PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE OF MEETING

     The Nominating Committee of the Midwest Electric Cooperative Corporation will meet at the office of the Cooperative in Grant, Nebraska at 10:00 A.M. (MST) on Tuesday, January 10, 2012, for appointing nominees for three directorships on the Cooperative Board of Directors.  The election of directors will be at the Annual Meeting of the Cooperative to be held at the Perkins County High School in Grant, Nebraska on March 15, 2012.  In accordance with the Corporation by-laws, any fifteen (15) or more members acting together may make other nominations by petition not less than fifteen (15) days prior to the annual meeting and the Secretary shall post such nominations at the same place where the list of nominations made by the committee is posted.
     Nominees will be selected for District #2 – Nathan Geisert Incumbent; District #4 – Dick Hasenauer, Incumbent; District # 7 – Shawn Stutzman, Incumbent.

Members of the Nominating Committee are:

District 1 – Director Ron Ivers
1. White Cutkoskey – 54 Mako Chi Mni, Ogallala, NE 69153
Alt. Jerry Steinke – 318 Hidden Canyon Estates, Brule, NE 69127

District 2 – Director Nathan Geisert – Incumbent
1. Gerald Kraus – PO Box 532, Ogallala, NE 69153
2. Eldon Dyck – 1450 Road East 50, Paxton, NE 69155
Alt. Bill Finch – 1799 Hwy 30 E, Paxton, NE 69155

District 3 – Director Greg Fleecs
1. Dwight Thompson – 676 Beveridge Road, Sutherland, NE 69165
Alt. Kenneth Ensz – 304 N Oak St, Paxton, NE 69155

District 4 – Dick Hasenauer – Incumbent
1. Larry Coppersmith – 35225 Road 764, Wallace, NE 69169
2. Lendon Thompson – 76779 Road 348, Elsie, NE 69134
Alt. Troy Barner – 19627 S Parker Rd, Wallace, NE 69169

District 5 – Director Ron Hagan
1. David Jantzen – 33950 Road 764, Madrid, NE 69150
Alt. Bryan Kroeker – 33055 Road 761, Grant, NE 69140

District 6 – Director Shawn Turner
1. Dan Borowski – 32635 Road 768, Ogallala, NE 69153
Alt. Mike Carlson, 32755 Road 764, Grant, NE 69140

District 7 – Director Shawn Stutzman – Incumbent
1. Ron Patrick – 32765 Road 758, Grant, NE 69140
2. Dennis Dahlkoetter – 32245 Road 761, Grant, NE 69140
Alt. Don Gloy – 33270 Road 763, Grant, NE 69140

District 8 – Director Kent Kroeker
1. Steve Day – 75190 Rd 340, Madrid, NE 69150
Alt. Brad Doell – 75475 Road 345, Elsie, NE 69134

District 9 – Director Rod Clough
1. Greg Burrows – 31926 S Blackwood Rd, Wallace, NE 69169
Alt. Jason Franklin – 35644 W Creek Rd, Wallace, NE 69169

Scholarship Applications Available

     Midwest Electric is offering scholarships for the 2012 school year through its power suppliers Basin Electric and Tri-State G&T. Basin Electric and Tri-State are consumer-owned regional cooperatives responsible for supplying wholesale electric power.

     Applicants for the scholarships must be a U.S. citizen, a high school senior and a dependent of a Midwest Electric member. They must also be enrolled or planning to enroll in a full time under-graduate course of study at an accredited, two-year or four-year college, university or vocational/technical school.

     For an application see your Guidance Counselor or contact Midwest Electric. Application deadline February 15, 2012. For more information, contact Cindy Salsman at:

Midwest Electric
PO Box 970
Grant, NE 69140
308-352-4356 or 1-800-451-3691

Please Protect the Padmount Transformers and Irrigation meters when grazing cattle in your corn stocks.  Damaged meters cost over $300 to replace.

New Lighting Standards in 2012

     Beginning in 2012, light bulbs sold in the U.S. will typically use about 25% to 80% less energy.  Many bulbs meet these new standards, including incandescent, CFL’s and LEDs, and are already available for purchase today.  The newer bulbs provide a wide range of choices in color and brightness, and many of them will last much longer than traditional light bulbs.

- Find out more at www.energysavers.gov/lighting

REPORTING POWER OUTAGES

When you lose power please call.  Some times you may be the only one in your area without power.  Remember when calling in to give us the name of the person that the account is in, account number or meter number and your phone number.  This will help us respond to your outage faster if we have all the information we need.

 

Recycle Your Light Bulbs

     Bring your light bulbs into Midwest Electric’s office and we will recycle them for you.  Midwest can recycle Compact Fluorescent Lamps(CFL’s), Incandescent, Spot’s, Flood’s and High Intensity Discharge(HID) bulbs.  Bulbs need to be intact.

Steve Jaques - January 3 -  18 years

Karl Lake - January 3 - 12 years

Call Before You Dig

     Before digging at any location, it is the law to notify Diggers Hotline of Nebraska.  After you call, this service notifies all potential companies of the location of the excavation and the type of work being done.  State law requires 48 hour advance notification prior to digging.  The number for diggers Hotline is 811.

Watts Cooking

   Mandarin Orange Cake

REMINDERS:

HELP KEEP OUR LINEMAN SAFE

FENCE THEM OUT...

 Fence out around pad mount transformers so livestock can not get to   them and cause an outage or damage.  

Energy Savings Tips

• Lower the window blinds or close the curtains to slow the transfer of heat and help keep rooms cooler.

Motor Rebate Program Still in Effect

• NEMA and Special Purpose Premium Efficiency Motor
     - $ 8 / hp + $2 / hp Member System payment for motors from 10 to 500 hp.

• Wiring Assistance
     - $1.50/hp if the motor replaces a fossil-fueled engine, or is a new installation.

Midwest Electric Cooperative Corporation

Notice to Customers
Regarding the Rate Dispute
Between Midwest and Tri-State

            As you may know, Midwest has joined with four other nebraska power systems to form the Nebraska Power Supply Issues Group (NPSIG).  As part of this effort, Midwest has been engaged in numerous discussions with Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. (Tri-State) regarding a dispute over the rates that Tri-State charges to its Nebraska-based members.

By way of background, Tri-State is the contract power supplier to Midwest and 43 other systems in Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.  For its Nebraska systems, Tri-State obtains power from two sources, Basin Electric Cooperative and the Western Area Power Administration.   Today, Midwest and other Nebraska members are required to pay wholesale rates to Tri-State that are nearly twice Tri-State’s actual cost to acquire power from these two sources.   Midwest therefore believes that Tri-State’s rate structure:

• Impedes economic development and job growth in Western Nebraska;
• Is not cost-based and is discriminatory; and
• Benefits Tri-State’s members in other states, at the expense of the Nebraska systems, including Midwest.

On behalf of their customers, Midwest and the other NPSIG members continue to work toward finding a fair and equitable solution to this problem.  Midwest and the other NPSIG members have requested that Tri-State either (1) develop a cost-based wholesale power rate for the Nebraska systems, including Midwest, or (2) permit Midwest and the other NPSIG members to withdraw from Tri-State in order to find another wholesale service provider.

If you have any questions regarding the contents of this Notice, please contact us.

Look Up for Power Lines and Stay Safe

Recent studies have found that people’s brains likely ignore power lines because they have seen them so often  they don’t even notice them any more.  Nonetheless these natural inclinations can lead to tragic results. 

Estimating Appliance & Home
Electronic Energy Use

If you are trying to decide whether to invest in more energy-efficient appliance or you would like to determine your electricity loads, you may want to estimate appliance energy consumption. You can use this formula to estimate an appliance's energy use:

Wattage x Hours used per day x Days used per year divided by 1000 = Kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption per year

For example:
Personal computer (120 Watts) and monitor (150 Watts): (120 Watts + 150 Watts) x 4 hours per day x 365 days per year divided by 1000 = 394 kWh/year

Then, calculate the annual cost to run an appliance by multiplying the kWh per year by Midwest's rate per kWh consumed.

You can usually find the wattage of most appliances stamped on the bottom or back of the appliance, or on its nameplate. The wattage listed is the maximum power drawn by the appliance. Since many appliances have a range of setting (hair dryers), the actual amount of power consumed depends on the setting used at any one time.

Examples of the range of nameplate wattages for various household appliances:

Clothes washer = 350-500 Watts
Clothes dryer = 1800-5000 Watts
Dishwasher = 1200-2400 Watts
(heat drying further increases energy use)
Water heater (40 gallon) = 4500-5500 Watts

Source: U.S. Department of Energy -                      
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

REBATES AVAILIABLE

Midwest is still offering Energy Efficiency Credits for the installation of new Heat Pumps, Water Heaters and Electrical Motors.  New Energy Star air conditioner 3 ton and greater.  Energy Star refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers and clothes washers.  Call Midwest Electric for more information at 308-352-4356 or 1-800-451-3691.

Big or Small, Every Digging Job Requires a Call

A new, federally-mandated national “Call Before You Dig” number, 811 was created to help protect you from unintentionally hitting underground utility lines while you are doing any kind of digging projects, from planting a tree to installing a fence. If you hit an underground utility line while digging, you can harm yourself or those around you, disrupt service to an entire neighborhood and you could be responsible for fines and repair costs. It’s a free service that could save your life and those around you. Always call before you dig.

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