May 2019 | Volume 81 | Issue 5
PCEC Names 2019 Youth Tour Winners
Platte County High School junior Hayden Humes and North Platte High School sophomore Jakob Scroggins have been selected to represent Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative in Washington, D.C. this summer at the 54th annual Youth Tour conference, an all-expense paid leadership experience coordinated by the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives and sponsored by Platte-Clay.
In addition, Platte County High School students Connor Dean, Jayme Mitchell, Maia Moriarty and Ruben Rueda will serve as delegates to Youth CYCLE (Cooperative Youth Conference and Leadership Experience) in Jefferson City.
“Youth Tour and Youth CYCLE are great opportunities for students from our community to gain valuable leadership skills and see their government at work,” said Garrett Poorman, Communications Director at Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative. “Platte-Clay is proud to support leadership development among students and teachers across the Northland through programs like Youth Tour.”
The six Youth Tour winners presented an essay about the impact of electric vehicles to a panel of judges from the community Tuesday night after being selected to advance to the final competition from the pool of initial applicants representing schools across the Northland.
This year’s judges were Shawna Searcy, Executive Director of the Kearney Area Development Council; Cody Thorn, Editor of the Platte County Citizen, Amy Neal, News Director for the Courier-Tribune; Mark Hasse, a former educator and PCEC Focus Group member; and Sarah McKinley, a member of the PCEC Pathfinder volunteer group.
Platte-Clay has been sponsoring students to attend Youth Tour since 1964. The conference gives students the chance to visit historical sights, meet with elected officials and connect with other students from across Missouri and the nation.
Embracing The Future
Dave Deihl, General Manager
From the General Manager
At Platte-Clay, we strive for performance and innovation in everything we do. We understand that changing technology requires us to constantly evaluate what steps we can take to improve our existing programs, create new ones when necessary and form partnerships to deliver the highest quality service possible to members.
A few examples of how we have worked to embrace the future over the past few months include implementing a streamlined auto-apply system for capital credits, rolling out new rebate programs for smart thermostats and other technologies, carrying out new plans for reliability improvement and moving toward a more democratic system for filling vacancies on our Board of Directors.
Another way we are currently working to adapt to changing times is by working in cooperation with United Electric Cooperative out of Savannah, Missouri. United Electric has been a provider of broadband internet services for its members for some time and is working to build a network of fiber services around their service territory. We are excited to say that we have partnered with United to facilitate their delivery of fiber to parts of Platte-Clay’s service territory where it fits their business model.
In the past we have conducted cost of service and market competition studies that have strongly indicated that getting into the fiber internet business would put a financial burden on our members and would not be a viable business opportunity for our co-op. Every co-op is different, and United Electric has engaged in a model that works for their territory based partly on federal grants which are not necessarily available to us due to our location.
This partnership with United will allow some members in our area to be served fiber internet service without Platte-Clay’s membership taking on the financial and regulatory risks associated with it. Although not all of our members will be served by United, we expect to see them continue to expand their operations in areas both in and around the Northland.
Platte-Clay has plans to continue our march toward the future this year, including a new program focused on electric vehicles. I encourage you to stay in tune with the co-op over the next several months for more information about these exciting developments.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns you can reach me via email at GeneralManager@PCEC.coop.
Know What’s Below: Dial 8-11 Before You Dig This Spring
Spring is an optimal time of year to dream up and achieve your landscaping masterpiece. If any of your spring projects require digging––such as planting trees or shrubs, or setting posts––remember to dial 811 or 1-800-DIG-RITE first.
Underground utilities, such as buried gas, water and electric lines, can be a shovel thrust away from turning a spring project into a disaster.
Play it safe by dialing 811 to find out where utility lines run on your property. Your call will be routed to a local “one call” center. Tell the operator where you’re planning to dig and what type of work you will be doing, and affected local utilities will be notified.
In a few days, a locator will arrive to designate the approximate location of any underground lines, pipes and cables. These areas will be marked with flags or paint so you’ll know what’s below. Then the safe digging can begin.
Although many homeowners tackling do-it-yourself digging projects are aware of “Call Before You Dig” services, the majority doesn’t take advantage of the service. A national survey showed that only 50 percent of homeowners called to have their lines marked before starting digging projects, according to the Common Ground Alliance (CGA), a federally mandated group of underground utility and damage prevention industry professionals. CGA data also shows that an underground utility line is damaged every six minutes in the U.S. because someone decided to dig without first dialing 811.
Even simple tasks like installing a new mailbox post can damage utility lines, which can disrupt service to an entire neighborhood, harm diggers and potentially result in fines and repair costs.
Never assume the location or depth of underground utility lines. There’s no need: the 811 service is free, prevents the inconvenience of having utilities interrupted and can help you avoid serious injury. For more information about local services, visit www.call811.com.
Keep Your PCEC Account Information Updated
Changing your email address or getting a new phone number seems like a simple enough thing to do. However, such a change usually results in having to make other adjustments across daily life — updating information with your bank, with your place of employment, with your doctor’s office and yes, updating your account with your electric cooperative.
At a time when identity security is so critical, ensuring that the personal information tied to your Platte-Clay account is accurate helps us to both protect you and keep you informed. We want to be sure we have the right phone number to reach you if there’s an issue with your service, or have the correct email to make certain you are receiving the information you need and want from PCEC. Or if someone calls us to inquire about their account, we need to correctly verify their identity before we ever talk with them about anything related to that account.
In addition to keeping the co-op updated with your proper phone numbers and email addresses, it’s also important that the name of any household member who needs to be able to discuss your account is listed on the account, such as a spouse. If a spouse’s name is not on the account, PCEC cannot disclose any information about the account to that person without first verifying the identity of and speaking to the account holder. This measure ensures that the account holder’s sensitive information remains secure.
While having updated information is essential for discussing anything about the account itself, it can also become vital for other PCEC interactions, such as voting in the annual Board of Directors election. When a new account is being set up, it is up to the member to decide if he/she wants to also include their spouse’s name or another family member’s name on the account. If the family wishes to have the ability for either spouse or for another household member to access information about their account at any time, Platte-Clay encourages you to include both of those names on the account.
So what should you do if you need to update your PCEC account profile information?
1. Call us at 816-628-3121, for help in updating the personal information related to your account. (phone numbers, email addresses, names on the account, etc.)
2. If you are set up as a user for PCEC’s member portal, you can update your phone and email address online. If you have not registered on the member portal, visit our website at www.PCEC.coop and click on “Pay Bill Online” to set up your account.
Platte-Clay Moments
Crews attend chainsaw and tree trimming trainings to learn about proper operation and important safety techniques.
Left: Employees learn about defensive driving tactics from the Clay County Sheriff’s Department. Right: Platte-Clay helped sponsor and staff the Conservation Federation of Missouri’s annual Pull for Conservation fundraiser.
Platte-Clay Reliability Improvement Plan Continues Into Spring
Efforts to increase the reliability of PCEC’s electric service continue to take shape as weather conditions improve across the Northland. The cooperative is currently utilizing contracting crews to carry out vegetation management. This process entails spraying animal-friendly, EPA-approved products that prevent the growth of undesireable vegetation. The initial work is being done on the western half Platte-Clay’s territory and will expand over time.
The Northland Connection is published monthly by Platte-Clay Electric Cooperative, Inc., 1000 W. 92 Highway, Kearney, MO 64060. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Northland Connection, PO Box 100, Kearney, MO 64060 or mail@pcec.coop.
Platte-Clay is an equal opportunity employer.