Kentucky travel blogger takes the EV wheel

The era of the electric vehicle is upon us, and Kentucky’s electric cooperatives are gearing up so their local consumer-members are ready to take the wheel.

To help explain the advantages of driving an EV, several teams of drivers are hitting the road across Kentucky this spring and summer, starting with a travel blogger who perhaps knows Kentucky’s roads better than anyone.

Cory Ramsey, the force behind Map Dot Kentucky, has visited every Kentucky county (twice!) to document the commonwealth’s backroad treasures. “If you point to any spot on a Kentucky map, we have been to within 20 miles of any given spot,” Ramsey says. In June 2013, Kentucky Living featured Ramsey in a cover story about his travels. On Saturday, April 13, Ramsey will take the wheel of one of the ChargeChange electric vehicles owned by Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, to help raise awareness about how the future is now for EVs.

Kentucky Living will be sharing Ramsey’s social media posts and EV facts as he travels to several iconic destinations in western Kentucky, including Farm Boy Restaurant in Morgantown, the homeplace of Bill Monroe in Rosine, and the International Museum of the Bluegrass in Owensboro. Watch for a special feature story about the Great EV Road Trip in the October 2019 issue of Kentucky Living.

Electric vehicles are a growing market for new car purchases with more and more people making the switch from the gas station to an electrical outlet to fuel their vehicles.

Electric vehicles use electricity as their primary fuel or use electricity along with a conventional engine to improve efficiency (plug-in hybrid vehicles). Drivers are purchasing the vehicles for all kinds of reasons. Many decide to buy when they hear about the savings. Drivers see around $700 in savings a year in gasoline expenses when they drive an average of 12,000 miles. They also can realize substantial tax credits that encourage low-emission and emissions-free driving. Additional benefits include environmental improvements because of reduced vehicle emissions, energy independence by way of using locally-generated electricity and high-quality driving performance.

With the influx of electric vehicles comes a need for charging infrastructure. Throughout the country, businesses, governments and utilities have been installing electric vehicle charging stations. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, there are tens of thousands of vehicle charging outlets across the country.

This trend toward electric vehicles is expected to continue, especially with the billions of dollars that auto manufacturers are investing in these new vehicles. The list of manufacturer support is long with almost every large automobile manufacturer currently developing or selling an electric vehicle.

For more information about electric vehicles and a special rebate available for local consumer-members and employees of Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, visit togetherwesaveky.com.

Teaching the future

Kids are our future,” says Justin Weaver. “The more you teach them and work with them, the better adults they will make when they get older.”

Justin is a father of two—Bennett, 9, and Ansleigh, 5. He doesn’t just believe what he says; he puts his words into action.

Justin is a member of the school board for the Trenton Special School District. In this role, he is pushing for more certified technology courses.

A field engineer team leader with the Gibson Electric Membership Corporation, Justin has coached virtually every sport except dance. He also volunteers at his church, working with—you got it—the youth.

“Whatever my kids are involved in, I am going to be involved in,” he says. “If you are capable and your schedule allows, you should be involved with children.”

Smile

SHELBYVILLE

Emma Durham loved playing basketball.

On the court, her adversaries were often in awe of her ability. Off the court, however, she faced an unfair adversary in the form of cancer. But even when her hair fell out from chemotherapy, she was on the court—smiling, enjoying every minute of the game.

“Don’t forget to smile,” became Emma’s mantra.

Today, the staff and board of directors for Shelby Energy Cooperative help ensure Emma’s message continues. Recently Lynn Joyce, wife of Shelby Energy Board of Directors member Jeff Joyce, created and donated a 5-yard quilt with a University of Kentucky Wildcats design. The quilt was auctioned, and the highest bidders were Jack Bragg Jr., president and CEO of Shelby Energy, and his wife, Janet.

That money goes to the Emma Durham Foundation to honor her memory by providing a $2,000 scholarship each year for a student at both Shelby County and Martha Layne Collins high schools. The foundation also provides small Christmas trees for young patients hospitalized during Christmas. Gifting the trees was Emma’s last wish after a small tree gave her such joy during her final Christmas.

TRENTON, Tenn. — Gibson Electric Membership Corporation hosted a large crowd of members and friends at its 83^rdAnnual Members’ Meeting on March 21 at Crockett County High School in Alamo, Tennessee.

The Kurt Stephenson Band entertained the crowd with high-energy bluegrass tunes. Members were served free barbecue and hot dog dinners, toured exhibits and participated in the business meeting.

Gibson EMC Board Chairman Steve Sanders opened the business meeting by thanking members for their participation and support. He also talked about the benefits of cooperative membership including local ownership and control through the member elected board of trustees.

Gibson EMC and Gibson Connect President and CEO Dan Rodamaker began his report by stating the cooperative’s mission which is to enhance the co-op members’ quality of life by providing exceptional services that are reliable, affordable and safe. “Service reliability is a high priority for Gibson EMC and our members,” he said.  “Rebuilding the Trenton Substation was a large project we completed in 2018 that was necessary to enhance service reliability for members in and around Trenton,” he explained. “Our 2019-2022 construction work plan includes other significant projects like the construction of a new substation in the south Medina area and the rebuilding of the Alamo substation, along with Phase I and Phase II of the fiber buildout,” Rodamaker said.  “Within this four-year work plan, we also will convert some areas in Kentucky to 25kV to improve service reliability.”

Rodamaker talked about Gibson EMC’s commitment to safety and recognized the Alamo, Hickman, Tiptonville and Trenton employees for working all year without a lost-time injury. “Keeping our members and our employees safe is mission critical,” he said. “This is why we emphasize safety every day with our employees and regularly do safety demonstrations for our schools and civic groups.”

Rodamaker explained that affordability is another major concern for Gibson EMC. “During the three years since we merged with the former Hickman-Fulton Counties Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, our Kentucky members have saved more than $3 million,” he said. Rodamaker also explained that Gibson EMC uses an outside consultant to conduct a cost-of-service study from time to time to understand the true cost of providing service within each rate class of members and to ensure that the rates are fair and equitable.

“In 2018 Gibson EMC completed a 40-GIG ring connecting all of our member service centers to strengthen our internal communications and our ability to remotely monitor and control our electric system,” Rodamaker said.  “The fact that there are redundant communications paths to each member service center reduces the likelihood of communications service disruptions. It also provides a strong backbone for our fiber-to-the-home offerings.”

Gibson Connect, Gibson EMC’s wholly-owned, not-for-profit subsidiary, uses a web-based participation system to guide the order of its internet buildout. Join.gibsonconnect.com, was launched October 10, 2017, and Medina was the first zone to reach its participation goal. Dyer and Three Way soon followed.  These zones and the area covered by a $1.4 million Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Grant (for Ridgely, Tiptonville and Samburg) are included in Gibson Connect’s fiber-to-the-home buildout. “Our goal is to ultimately provide all of our eligible members with access to high-speed, fiber-based service, but we must use a phased approach and it will take time – probably about five years to complete the buildout,” Rodamaker said.

To help move the project along and hold down costs, Gibson EMC is pursuing grants for those areas that qualify. So far, the co-op has been awarded a $1.4 million Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Grant for Ridgely, Tiptonville and Samburg and $1.22 million in CAF II funding for areas in both Tennessee and Kentucky. This year Gibson EMC applied for two more Tennessee Broadband Accessibility grants, one to serve a section of Obion County and the second to serve parts of Crockett and Gibson counties. Rodamaker said that Gibson EMC will continue to apply for grants and low-interest loans on behalf of its members as it works to provide access to all of its members.

At the meeting Brandon Gibson, Senior Advisor in the Office of the Governor for the State of Tennessee, announced that Gibson EMC had just been awarded a $588,974 grant to serve the Gadsden community in Crockett County and part of Gibson County. “Access for rural broadband is a real issue,” Gibson said. “Electric cooperatives have deep roots in their communities, and in 2017 the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act created the infrastructure grant program and permitted electric cooperatives to provide broadband internet access. Earlier this week, the Governor was pleased to announce the round two awardees of the Broadband Accessibility Grant. For this round of grants, we received 59 applications for $15 million in grant funding. The total of these applications was $62 million in requests. Gibson EMC was one of 13 providers across the state whose project was funded in round two,” Gibson said. She explained that Gibson Electric is unique, because it is only one of two providers who have been awarded grant funds in both rounds of the state’s grant process. The first was to put fiber in rural areas of Lake County. “Both grants demonstrate Gibson EMC’s commitment to its rural communities and using all funding sources available to them,” she said.  “The state was very impressed with the buy-in from Gibson EMC customers and the willingness for everybody to sign up and commit to using the services.”

Rodamaker thanked the co-op’s board and employees for their dedicated service and he thanked the co-op’s member-owners for their trust and support. He closed saying, “By helping those who are less fortunate, joining together to recruit jobs to our communities, reinvesting in our electric infrastructure, and building a broadband system to provide an increasingly intelligent electric grid and access to high-speed internet service, Gibson EMC is working every day to provide its member-owners power andopportunity.”

BRANDENBURG – The announcement that America’s largest steel producer plans to build a $1.35 billion steel plate manufacturing mill in Brandenburg is a great example of how Kentucky’s electric cooperatives are a key player in the state’s economic development, said Chris Perry, president and CEO of Kentucky Electric Cooperatives.

“The co-op mission is to improve the quality of life in the communities we serve,” Perry said. “The decision by NUCOR Corp. to build this plant in the Buttermilk Falls Industrial Park served by Meade County RECCand Big Rivers Electric affirms that mission and is the latest example of how co-ops are ready to power Kentucky’s economy.”

Gov. Matt Bevin joined executives from Nucor Corp. at the announcement, calling the investment both an immediate and long-term economic development achievement, creating more than 400 well-paying, full-time jobs in the coming years and ranking as one of the state’s largest-ever single investments.

“Nucor is a proven, longtime corporate citizen in Kentucky and a key partner in our world-class primary metals industry,” Gov. Bevin said. “We are grateful for the company’s decision to construct a new state-of-the-art mill in Brandenburg. This massive project will transform the region’s economy and provide high-quality jobs to Kentuckians for generations to come. Thanks to Nucor’s strong commitment to the commonwealth, we are taking another momentous step toward solidifying our reputation as America’s engineering and manufacturing center of excellence.”

The 1.5-million-square-foot facility will sit on 900 acres along the Ohio River in Brandenburg. With a production capacity of 1.2 million tons per year, the steel mill will enhance Nucor’s ability to serve customers throughout the region and meet needs for the company’s customers nationwide. Full-time positions at Nucor will pay an average annual wage of $72,000, and will include equipment operators, production specialists, safety and environmental technicians, engineers and office support staff. Nucor executives anticipate construction will begin by year-end with the facility opening by 2022. The project could create as many as 2,000 construction jobs.

“This is a huge economic development milestone for our region,” said Marty Littrell, President of Meade County RECC. “Meade County RECC, its board & Big Rivers Electric have actively been working along with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development to attract large industrial development projects that would benefit our entire cooperative member system. Today’s announcement is a testimony to the ambitious strategic goals we established to best benefit the communities we serve. It’s a proud day for Meade County RECC, Big Rivers and the community.”

The announcement comes just six months after the company announced a $650 million, 70-job phase II expansion at Nucor Steel Gallatin, a mill producing flat-rolled coils in Ghent. That plant is also served by co-ops, Owen Electric Cooperative and East Kentucky Power Cooperative, the wholesale energy provider to Owen Electric which worked closely with Nucor officials to support the expansion that promises to nearly double the mill’s annual capacity to approximately 3 million tons.

In making the announcement, John Ferriola, chairman, CEO and president of Nucor, thanked both government officials and Big Rivers Electric.

“The new plate mill will grow our company’s already significant presence in Kentucky. With this announcement, Nucor is currently investing more than $2 billion in our Kentucky operations,” Ferriola said.

David Pace, a Meade County RECC employee who works as Meade County-Brandenburg Economic Development chairman, congratulated Nucor and the partners involved in making the region attractive for industrial development.

“We owe huge thank you to Nucor for entrusting Brandenburg and Meade County with being the home of this hugely important project,” Pace said. “The mill’s announcement today further underscores the years of foresight and preparation by our board, city and county leaders, utility partners and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. Collectively we’ve worked to establish Buttermilk Falls Industrial Park and advance it over the years with infrastructure, utilities and due diligence that made it desirable for a great partner like Nucor.”

To encourage the investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in a special meeting today preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $30 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of the new tax revenue it generates over the agreement term through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.

Additionally, KEDFA approved Nucor for up to $10 million in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA). KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing.

Nucor has two performance-based incentive agreements from KEDFA for the current expansions in Gallatin County.

Nucor is also eligible to receive resources from the Kentucky Skills Network. Through the Kentucky Skills Network, companies can receive no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job training incentives.

As of March 15, 2019

Jackson Purchase Energy

Jackson Purchase Energy has restored service to more than 5300 consumer-members after at least one tornado touched down Thursday morning. Currently, we have around 3900 consumer-members without power. In addition to JPEC’s own crews, local crews including Paducah Power and mutual aid from other Kentucky electric cooperatives are working to restore power. Sixteen crews in the field prepared worked through the night to restore power.  Local crews from Paducah Power assisted with JP staff as well.

JPEC is continuing to assess damage.

Major areas included Hinkleville Rd., Blandville Rd., US HWY 62 – Fisher Rd., and Upshaw Rd.

Kenergy

Kenergy’s peak member outages were between 5,500-6,000 on the afternoon of March 14. More than 10 poles were broken. Power was expected to be restored by noon, March 15.

West Kentucky RECC

Most power has been restored by West Kentucky RECC. At the peak, there were 1,200 members without service, mostly in Marshall County around Calvert City and Gilbertsville. West Kentucky also lost a substation that feeds about 2,400 members on the western edge of our service area, but that was quickly restored. That outage was caused by a TVA transmission problem.

 

 

Jackson Purchase Energy is responding to 60 outages affecting more than 7,000 consumer members after at least one tornado touched down on Thursday morning.

Because multiple utility poles have been downed by the storms, please prepare for extended outages.

We are continuing to assess damage which includes:

Multiple transmission feeds from Big Rivers Electric are down
Multiple JPEC substations are without power
Main double circuits affecting the Kentucky Oaks Mall area are down
Broken poles near Hwy 60 in western Kentucky near Kentucky Oaks Mall

JPEC crews are already working to restore power. Those crews will be assisted by multiple crews from both out of state and mutual aid crews from other Kentucky electric cooperatives.

Please be advised that JPEC phone lines are again being answered. Our staff needed to take shelter for about one hour during the tornado warning.
ALWAYS stay away from downed power lines and assume they are energized and dangerous. Call 911 to report downed lines.

To report an outage, you can use our Smart Hub app, or call 270-442-7321 or toll-free 800-633-4044

Electric co-ops battle critters, storms and hackers

Did you know squirrels, lightning and trees have something in common? They all can knock out your electricity.

Electric cooperatives work hard to keep your lights on all the time, but “limited power outages are inevitable,” says Clarence Greene, safety and loss control manager at Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. “Getting power restored is important, but safety of lineworkers and the public comes first. The dangers of downed power lines need to be part of any conversation about power restoration.”

An electric utility’s basic job of keeping the power flowing 24/7 calls for maintaining a complex network of power plants, poles and wires. But it also means battling the unpredictable. Greene cites the top three troublemakers to electric reliability as trees falling on power lines and other interferences from vegetation, lightning strikes and animals going about their daily routines, especially squirrels chewing on electrical equipment.

Humans contribute to power outages as well, with vandals deliberately damaging electrical equipment and drivers crashing into utility poles.

Despite the potential problems, statistics show the percentage of time that the average American has electricity at the flip of a switch is a steady 99.97 percent.

“I don’t see big swings from year to year,” says Tony Thomas, senior principal engineer with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). “If things are fairly consistent, that means the utility is operating about as efficiently as it can.”

Investing in technology

Kentucky co-ops deploy barriers, shields and other coverings to prevent critters—from woodpeckers to snakes—from compromising reliability.

“One method that many Kentucky cooperatives are using to prevent squirrels from causing outages is by installing electrostatic guards on overhead transformers,” explains Tony Dempsey, a safety and loss prevention instructor with Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. “The guard emits a static charge that deters squirrels or other animals from creating a short at the point where the main line is connected to the transformer.”

Utilities operate extensive right-of-way programs to keep vegetation away from power lines. Digital software can forecast the growth of trees and other plants so that utilities can prune branches before they cause a problem.

Other software tries to manage lightning by analyzing the age and wear on the utility’s equipment, which minimizes the damage from lightning strikes by replacing it before it fails.

By far the biggest factor in reliability comes from the decades of building, maintaining and updating the massive machinery of the nation’s electric grid at power plants, high-voltage transmission lines, banks of substations and transformers and local distribution lines.

Kentucky’s electric cooperatives invest hundreds of man-hours inspecting and maintaining power lines. “This includes line inspections, breaker and transformer preventative maintenance, and right-of-way work,” says Robert Thornton, a safety and loss prevention instructor with Kentucky Electric Cooperatives, who trains lineworkers to recognize both the causes and the hazards associated with outages in order to minimize outage times.

Working out of three high-voltage demonstration trailers, Kentucky Electric Cooperatives helps train lineworkers to troubleshoot outages, including both overhead and underground equipment and devices. Vendors and electrical equipment manufacturers participate in workshops that ensure equipment is used and operated safely and efficiently.

“Kentucky co-ops have lineworkers on call every night and each weekend to respond to outages,” Thornton says.

Keeping the grid up and running calls for a lot of planning among utilities to anticipate how electricity will be used in the future. Part of that reliability planning focuses on protecting the electricity system from computer-based digital attacks.

Cybersecurity never-ending

As director of government affairs for NRECA, Bridgette Bourge is among those overseeing how digital technology affects reliability for electric co-ops and their consumer-members.

“Cyber helps a lot on reliability because it gives us the ability to monitor and know everything right away,” she says. “But whenever you increase reliability through a technology, you do potentially open up vulnerabilities as well from the security angle.”

Bourge says it’s routine for a co-op to receive tens of thousands of attempts each day to break into its computer network. She says NRECA cyber-reliability programs aim to help protect against a range of threats, from broad attempts to shut down parts of the electric grid, to more focused efforts to corrupt pieces of software used by electric cooperatives.

Cooperation among cooperatives is a cooperative principle. Much like traditional safety training, Kentucky Electric Cooperatives works with NRECA and other partners to share techniques for protecting utility systems from internet invaders. Cyber mutual-assistance agreements utilize teams of information technology experts in the case of a cyber incident or natural disaster.

“You will never be 100 percent cybersecure,” says Chris Hayes, chief technology officer with Kentucky Electric Cooperatives. Hayes serves as a liaison to Kentucky co-ops on information technology and cybersecurity. “The bad guys buy the same hardware and software as co-ops and other major companies to find flaws and exploit them.”

Hayes sees electric co-ops as well-placed to pay attention to cybersecurity. He says as community-based, member-led businesses, electric co-ops have a unique interest in protecting the reliability of the local community’s energy supply.

“Cybersecurity has to be a priority in everything we do,” says Hayes. “Protecting the electric grid means protecting our family, friends andcommunities.”

Kentucky Proud and electric cooperatives make a difference

Do you remember your wedding vows? I will never forget my wedding day as I stood in front of friends and family and watched my bride escorted by her father into the sanctuary of Rose Hill Baptist Church in Ashland. That was 25 years ago.

We were so young and excited about what life had in store for us. I look back at the pictures and see two young people who were committed to each other and to making a difference in the world. She was beautiful then and even more beautiful today. I was much thinner and had no signs of gray in my hair. 

We were recent college graduates and I had accepted a job at Nolin RECC as an engineer. I am so thankful that I found a job working for an electric cooperative. I was able to find a program that had a mission that I could completely support. Electric cooperatives make a difference in their local communities and are always thinking of how to keep electric rates affordable. 

In our wedding vows, I remember the line “for better or worse.” I bet most married folks have lived out that portion of our vows at different times in our lives. For us, there have been the good times, but there have also been the bad times. 

In this issue of Kentucky Living, you will read about Kentucky Proud Weddings (page 24), which are uniquely Kentucky. The venue, flowers, food and entertainment have roots in our state heritage.

The idea of using local suppliers is to give back to your community. That’s something that electric cooperatives can get behind, because our roots have always been and are still locally based.

When I read the story, I immediately thought of my marriage. We were married in a small town and celebrate our Kentucky roots. I am proud of our 25 years—Kentucky Proud.

Thankful for the opportunity to serve

Bowling Green

Concern for community is one of seven principles that Kentucky’s electric cooperatives adhere to. If you want to know what that really means, look at the life of N.E. Reed, a board director for Warren RECC.

For 21 years, N.E. was judge-executive of Edmonson County. Working with others, N.E. was able to build a library, senior center, courthouse annex and technology center at no cost to the county. He led the charge to create an industrial park and attracted three factories that hired 130 people. At the end of his tenure, the county budget was in the black with a financial reserve.

For 40 years, he also served Oak Grove United Baptist Church as song leader. He taught Sunday School, was a deacon and is still a clerk for the church.

“I’m most proud of the people here in our county willing to help,” says N.E. “When we put our heads together we come up with great things for the county. I appreciate the opportunity they gave me to serve.”

The cure for what ails you

Elizabethtown

If you ever get down on your fellow man, John Mastin has the solution: volunteer.

Mastin, a dispatcher for Nolin RECC, has volunteered for an array of causes, including serving as a Sunday School teacher for Eastwood Creek Baptist Church. Today he is a bell ringer for the Salvation Army and a flag stander for the Patriot Guard Riders of Kentucky.

“As a bell ringer, it blesses my heart to see people give although they may not have as much as others,” John says.

Flag standers honor veterans and first responders by standing in a flag line and rendering a final salute as the funeral procession passes. John knows what these men and women have given, since he was in the military from 1974-77.

“In my past 37 years at the cooperative, the co-op has always led by example and encouraged us to volunteer,” John says.