NOVEMBER 2023
Gerry Kinney talks to Frontier Community College Linemen students at the Golf Scramble Fundraiser. Facing Gerry is Bra- den Flannigan, son of Wayne-White lineman Tom Flannigan
COOPERATIVE CONNECTION
INSIDE THE NOVEMBER 2023 ISSUE
Budget Billing - Is it Right for You? Generator Program - December Sign-Ups Golf Scramble Fundraiser Follow-Up Cold Weather Energy Saving Tips
2
3
A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER CONNECTING OUR MEMBERS WITH THEIR COOPERATIVE.
5 4
7
Recipes
Budget Billing - Is it Right for You? What is budget billing? It is a program designed to level out the fluctuations in your monthly electric bills. You pay the av- erage of your past year of usage, easing the burden in the hot summers and cold winters when usage (and bills!) is typically higher. To ease the burden around Christmas time, we use an 11-month average in hopes of giving you a credit when we "catch up" in December before starting your budget billing over again in January. For example, if the total you paid in electric bills last year was $2,000, we would divide that by 11 months to make your monthly budget bill payment $182. Instead of paying $216 worth of usage when it's hot in the summer, you would pay $182. When it's nice in the spring and your usage bill is only $132, you still pay $182. If you like to make out your monthly budget ahead of time, budget billing can help you easily keep track of what you owe each month on your electric bill. Instead of playing the guessing game each month, you will know what to expect. Your bill will also show you where you stand with your actual usage so you can see if you have a credit or are falling behind. Typically in late summer, we will re- view your budget amount to make sure it is on track to be even or ahead at the end of the year. Once you receive your December 2023 bill, you can contact our office to be set up on budget billing if you are interested. If you decide mid-year that budget billing is not for you, you can sign a removal form to be taken off of budget billing. You would then be ineligible for budget billing for a 12-month period if you wished to sign up again in the future. Other requirements include paying your bill on time each month, as you are subject to removal from the program for late payments. Below is a sample budget bill. Contact us at (618) 842-2196 in December for more information. Member Name Invoice Group # Primary Account # WAYNE-WHITE 1234 1234567 Invoice 1234 Page 1 of 4 Website: www.waynewhitecoop.com Phone: (618) 842-2196 Outages: (888) 871-7695 Hours: 8:00am - 5:00pm M-F YNNN
Billing Date: Current Bill Due Date: Previous Balance Payment Received Total Balance Forward Current Charges Due AutoPay on 10/15/2023 Current Account Balance
09/30/2023 10/15/2023
Important Messages Bills are generated on the first business day of the month and put into the mail the next day. Don't want to wait for the mail? Get an email as soon as it is ready by signing up for electronic billing statements through our SmartHub app! For more information, visit our website at waynewhitecoop.com or contact our office at (618) 842-2196.
$294.00 -$344.00
Budget Amount Due
$0.00
$344.00 $344.00 $585.14
$344.00
AutoPay On 10/15/2023
Invoice Group Summary Page Account #
Service Address
Balance Forward Current Charges Total Due
1234567 1501 W MAIN ST
$0.00 $0.00
$250.00 $94.00
$250.00 $94.00
700 1234567
JASPER 7001234567
TOTAL
$0.00
$344.00
$344.00
Perks of Owning a Whole House Generator Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative offers a “voluntary” load control program that will provide homeowners with an incentive for allowing us to control your whole house generator during peak demand times in the summer and winter. Homeowners with stand- by generators could potentially have their power needs switched over to the generator during the load-control time. By participating in this voluntary program, the cooperative will give you a significant discount on your electric bill year-round. To qualify, you must have a stand-by generator with an approved automatic switch for our DRU unit to be able to interrupt your power during our peak times. Your generator should also be large enough to handle the entire load for your home.
With your whole-house generator in place, you will not be without electricity. You can only sign up for the program at two different times per year, typically each summer and winter. The deadline to sign up and have your generator installed for this winter is November 15, 2023 . You would then effectively be in the program beginning January 1, 2024. You must remain in the program for at least 12 months once you sign up. You can buy your whole house stand-by generator at the dealer of your choice. We do not sell them or install them. It does NOT matter what brand of generator you have, as long as it is large enough to handle the electric load for your home, which in most cases will likely need to be a 20 KW model. This program is not for generators at businesses or to power farm equipment, such as grain bins or irrigation systems. The generator program is ONLY for residential homes on Wayne-White Electric lines. (City of Fairfield customers are NOT eligible.) If you install your generator prior to our summer and winter program dates, you can sign- up for our generator program early and will begin seeing the benefits of the discount on the date closest to your install, assuming you have met the guidelines for proper sizing and we have installed the DRU unit to control it remotely by that date. For additional details, in- cluding your proper sizing requirements based upon your load, call our engineering depart- ment at (618) 842-2196. Area Generator Dealers/Installers: Carmi
Larry’s Electric (618) 265-3706 Marshall Electric (618) 382-3932 Cisne R.S. Electric (618) 534-0536 Enfield Healy Electric (618) 963-2400 Fairfield All-Pro Electric (618) 842-4829 Carter Turf & Tractor (618) 842-9166 Troyer’s Electric (618) 847-4317 McLeansboro Wuebbles Repair LLC (618) 648-2227 Orchardville Sharp Electric (618) 237-6832
Cold Weather Energy Saving Tips
Cold weather season is here and so is the time to turn on the fur- nace. Besides checking your system to make sure it is in working order before you use it, you will also want to double check one other thing: your thermostat. Make sure the temperature setting is not higher than it should be, so it is not running more often than it needs to. You will also want to check that it has not been put into "auxiliary mode" or "emergency heat" mode. As a result, this causes heat pump or geothermal units to run in back-up heat mode, which is often
electric heat strips (like an electric furnace) unless you have propane back-up. The electric heat strips are not very efficient and can really increase your electric consumption. The result is a higher than normal electric bill for heating your home. We encounter a handful of people each winter who experience this issue and are always happy to help people solve their high usage problems. Another factor that can affect your bill in the wintertime is the use of space heaters. Though they are typically small, the amount of electricity they use is rather large. The typical electric space heater uses 1,500 watts (which is 1.5 kWh) per hour. If you used an electric space heater for 16 hours in a day, that would be 24 kWh consumed per day by that space heater alone. If you used it the same amount of hours each day for a month, you would consume 720 kWh of electricity with that one space heater, which would cost you $85.68 on your electric bill, just for the use of that one space heater. If you can, use space heaters sparingly to save on your winter electric bills. When talking with your neighbors or family about your bills, keep in mind that it is nearly impossi- ble to compare your bill to theirs because of the following 10 factors: 1. The source of heat could be different, including the size and age of the unit. 2. The square footage of the two houses is likely different. Ceiling height could be different too. 3. The number of doors and windows and the type and style of them could be different (air leaks). 4. The amount of insulation in the walls, attic, and crawl space can be different. 5. The thermostat setting could be different. You might be on 72, they might be on 68. 6. The number of people living in the two houses could be different = more all-around usage. 7. Because of lifestyle, the amount of laundry and lengths of showers is different. 8. The size of water heater, use of a dehumidifier, space heater, and type of siding could differ. 9. The amount of shade trees, amount of sun, or wind breaks from trees could be different. 10. The way you use components such as TVs, com- puters, refrigerators, dishwasher, is different.
--As you can see, no two houses are the same, so it is very difficult to compare one house to another. You can make a significant difference on your bill by simply adjusting your thermostat down by just two degrees.
AIEC Scholarship Apps Due December 31!
Applications for the Thomas H. Moore Illinois Electric Cooperative Memorial Scholarships are now available online. Deadline to apply is December 31, 2023! The IEC Memorial Scholarship Program awards seventeen $2,000 schol- arships annually to deserving students in the "electric cooperative family" entering college to assist them with their educational costs. Ten of the scholarships are awarded to high school students who are the children of an Illinois electric cooperative member receiving service from the cooperative. Five more scholarships are reserved for high school
2023 Thomas H. Moore IEC Memorial Scholarship Win- ner Bree Vollman of NCOE.
students enrolling full-time at a two-year Illinois community college who are the child of Illinois electric cooperative members, employees, or directors. The Earl W. Struck Memorial Scholarship, is awarded to a high school student who is the child of an Illinois Electric cooperative employee or director. The LaVern and Nola McEntire Lineworker's Scholarship is awarded to a student to attend the lineworker's school conducted by the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives in conjunc- tion with Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield. (Deadline to apply for the McEntire Lineworker's Scholarship is April 30, 2024.) For more information or to apply, visit our website at www.waynewhitecoop.com Golf Scramble = Success! September 22 ended up being a beautiful day for a golf scramble, and we made the most of it! With nine teams participating, our Annual Lineman Scholarship Golf Scramble Fundraiser was able to raise over $4,700 for the scholarship fund this year. Those funds will be used towards a scholarship for a Frontier Community College student participating
in the Electrical Distribution Systems program. After all the support they received following his accident, Gerry and Denice wished to give back in some way: thus, the creation of this scholarship fund. The money raised this year adds to the over $22,000 that has been given out in scholarships since we began the fundraising efforts in 2016 (a year after Gerry's accident in July of 2015).
The Scramble winning team was made of of Andrew Stewart, Ben Sperry, Matt Hefley and Blaith Belangee.
Thanksgiving Stuffing
Ingredients
12 c dried bread cubes 6 tbsp butter 1 1/2 c onion, diced 2 tsp minced garlic 2 c mushrooms, chopped 1 c celery, diced
1 c chicken stock or broth 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 tsp poultry seasoning 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp black pepper
Directions
1.
Place bread cubes in a large bowl and set aside. Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9x13" or similar size casserole dish and set aside. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the onion, garlic, mushrooms and celery, sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add vegetable mixer to the bowl of bread cubes. Pour in the chicken broth, eggs, poultry seasoning, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir to coat the bread cubes evenly, then pour mixture into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the center reads 165°.
2.
3.
4.
Note: To make bread cubes - cut out 12 c of bread and place in an even layer on large rimmed baking sheets. Place in a 300° oven for 10 minutes, until bread is dried out. Pumpkin Pie Spiced Toffee Bars
Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground ginger 1/4 tsp allspice 1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp kosher salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 c unsalted butter 1/4 c water
1 c sugar 8 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped 1/2 c toasted pecans, chopped flaky sea salt
Directions
Line rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper; set aside. In small bowl, combine cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, & salt; set aside. Measure out vanilla extract; set aside. Combine butter, water & sugar in medium, heavy bottom saucepan. Set over medium-high heat & stir slowly until butter is melted & sugar dissolves. Keep a small bowl of fresh water & pastry brush handy: If any sugar sloshes up sides of pan, use wet brush to gently push back into rest of mixture. Allow butter mixture to come to gentle rolling boil. Stir occasionally/slowly as needed to prevent uneven cooking as mixture gets to 300° & darkens in color. As soon as mixture reaches 300°, remove pan from heat & stir in pumpkin spice & vanilla extract. Pour into lined sheet pan, tilting pan as needed to spread evenly. Allow to cool for 2 minutes, then sprinkle with chopped chocolate; let melt, then smooth with spatula. Top with nuts & sea salt while chocolate is still wet. Allow to cool for at least 4 hours, then break into bite-sized pieces.
1. 2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
THE COOPERATIVE CONNECTION
Fairfield Office: Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday | Phone: (618) 842-2196 Toll Free: (888) 871-7695 | Fax: (618) 842-4497 | Pay-by-Phone: (844) 201-7214 Mailing Address: PO Drawer E, Fairfield, IL 62837 | www.waynewhitecoop.com Physical Address: 1501 W. Main St., Fairfield, IL 62837
WHAT’S HAPPENING @ WAYNE-WHITE ELECTRIC
Severin Receives Public Service Award
Dates to Remember
• 11/5 - Daylight Savings Time Ends • 11/7 - Election Day • 11/10 - Office Closed for Veterans Day • 11/14 - Enfield Office Open • 11/23-24 - Office Closed - Thanksgiving • 11/30 - Enfield Office Open
Above: At the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives' annual meeting in August, State Representative Dave Sev- erin, R-116th District, received the 2023 Illinois Electric Cooperatives' Public Service Award. The award was made in recognition of Rep. Severin's dedicated public service to all citizens of the state of Illinois and for outstanding contribu- tions to the rural electrification program. Severin's district includes Wayne-White Electric's service territory. Pictured are Wayne-White Board Directors Dale Harris, Bryan Williams, Rick Rubenacker, Larry Hosselton, Severin, CEO Chris Hopfinger, Directors Andy Glover, Noel Edmison, and Ken Lamont.
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker