ORECA Hosts Successful Annual Meeting andAwards Excellence and Recognizes Lifetime Achievement
The reviews are in and the 2011 ORECA annual meeting is a success.
With wide a wide range of speakers including former gubernatorial candidate Chris Dudley, BPA's Bill Drummond, UO economist Tim Duy and Mark Speckman, Willamette University football coach, ORECA received praise for giving members unique perspectives and by helping them apply these practical lessons within their own cooperative and communities.
At the meeting, ORECA recognized Jim Stubblefield of Columbia Power for his 41 years of service to Oregon co-ops with the Rural Electrification Award and Neal Harth, Wasco Electric Board Member with the Distinguished Service Award.
The Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association (ORECA) honored three exemplary Oregonians before an audience of 200 people at their annual meeting on December 1, 2011. This year, ORECA recognized a general manager, a long-time Board member and an eastern
Jim Stubblefield, General Manager of Columbia Power in Monument, was awarded the ORECA “Rural Electrification” award for his 41 years of leadership and service. “When I think of Jim Stubblefield I think of the consummate electric cooperative GM,” said Dave Sabala, General Manager of Douglas Electric. “No one is more deserving of this award than Jim,” added Lori Anderson, Columbia Basin Board member.
Neal Harth, Wasco Electric Board member, was awarded the ORECA “Distinguished Service” award for his over two decades of service. “Neal is very deserving not only his 26 years of leadership on the Wasco Electric board, but also for his board leadership within ORECA and NWPPA advocating for the betterment of public power consumers throughout the region,” said Jeff Davis, General Manager of Wasco Electric.
Rep. Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario) received the ORECA “Cooperator of the Year” award. “Rep. Bentz knows first hand about rural
Photo above: Randy Whitaker, Harney Electric and Gary Miller, OTEC present Rep. Cliff Bentz with the "Cooperator of the Year" award.
Testimony of Ted Case on Smart Grids, Senate Commitee on Environment & Natural Resources, September 22, 2011
Chair Dingfelder and Members of the Committee:
My name is Ted Case and I am Executive Director of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association. ORECA represents 18
While three
The advantages of these smart meters are increased reliability, cost savings, and readiness for demand side management programs. They are excellent tools for rural electric systems with large territories to serve, but without a large staff to help maintain reliability.
Some of the benefits of the smart meters include:
· Outage management -- getting information quickly so the cooperative can shorten the duration of the outage.
· Enabling consumers to monitor their electricity usage on their computer or even their phone. Consumers have been shown to boost energy conservation when they can clearly see how much energy they are using.
· Ability to control the meter from the office. For instance, Lane Electric in
· The ability to set up pre-pay programs, so members pay in advance to help address credit issues. We are finding this to be an extremely popular program, as the customer is now in charge of their usage rather than relying on a bill at the end of the month.
There are many other capabilities and we continue to learn each day about the benefits of the technology. The key issue for the Committee to know is that we are installing these systems without any mandates because they make sense for our cooperatives and our members. We also take security and privacy concerns very seriously and all information remains confidential.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I would be happy to answer any questions.
Industry, political leaders headline ORECA summer meeting
Oregon electric co-op leaders were treated to an A-List group of utility and political heavyweights at ORECA’s recent Mid-Year Meeting at Salishan. Called by one cooperative as ORECA’s “best meeting” in years, Oregon managers and directors heard from notables such as influential State Rep. Vicki Berger and NRECA’s legendary CEO, Glenn English. It was BPA Administrator Steve Wright who kicked off the meeting, covering territory from environmental redispatch to market rates as a way to reduce the deficit. Wright also challenged ORECA to become more involved in some of the regional issues that have huge potential costs for consumers. “These are big rocks up big hills,” Wright said. “We need your involvement.”
Rep. Berger – after a terrific introduction by her husband Jerry, a director at Salem Electric – gave the attendees a behind the scenes look at the Oregon Legislature. The legislator was at the center of many of the legislature’s signature achievements and gave credit to the unique governing structure of the Legislature. “The Co-Speakership Model worked amazingly well,” she said.
Glenn English provided the keynote address, speaking on the importance of compromise in the political process. “If we didn’t have compromise, we wouldn’t have the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence,” he said. English also commented on the importance of political involvement and on his legacy as an electric cooperative leader. He observed that while the rural electric program was born in politics and will die in politics, he decided on one thing when he took over NRECA. “Politics is not going to die on my watch,” he said.
The afternoon session featured presentations by respected Oregon pollster Bob Moore and Melissa Wilson, a Youth Tour participant from Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative.
Photos: Glenn English speaks at the ORECA mid-year meeting; Steve Wright, BPA Administrator; Rep. Vicki Berger.
ORECA President offers testimony before Congress
Oregon electric co-op leaders brought a message of affordability and reliability to Washington D.C. in early May, as our nation’s capitol was obsessed with the two B’s: bin Laden and the budget. Still, the group had productive meetings with both U.S. Senators and the House delegation on issues ranging from overgeneration, the bulk electric system and the RUS loan program. The centerpiece event of the trip was the testimony of Roman Gillen, Consumers Power, Inc. CEO, before the House Water and Power Subcommittee. Gillen testified on behalf of ORECA in a hearing titled: Protecting Federal Hydropower Investments in the West: A Stakeholder’s Perspective. Scott Corwin of the Public Power Council also testified. In his testimony, Gillen touched on the need for balance in the overgeneration issue, the punitive nature of "market rates" for federal hydropower and the importance of adopting the biological opinion for salmon recovery. "We support the bi-op, even though it comes at a great cost to our consumers," he testified. After his testimony, Gillen had a question and answer session with Rep. Peter DeFazio on the issues of wind generation and the importance of wind paying for the costs incurred. "We wouldn’t want to be subsidizing private companies," DeFazio 
stated.
In addition, DeFazio made a compelling case against dam breaching on the Snake River, pointing out the dramatic cost increases and impact on navigation.
An overriding theme in the Capitol Hill meetings was the budget deficit, but co-op leaders were able to point out that the RUS loan program makes money for the Treasury. Several House Members expressed support for a NRECA letter in support of the RUS program.
"The Capitol was buzzing about Osama bin Laden, but our group managed to make their mark on the key issues for consumers," said ORECA Executive Director Ted Case. "It was an historic time to be in Washington."
Watch the Committee Session video here.
A copy of Roman Gillen's Testimony may be downloaded here.
ORECA wins Communication awards .JPG)
ORECA picked up two major awards at the NRECA Connect Conference in Denver. ORECA’s newsletter, Keeping Pace, won an Award of Merit for Best External Newsletter in the statewide category. "There are exciting things going on in Oregon and it’s important to share this information with our members," said ORECA Executive Director Ted Case. "I want to thank our partners at Ruralite Services for their excellent help." Case was also recognized for an Award of Merit for a speech he gave to a national co-op Executive Assistant’s conference. The speech titled, "Everything I Know about Co-ops I learned from Pixar" focused on how movies such as Monsters, Inc and Toy Story had underlying themes about energy shortages and renewable energy. "The assistants had all watched these movies," Case said, "so it was a fun way to get out the message about the industry."
Tsunami-related damage and power outages hit Curry County
Loose boats still moored to sections of dock were tossed around the basin like plastic toys in a bathtub after a 9.0 earthquake hit Japan on March 11. Oregonians anxiously watched the coastline to see what would happen. No place was harder hit than coastal Curry County in southern Oregon. Up to eight-foot waves buckled docks and sank boats with the most severe damage at the Port of Brookings.
What was not widely reported is that Coos-Curry Electric Co-op did not have any power outages associated with high winds the day of the tsunami. Roger Meader, General Manager at Coos-Curry Co-op was alerted to the potential for damage and outages at 3 am on Friday morning, said Christine Stallard, Coos-Curry’s Marketing and Member Services Manager. The co-op assessed what the surge action would be, and determined that there would be no damage to the co-op’s facilities and infrastructure.
An on-call employee monitored the situation through 6 pm on Friday, March 11 but line crews did not need to be called out. Because the Port area was evacuated, several of Coos-Curry’s customers – 2 major hotels, an RV Park and a restaurant – were affected, said Stallard.
High winds associated with the tsunami left 37,000 Pacific Power customers without power. Power was restored to all but 400 customers by the following morning. The tsunami did bring high winds several days later, which did cause some outages for our co-op, added Meader.
Photos provided courtesy of Scott Graves, Curry Pilot.
Co-ops Promote Affordable Energy
Rural electric utility leaders meet with state legislators to support rate stability
Electric cooperatives are closely watching the Oregon Legislature this year as energy issues continue to be a part of the debate.
On February 16, more than 70 electric cooperative leaders came to Salem to lobby their state legislators during the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s 2011 Legislative Day.
Energy issues are nonpartisan because both Republicans and Democrats represent members of electric cooperatives. Co-op leaders work with both parties on public policy to minimize rising costs.
Senate Republican leader Ted Ferrioli (R-John Day, District 30) told a group of rural electric leaders “cooperatives must engage in the political process to protect your members.”
A group of co-op leaders also met with Senate President Peter Courtney (D-Salem, District 11) and outlined their concerns with legislation that could increase costs for their members.
During their day at the Capitol, co-op leaders highlighted the following points with their legislators:
Electric co-ops strive to keep electricity affordable for consumers. Any new mandated fees, taxes or assessments on electric cooperative consumers will hit hardworking families without improving the reliability of the electrical power system.
Electric co-ops have made a commitment to renewable power and energy efficiency. Electric cooperatives get more than 90 percent of their electricity from carbon-free sources through the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets renewable hydropower from dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers.
Electric co-ops have worked for many years on cost-effective conservation programs. These programs not only help members be more energy efficient, but save co-ops money and offset the need for new sources of generation.
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December 6, 2010
Rep. Hanna Named “Cooperator of the Year” For His Strong Support of Rural Communities
The Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association presented Representative Bruce Hanna (R-Roseburg) with the “Cooperator of the Year” award at their annual meeting last week for his strong support of electric cooperative utilities in keeping electricity costs low in rural communities throughout Oregon.
“Having grown up in rural Oregon, Rep. Hanna understands the challenges of running a small business while not driving up costs up from unnecessary mandates and restrictions,” said Dave Sabala, Manager of Douglas Electric Cooperative. “Rep. Hanna is not only a friend of co-ops, but he is also deeply involved in the local communities he represents through his extensive involvement on community boards,” added Ron Doan, Manager of the Umpqua Indian Electric Cooperative.
Download the full press release here