the area other than the C3.
Your cooperative has been asked to help and we have been glad to do so. Part of our principals is to be involved in the community and we are doing just that. Until we chat next month, try to stay warm.
Steve Foshee
205-468-3325 X 232
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From January 2010:
Ice Storms...
These are two words that bring fear and dread to those in the electric utility business. The last significant ice storm we experienced here was in 1998. I remember it well as the former was retiring and I was just coming to TEC as manager. At that time I had been here just about two weeks and although the former manager would not be leaving until the end of the month he was on business in South Alabama and I had the pleasure of managing that event not knowing the system. This event stands clearly in my mind during this time each year because it happened just before Christmas.
For almost all this is a special time of year and knowing that we worked very hard to restore power so our member’s holidays would not be totally disrupted and so that we could also spend time with our families. Our hard work that year paid off and by late Christmas night our crew was able to be with their families too.
On a personal note that Christmas of 1998 stands apart because I lost my Dad. My family did not notify me that we were losing him because they knew my responsibilities here and I got word that very Christmas night but by then he could not speak. We were told that he could hear us, though, and I hope this is true. Like all who lose a parent that way we would have liked to have talked to them one last time.
So that ice storm of 1998 remains crystal clear in my memory and will always come to mind this time of year.
There is not anyone in the electric energy industry that likes ice storms. I have managed three major ones in my life and all were very bad. In addition to my memories of that first storm I managed, I am writing about this because I received notice that the rainy weather pattern we have been experiencing the last few months may leave us exposed to ice storms this year.
I want you to know we are taking this threat very seriously. Preparations have been made that will ready your cooperative in case this event occurs and I encourage you to prepare as well. As you know, these type of situations generally last for days but can go on for weeks. Last year we sent crews to Kentucky and it took weeks to recover and restore power.
You should make plans for such an event and have some basic things on hand such as food that will not spoil without refrigeration, bottled water, an emergency heating source, lanterns or lighting, a radio, and batteries for powering up devices - among other measures. I am not mentioning this to cause panic or fear but because I want you to be prepared – in case – so that you can be safe. Hopefully, these predictions are wrong, but being prepared for the worst and hoping for the best can be a safe strategy! Rest assured that your cooperative will do all it can to be prepared and ready. We will restore power as soon as possible. You have a very hard working dedicated group of employees here who take their jobs very seriously and are very professional and well trained. They also have the best equipment available to them do their jobs. We have spent millions of dollars since the last ice storm to trim and cut trees away from the line and to install stronger poles. These necessary measures will help us, but it will not stop the problems that nature can invoke. So, please be prepared.
Need more tips? Just give us a call, and we wish you the very best in 2010.
Steve
205-468-3325 X 232
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