Helping Farmers Boost Efficiency We started with farmers, and we re sticking with them

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1 Co-opConnection 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 W. F. Rogers LaShon Sellers Don Teal Pat Thomas-Toney Lee C. White 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 (843) Toll-Free (866) Website PeeDeeElectric.com Co-op News Editor Tom Kinard Helping Farmers Boost Efficiency We started with farmers, and we re sticking with them As I WAtCH farmers gathering the fall harvest, I remember the seeds of change their predecessors planted in our community. We continue to reap the benefits of their vision, and I m proud of our work to support the future of farming. In 1937, a group of farmers and rural neighbors banded together to create Pee Dee Electric Cooperative. They needed electricity to improve their quality of life and farming operations. Fast forward 74 years, and I think you ll agree that it s been a bountiful harvest. Pee Dee Electric Cooperative provides electricity to many farms throughout its six-county service area. Next year, as we celebrate our 75th Anniversary, we invite you to tell your family s story of when electricity came to your farm. If you remember that great event or listened to your parents or grandparents talk about it, let us know. We d love to include a part of your history in our year-long celebration. Send an to tkinard@ PeeDeeElectric.com, and we ll contact you to get the details. The Pee Dee Region s businesses, including farms, can take efficiency measures to cut electric bills and use less energy. Every kilowatt-hour a farm avoids using saves money for all Pee Dee Electric Cooperative members. Even on the farm, energy efficiency doesn t have to be a complicated effort. Small efforts add up in savings. Consider these steps: f Turn off lights when they re not needed, or install photo- and motion sensors. f Place a timer on window airconditioners in outbuildings so they turn off when no one is present. Schedule them to turn back on before you expect to return. f When lights, heating, and cooling units can t be turned all the way off, turn them down and cut wasted energy with dimmers or a programmable thermostat. f Keep equipment clean and perform regular maintenance. That s just the beginning. For more ways to save energy and money on your farm, check our website (PeeDeeElectric.com) under Save Energy and our Blog OR use the animal housing, irrigation, nitrogen, tillage, and grain-drying energy calculators at EnergyTools.sc.egov. usda.gov/. James A. Goodson Chairman, Board of Trustees Farmers in the Pee Dee (and everywhere) work hard. Sometimes they don t get a chance to enjoy the beauty the rest of us get to see because of their hard work. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Farmer. TOm KINARd 4 SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING september 2013 SCLIVING.COOp

2 THE of Giving Pee Dee Electric s 2013 Annual Meeting! Saturday, October 26 Florence Civic Center Registration Gift Each member who is present and registers at the Annual Meeting will receive a $20 Energy Voucher. (Limit one voucher per registered member.) Grand Prize* 2006 GMC Canyon - 4x4 Crew Cab Bonus Prizes $300, $400, $500 Energy Vouchers WIRE Scholarship Raffle Prize $200 & $300 cash 50 Door Prizes Entertainment PRIZE DRAWING ELIGIBILITY ALL DRAWINGS AFTER THE BUSINESS MEETING *MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN GRAND PRIZE Pee Dee Electric Cooperative $20 Energy Voucher Registration... 9 A.M. Noon Health Fair :30 A.M. Entertainment...11 A.M. Business Meeting... Noon Followed by all Prize Drawings: WIRE, Door Prizes, Bonus Prizes, Grand Prize* Toll Free: PeeDeeElectric.com

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4 All in a Day s Work Dear Sir: I want to say Thank You to Pee Dee Electric Co-op. On a recent Friday night my power went off due to a storm. I called about 9:30 PM to report my outage and by 11:15 my power was on. I live off a main road a half-mile down a dirt road. I was not sure how muddy my drive would be, but before 11:00 PM the truck was in my yard. I was really surprised he got there that quick. All I saw was the truck lights and a spot light on the transformer. I saw a shadow moving around and shortly thereafter my lights were on. I have no idea who that man was, but hope someone can find out and tell him Thank You for me. Don t know who he was, the shadow Knows! Sincerely, Don Anderson Remember the old radio show? Mr. Anderson, we certainly do remember The Shadow and how the hero, Lamont Cranston, helped people in need. At Pee Dee Electric, we have a host of shadows. These guys go out as soon as it s safe after a storm to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. Your shadow was Stevie Baxley. He, like all our line personnel, is well Stevie Baxley trained, has experience and is motivated to be safe in all aspects of working with electricity. Thank you so much for your letter. It gave us an opportunity to feature one of our linemen and to remind all PDEC members to report all outages and remember: the shadow Knows! IPromise to quickly and efficiently process your ERC loan Page Chestnut Marketing TOm KINARd Co-op News EXTRA Jeff Singletary PDEC EnErGy ExPErt Don t Like Cold Showers? Clean your water heater! If your Hot showers quickly turn cold, the culprit could be dirt and debris. A showerhead can get clogged over time, especially if you have hard water, so it s a good idea to give it a good scrubbing on a regular basis. Likewise, the house s plumbing and your water heater can collect rust, sediment and debris, so having a plumber flush them out every now and then could make your hot water supply more reliable. If your older water heater is rusted or eroding, sediment can settle in it and clog pipes. A clogged pipe can reduce water flow, so not enough hot water gets to you while showering. You can flush out your water heater yourself by connecting a garden hose to the discharge valve found at the bottom of your unit. Open the valve and let the water run for about five minutes to discharge sediments that collect at the bottom of a water heater s tank. Like any machine with operating parts, your plumbing system and water heater need regular maintenance. Sometimes, a plumber can clean out your system and solve the problem; but for older systems, often the best bet is to replace the water heater with a newer, cleaner, more energyefficient model. Check out PDEC s H 2 O Select program on new, electric water heaters. You can get a credit up to $250! Details on our website, PeeDeeElectric.com. FILE SCLIVING.COOp september 2013 SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING 20A

5 PDEC Runs Underground By the numbers It WAs 7:15 on a muggy, Monday morning as Timmy Poston s crew made final preparations for the first job of the day. Before lunch, 110 feet of underground electric wire had to be installed at a PDEC member s hunting lodge. South Carolina Living went along to photograph the work involved during an ordinary day for Pee Dee Electric Cooperative s service crews. 1 3 At the halfway point, the Ditch Witch is stabilized, and the backhoe is used to make an excavation four-feet deep. Notice the red and orange marks on the ground. This shows the placement of older PDEC wiring and telephone cable. 4 First order of business is a Tailgate Discussion. Crew Leader Timmy Poston (white hard hat) explains in detail the project and then answers questions. The meeting includes understanding maps of where the cable trench will be dug, where already-buried cables (telephone, etc.) are located and the order in which each phase of the job is done and which crew member will be responsible. The crew includes: Stevie Baxley, Mitchell Moore, Tommy Rogers, Alan Kinsaul, Dexter Godwin and Brett Chisholm. Each project is coordinated so the member s energy is off for the least amount of time with safety the utmost priority. After each crew member signs-off on the plan, the work begins. 2 After some manual shoveling to find and move a telephone cable (see arrow above), the trenching tool is lowered and the action begins. The tool was also used to round up an old de-enegized electric cable. The machine moves relatively slowly, but cuts a clean furrow in the ground. 5 Timmy unloads the Ditch Witch. The Ditch Witch machines started in the 1940s when a compact trenching machine was created to replace the pick and shovel for installation of some residential services. Acting as a backhoe, a trencher and a plow, this machine saves many hours of manual labor. This is a probe. It is easily pushed into the ground in search of buried cables. At other times, like this one, its four-foot length comes in handy when measuring the depth of a trench. 20B SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING september 2013 SCLIVING.COOp

6 6 9 Flexible, non-metallic electrical conduit or duct comes on a roll and is cut to length. It has a smooth wall and is a flexible raceway manufactured from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) for use in underground applications. This installation is a secondary service, meaning it comes from the output side of a transformer and the circuit connected with it. Primary service is high voltage coming into the transformer. 7 Dexter is inserting the electrical wire into a gray pipe. The pipe will be attached to the flexible conduit and the utility pole. There are three wires, two hot and one neutral. The neutral is green for easy identification. The wires will be attached at the top of the pole to become energized. 10 Dexter (L) and Tommy are feeding the flexible conduit into the trench. After it is in place, the three-wire configuration will be fed into the conduit. Underground service is more expensive than overhead, but the chances of losing power in a storm due to falling branches is greatly reduced. Residences that have underground service need to leave space around the green boxes holding the transformers. This is done so service personnel can safely work on the equipment inside the box. Brett adds a cut-out to the pole so power can be added to the secondary underground service In northern climates, the depth of the flexible conduit would need to increase due to the frost line. In our area, it is buried four feet deep. 8 Mitchell uses the plow to cover the trench holding the flexible conduit. After the dirt is replaced, the tires pat it down. Shortly before the crew packed up, they were introduced to Hank, a beautiful white Lab. He OK d the job. TOm KINARd SCLIVING.COOp september 2013 SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING 20C

7 Vote to unleash the Power of Giving Nonprofits work tirelessly to make the Pee Dee a better place, and now you can help with just a few clicks. From September 18th to October 2nd, visit Facebook.com/PeeDeeElectric and vote for your favorite nonprofit to receive a jolt in funding. The organization garnering the most votes will be awarded $3,000. Second and third place will receive $2,000 and $1,000, respectively. See complete contest rules at facebook.com/peedeeelectric East McIver Road Darlington, SC