Eastern Iowa REC members are invited to gather Sept. 9 at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport for a celebration of cooperative spirit. The 75th Eastern Iowa REC annual meeting will include all the highlights of past meetings: great food, lively entertainment, a variety of exhibits and an interesting featured speaker.
The day will begin at 9 a.m. with registration. Members will need to bring the bottom portion of the meeting notification letter that was mailed to Cooperative members this month. This will be used for the official registration and attendance count. It will also be used for the prize drawing. The many hobby and commercial exhibits will also be open starting at 9 a.m. Exhibitors will be found in the Keppy Hall 4-H Building. Thirty-five prizes will be given away in a drawing held at the end of the meeting. The Washington County Pork Producers will prepare a free lunch for members to be served from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Mike Porter, Marsha Banning and the Panther Creek Band will perform on the annual meeting stage from noon to 12:45 p.m. in the Expo Building. The Expo Building will also be the site of the business meeting, with overflow seating available under the Eichelberger Pavilion.
Following the musical entertainment, at approximately 1 p.m., Cooperative President Tom Hotz of Lone Tree will call the business meeting to order. The business meeting portion of the day will include reports from board officers and the Cooperative’s CEO Kirk Trede. A special membership vote will also be conducted during the annual meeting regarding proposed changes to the Cooperative’s articles of incorporation. The event’s featured speaker will be Bill Chitwood a long-time dairy farmer and humorist.
The $1,000 scholarship winners are Gregory Bott, son of Leon and Rita Bott of Clinton; Mary Broadfoot, daughter of Kevin and Amy Broadfoot of Charlotte; Lieza Hansen, daughter of Chris and Beth Hansen of Grand Mound; Katelyn Linder, daughter of Ken and Sherry Linder of Moscow; Ryan Johnson, son of Brad and Deb Johnson of Muscatine; Evan Ruchotzke, son of Terry and Rebecca Ruchotzke of Lowden; Caitlin Kuehn, daughter of Rick and Julie Kuehn of Durant; Emily Madsen, daughter of Randy Madsen and Deb Madsen of Durant; Rhett Schaefer, son of Randy and Katherine Schaefer of Blue Grass; Roselia Niño, daughter of Jaime and Ana Niño of West Liberty; Jordyn Schaper, daughter of Kevin and Teresa Schaper of Letts; Aaron Swailes, son of David and Sara Swailes of Columbus Jct.; Anna Kottenstette, daughter of Peter and Carol Kottenstette of Burlington; Spencer Russell, son of Greg and Sherry Russell of Wapello; and Matthew Schulte, son of Dennis and Kathleen Schulte of Sperry.
The $500 Cooperative scholarship winners are Lance Bormann, son of Dan and Sheila Bormann of Clinton; Michael Keller, son of Kerry and Patti Keller of Muscatine; Elizabeth Sorgenfrey, daughter of Rick and Becky Sorgenfrey of Durant; Trey Forbes, son of Neil and Jill Forbes of Lone Tree; and Bryar Keltner, son of Bryon and Sheila Keltner of Wapello.
This is the 24th group of scholarship winners. The Cooperative has awarded 182 scholarships since the program started in 1987. This means $153,500 in scholarship funds distributed to students representing 50 different communities. The scholarship winners will be recognized at the Eastern Iowa Light and Power Cooperative district meetings to be held this summer.
Gregory
Bott Mary
Broadfoot Lieze
Hansen Katelyn
Linder Ryan Johnson
Evan Ruchotzke
Caitlin Kuehn
Emily Madsen Rhett
Schaefer
Roselia Niño
Jordyn Schaper
Aaron Swailes Anna Kottenstette
Spencer Russell Matthew
Schulte
Lance Bormann
Michael Keller Elizabeth Sorgenfrey
Trey
Forbes
Bryar Keltner
For those looking to finally get rid of that old refrigerator, freezer or window air conditioner, Eastern Iowa REC can help with the Pull The Plug program.
Cooperative members can have these old, operable appliances recycled and collect an incentive for taking part in the program. Members merely need to contact the
Cooperative member service department to request to have an eligible appliance collected.
Each member is limited to three appliances per address. Incentives for specific appliances include $25 for window air-conditioners or freezers and $35 for refrigerators.
Appliances that do not qualify for the Pull The Plug program, like clothes washers and dryers, computers, dishwashers, microwaves, televisions and water heaters, can be picked up by
Environmental Services of Iowa, LLC representatives at a cost of $20 per appliance. Also note, a $20 penalty fee may be charged to any scheduled collection that includes appliances identified that are not available or all the appliances on site that are determined to be ineligible for the program. It is important that the
appliances are placed outside your home and are operable so that the actual energy savings for removing an inefficient appliance can be realized.
If you want to get rid of that old energy-wasting refrigerator, freezer or window air conditioner, contact the
Cooperative member service department, toll free, 1-800-728-1242. You can not only get rid of that clunker appliance but you can receive a cash incentive for taking part in the program.
The Eastern Iowa REC rebate program has been revised with new rebates for a variety of energy efficient appliances, home heating/cooling systems and lighting. Beginning January 1, 2010, all rebates less than $100 will be credited to the member's electric bill. Also, members must apply for rebates within six months of the purchase date (as shown on the member's invoice). Past eligibility, however, does not guarantee that equipment will meet criteria for current programs in effect. Check out all the new Cooperative rebate offers HERE.
Attendance returned to typical levels at this year's Eastern Iowa REC annual meeting with 1,188 memberships registered compared to 1,069 last year and 1,177 in 2007. The Johnson County Cattlemen served 2,280 meals. During the re-organizational session held after the annual meeting, Tom Hotz of Lone Tree was elected president of the Cooperative’s board of directors. Other board officers elected were: Jim Roling, Preston, vice president; Nancy Varner, Blue Grass, secretary; Wayne Tolander, West Burlington, treasurer; and Larry Rice, Riverside, assistant secretary
The group of 2010 Eastern Iowa REC scholarship winners will be announced in the May 20 issue of the Cooperative newsletter, Current News. Fifteen $1,000 scholarships and five $500 will be awarded to another group of outstanding area high school students. The scholarship winners will be profiled in the Current News and will be honored at their respective district meeting this summer.
Information about power outages affecting homes, businesses and farms served
by Eastern Iowa REC is now available online at www.iowarec.org, the web site of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives. During major outage situations, information will be posted on the Cooperative’s site along with updates to the new statewide outage map. This web resource, developed by the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives this fall, provides a statewide view of power outages at electric cooperatives that deliver electricity in each of state's 99 counties to approximately 650,000 Iowans. When you log onto the power outage tool, you will see a map of Iowa, and you can view the information from a county-by-county view of Iowa or electric cooperative-by-electric cooperative view, including Eastern Iowa REC. The web site will automatically refresh every 10 minutes, so it will reflect the most recently entered information from the electric co-ops.
The 2009 Eastern Iowa REC district meetings will be held this summer. Elections for directors will be held at these meetings. Your name must appear on the Eastern Iowa REC membership in order to seek election to the board or to vote during the election. An example: If just the husband's name appears on a membership, the wife cannot be a candidate for the board or vote in the election. Two unmarried adults may become joint members. There is no charge to take out a joint membership. Joint memberships have been available for about 10 years.
Joint membership applications are available HERE. You can also obtain joint membership forms at any Cooperative service center or at each district meeting, but both the husband and wife must be present to sign the application. Bring your completed joint membership form with you to your district meeting or mail it to the Cooperative prior to the meeting: Eastern Iowa REC, PO Box 3003, Wilton, IA 52778-3003.
Introducing Ticket to Hope: A program
providing free counseling for Iowans impacted by the 2008 disasters.
Who
can take advantage of Ticket
to Hope?
The program is available to any individual or
family who meets the following criteria:
You can find more information here. You can also visit the Ticket To Hope web site HERE.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 amended the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) and required all utilities covered under this legislation to study and consider five new standards: net metering, fuel diversity, fossil fuel generation efficiency, smart metering, and interconnection for distributed resources. The Cooperative utilized a public written comment procedure to gather input from the membership. The board of directors evaluated the comments from the membership, as well as material provided by the Cooperative's staff, and took action on each standard. The links below provide the full text of these decisions.
Standard
11--Net Metering
Standard 12--Fuel Sources
Standard 13--Generation
Efficiency
Standard 14--Time-based Metering
& Communications
Standard 15--Interconnection
Standards For Distributed Resources
Eastern Iowa REC, like all electric utilities, wants everyone to use electricity as safely and efficiently as possible. These two new web sites offer a variety of materials to make that possible.
Through the UseElectricWisely.com web site, you can obtain information about specific electric appliances, calculate home heating/cooling costs, obtain safety information and find contacts for contractors to help with electrical-related home projects.
Safe Electricity is a multi-media public awareness program that
provides life-saving information through its comprehensive web site. The site
includes information for home owners, children, teachers, contractors and agri-business
professionals.
Eastern Iowa REC has established new e-mail service which is tied to the
Cooperative's web site. This will provide better avenues of communications
for several departments. You can now reach personnel (with the exception
of the line crew) who work out of the Cooperative's Wilton service center by
name. For example jim.williams@easterniowa.com.
Other important e-mail addresses are:
General
Information
info@easterniowa.com
Billing
Information
billing@easterniowa.com
Member Service Information member.service@easterniowa.com
To submit Market Place ads market.place@easterniowa.com
What stands more than five feet tall, has four hands, two
feet, a pair of antennae and gets
children to laugh while learning about
electricity? Many eastern Iowa elementary school
students could easily
provide the
answer-- Louie the Lightning Bug. Eastern Iowa REC
uses Louie the Lightning Bug shows to teach children about electric
safety. The Eastern
Iowa REC
Louie program consists of a special Louie video and musical review of
safety
tips. By the end of the current school year, more than 20,000
students throughout the
Cooperative's service area will have seen and heard
Louie's safety message since the
program was started in 1986. To schedule
a visit by Louie the Lightning Bug, contact
Janet
Twait at the Cooperative's Wilton
service center 1-800-728-1242..
