Making Life Better. How we can work together

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1 Co-opConnection Making Life Better How we can work together President and CEO E. LeRoy Toy Nettles Jr. Chairman, Board of Trustees James A. Goodson Trustees Jule Conner Preston Gainey David Howell Louise Kelley Hamer Parnell Lee C. White W. F. Rogers LaShon Sellers Don Teal Pat Thomas-Toney Office Hours 8 a.m. 5 p.m. Monday Friday Corporate Headquarters 1355 East McIver Road PO Box 491 Darlington, SC District Office 1811 North 501 Bypass Marion, SC Report Power Outage Toll-Free (866) (843) Website PeeDeeElectric.com Co-op News Editor Tom Kinard WHAT WOULD MAKE life better in our six-county service territory? I m not talking about winning the lottery that only makes life better for one person or a small group. But more jobs? Better health care? Improved parks? Those are areas that benefit everyone in our area. Pee Dee Electric Cooperative exists to power communities and empower you, our members, to improve your quality of life. The cooperative business model offers the perfect tool for tackling tasks too big for one person to handle. But we need a common purpose to effectively wield the power of cooperation. Think about the impact electricity made in rural areas almost 75 years ago. Women lived longer because they no longer had to work from dusk to dawn at backbreaking chores. Farm production jumped. Things like running water, lights, and stored food were possible and with those leaps, our ancestors lives were given new opportunities. A few of you may remember our beginnings from your younger days you know full well the power of neighbors uniting behind a common purpose. But the vast majority of us don t remember when this area rolled up its sleeves and worked together to get the lights on. Back when life was hard before cooperation changed the landscape of the communities we serve. As we prepare for next year s 75th Anniversary of Pee Dee Electric, if you remember when the lights came on or if you recall your parents or grandparents telling you about the exciting things that electricity brought, please let us know. We ll feature stories during 2014 in South Carolina Living. Please tell us your account of when your family became a member of Pee Dee Electric Cooperative. your information to tkinard@peedeeelectric.com, send it to our facebook page or in the mail to: Tom Kinard, PDEC, PO Box 491, Darlington, SC We exist today because co-op members like yourself 74 years ago believed they could turn darkness into daylight. Thanks for sharing your stories with us we can t wait to share them with all our members! James A. Goodson Chairman, Board of Trustees NRECA Before PDEC and other cooperatives, all water for cooking, bathing, drinking and washing had to be drawn from a well a bucket at a time. 4 SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING march 2013 scliving.coop

2 News Pee Dee Electric Cooperative offers several programs that reduce energy costs and reduce peak demand for electricity. ERC Loan Pee Dee Electric makes it easy to make your home more energy efficient by offering low-interest, fixed-rate loans through the Energy Resource Conservation Program. Loans of up to $5000 are available for a variety of projects, with a fixed 5 percent interest rate and repayment periods up to 72 months. Buried Treasure With the Buried Treasure program, you can receive a $200 per ton rebate (up to $1,000) when you install a qualified ground-source heat pump. Ground-source heat pumps transfer heat between your home and ordinary tap water in sealed, underground pipes. H 2 O Select H 2 O Select is a program that provides rebates up to $250 for installing new high-efficiency electric water heaters in existing homes or new construction. When you purchase a water heater that meets qualifying installation requirements, Pee Dee Electric will install a peak-saving switch at no cost to you. For more information about any of Pee Dee Electric s energy-efficiency programs, visit PeeDeeElectric.com or call (843) or toll free (866) Dual Fuel Receive a $500 rebate from Pee Dee Electric when you install a dual-fuel heat pump. A dual-fuel heat pump is an electric heat pump and a gas furnace (for supplemental heat) all in one. scliving.coop march 2013 SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING 5

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4 Co-op News EXTRA Jeff Singletary PDEC Energy Expert Here s this month s tip: If you need a heat pump water heater, central air conditioner or heat pump, buy it this year. That way, you can get a $300 tax credit*. A tax credit is not like a deduction. It means if you owe $700 in federal tax, by buying energy-efficient equipment, you reduce your tax bill to $400, plus you save money on your cost of energy each month. On January 2, the President signed a bill retroactively extending the tax credits that expired at the end of 2011 from January 1, 2012, to December 31 of this year. The credit applies to qualified equipment installed after December 31, The equipment is listed in Section 25C of the Internal Revenue Code. Fred SALLEy The qualified equipment includes: Heat Pump Water Heaters ($300 Tax Credit) f Electric heat pump water heater with an energy factor of 2.0> Air Conditioners & Heat Pumps ($300 Tax Credit) f Split system central air conditioner that achieves 16 SEER and 13 EER. f Packaged air conditioner that achieves 14 SEER and 12 EER. f Split system electric heat pump that achieves 8.5 HSPF, 15 SEER and 12.5 EER. f Packaged electric heat pump that achieves 8.0 HSPF, 14 SEER and 12 EER. HSPF (Heating Seasonal Performance Factor) SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio) EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio) *For complete information contact your tax preparer. STATEMENT OF NONDISCRIMINATION Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, Inc. is the recipient of Federal financial assistance from the Rural Utilities Services, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and is subject to the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended; and the rules and regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In accordance with Federal law and the U.S. Department of Agriculture s policy, this organization is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, age or disability. The person responsible for coordinating this compliance effort is E. LeRoy Nettles, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to: USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington DC , or call (202) (voice or TDD). Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, Inc. is an equal opportunity provider and employer. scliving.coop march 2013 SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING 20A

5 Answers to your questions Picture Yourself Receiving a $1,000 Scholarship! It could happen to you Why do my lights blink sometimes? More than 90 percent of all faults on any electrical system are temporary. Things like lightning, tree branches or animals are mainly to blame. We use reclosers to clear these temporary faults. Without them, each fault would become an outage and your power would be out for much longer than a couple of seconds. Page CHESTNUT 2012 WIRE Scholarship winners each received $1,000 toward college. Why doesn t my bill go down when we re on vacation? Your biggest user of electricity is your HVAC system. Unless you adjust your thermostat before you leave, your bill will stay about the same. Remember, when you re not home, your refrigerator(s) and freezer use power. Your water heater continues to cycle to keep the temperature up. The clocks on your microwave, stove, other appliances and the radio on your bedside table and, sometimes, even your TV(s) continue to run. It all adds up. The Pee DEE ELEctric chapter of WIRE, a ladies organization, will award two $1,000 scholarships to rising freshmen in college. The presentations will take place in May. The scholarship may be used at any accredited university, junior college or technical college the recipient chooses. Applicants must: f Be a dependent of a member of PDEC. f Complete an application from PeeDeeElectric.com. f Include a copy of school transcripts. f Include two letters of reference. f Include ACT or SAT test scores. Submission deadline is Wednesday, April 3, Contact Page Chestnut, PDEC, (843) , pchestnut@peedeeelectric.com touchstone energy We re happy to answer your questions each month. Please tkinard@peedeeelectric.com. 20B SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING march 2013 scliving.coop

6 I IPromise to be here when you need answers face to face Denise Henderson Member Services WIRE 2nd Quarterly Meeting Thursday, May 6:00 p.m. TOUCHSTONE energy WIRE to Award Scholarships The Pee Dee Electric chapter of WIRE will award two $1,000 scholarships at the May meeting. The scholarship may be used by a girl or boy at an accredited university or technical college of the recipient's choice. Download a copy of the application at PeeDeeElectric.com. Applications must be received no later than Wednesday, April 3. tom kinard 101 Energy Savings Ideas is available online at PeeDeeElectric.com READ IT + ACT ON IT = MORE OF THIS FOR YOU! scliving.coop march 2013 SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING 20C

7 Watch your energy savings shine... with ENERGY STAR appliances! Switch to ENERGY STAR appliances and reduce your energy costs, while helping the environment. Visit energystar.gov for complete information. Electricity is more valuable than ever. Don t waste it.... Pee Dee Electric Cooperative is committed to work with integrity and innovation to provide you with reliable power at the best possible price.... ENERGY STAR qualified appliances incorporate advanced technologies that use 10 50% less energy and water than standard models. For top energy savings, look for energy-efficient clothes washers, refrigerators, dishwashers, room air conditioners and dehumidifiers that have earned the ENERGY STAR. Visit for more energy saving tips Toll Free 20D SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING march 2013 scliving.coop