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Investing in the Future
A Touchstone Energy
®
Cooperative
A newsletter from the Arrowhead Electric Cooperative, Inc.
December 2007, vol. 12
Investing in the Future
G
reat River Energy is dedicated to providing
reliable, competitively priced energy to its
members. With that dedication, comes the
need for necessary investments to improve operations,
to improve reliability and to increase efficiency.
Investing in the future today will ensure adequate
power supply for years to come. As a result, Great
River Energy anticipates a rate increase for 2008.
There are three primary reasons for this increase in
Great River Energys wholesale rate.
Great River Energy is committed to investing money
to maintain a reliable generation and transmission
system. Regular system maintenance such as
routine plant maintenance outages helps to ensure
the systems reliability. However, when a generation
facility is offline for maintenance, Great River Energy
must purchase higher priced replacement power
from the open market. In 2008, Great River Energy
will experience an extended outage at its primary
generation facility. This outage will be an expensive
one for the cooperative.
Increasing coal costs will also affect Great River
Energys finances in 2008. The coal that is being
mined for Great River Energys North Dakota
operations is getting deeper and farther away so the cost
of mining that coal is rising. The mining industry is
also experiencing increases in the cost of the equipment
used to mine the coal.
In 2008, Great River Energy will realize full cost
of ownership for Cambridge Station, a new natural
gas peaking plant near Cambridge, Minnesota. As
transmission and generation projects are completed, the
impact of rising interest payments is also reflected in
the member rate.
While the energy provided by Great River Energy
still remains economically priced, we are taking the
necessary steps today to ensure adequate power supply
for the future, said Larry Schmid, vice president,
finance and CFO for Great River Energy. The
priority for Great River Energy remains to provide
electricity that is dependable, cost-effective and
environmentally sound.
A
rrowhead Electric Cooperative offers a green
power program to its member-consumers. This
program helps the advancement of renewable
energy sources and promotes energy efficiency.
Under the program, Arrowhead Electric Cooperative
consumers can purchase electricity generated by
renewable resources such as hydroelectric, biomass
or wind power. Program participants can support
renewable energy development by purchasing 100-
killowatt-hour blocks per month at a small premium.
Arrowhead Electric Cooperative power supplier, Great
Holiday Closings
Arrowhead Electric offices will be closed on Monday and
Tuesday, December 24th and 25th and Monday and
Tuesday, December 31st and January 1st, 2008.
River Energy, provides the renewable energy under
a green power program it has had in place since 1998.
Great River Energy provides green power for Arrowhead
Electric Cooperative from a number of different sources.
Wind generation is the major source of that power, but
it also receives a portion of its renewable portfolio from
biomass facilities that utilize animal waste to create
methane to fuel small generating plants.
Members of Arrowhead Electric Cooperative can
subscribe to the green power program by calling
218-663-7239 or 800-864-3744.
SUPPORT RENEWABLE ENERGY
Participate in Our Green Power Program 2 Vegetation Management Key to safety and
reliability
Trees remain one of the primary causes of outages
in Arrowhead Electrics service area, but with your
help, tremendous progress has been made over the
last several years due to an aggressive vegetation
management program. This program helps minimize
the impact of trees and bushes on distribution line and
ensures the safe and reliable delivery of electricity to
your home or business. In other words, the vegetation
management program has improved system reliability
for our members and public safety for all of us.
The cooperatives easement policy states that the
right-of-way shall be cleared to a width of 15 feet to
each side of the centerline of all primary overhead
distribution line and to a width of 7 ½ feet to each
side of the centerline for all secondary overhead line
owned by the cooperative.
The cooperative covers the entire service area every
seven years. This pace has proven beneficial, as we are
now beginning to see the fruits of our labor through
reduced outages caused by trees and through reduced
maintenance costs.
Dangers of high-voltage power lines
Trees on the right-of-way create a serious safety
hazard, especially for children. Despite all the safety
messages, public contacts with energized lines
continue to cause injuries and deaths. A clear right-
of-way can prevent such tragedies by reducing the
opportunities for contact.
Trimming trees next to power lines can be dangerous
to you and others. Unqualified workers put their
lives in jeopardy without specialized training or the
proper insulated tools required to work near high-
voltage power lines. Hiring an unqualified contractor
could put the contractor at a significant liability risk,
should a worker be injured or killed while performing
work. Thats why it is important that our members
support Arrowhead Electric Cooperative efforts during
vegetation management ensuring the goal of safe and
reliable electricity.
Access important to reliability
According to the policies of your cooperative,
easements are signed before the installation of a
new electric service. These easements become legal
documents recorded with the county. The easements
travel with the property through transfers of
ownership. Easements allow the cooperative to access
your property where the electric distribution line is or
will be constructed, and to build, maintain, relocate or
remove electric lines and equipment.
Planting trees near electrical utilities
When preparing to plant vegetation near utilities,
there are a few things that need to be considered.
Trees need space to grow both above and below
ground. Proper selection and placement of trees away
from power lines reduces fire hazards, limits the need
for frequent pruning, increases property value and can
add beauty to your community.
Vegetation Management clearing reduces
intermittent power
A branch coming into contact with power lines on a
gusty day can affect alarm clocks, computers, smoke
detectors, garage door openers just about all the
electronic devices that we rely on. Proper clearance
today prevents inconvenience tomorrow.
Its not just about your service. One tree on your
property that comes into direct contact with power
lines affects the power quality for hundreds of your
neighbors, making your efforts to keep trees out of
power lines appreciated.
Be on the lookout
Please call the cooperative if you see trees that could
potentially come into contact with a power line.
Arrowhead Electric Cooperative employs two full-
time, specially trained tree trimmers whose job is to
handle these situations.
The importance of Vegetation Management
High Energy Recipes
Ingredients:
Directions:

Turtles
Makes 5 dozen
From the kitchen of Bernice Leask
1 pound pecans
1 1/2 cups corn syrup
1 pound butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 bar of parawax
Spread pecans on cookie sheet. Melt corn syrup,
butter, brown sugar and sweetened condensed milk in
heavy saucepan, and boil until it reaches firm to hard
ball stage. Pour over pecans and put in fridge to cool.
Drop in clumps on to greased pan and freeze. Melt
chocolate chips, butter and parawax together and dip
frozen turtles into and place on waxed paper.
3
Here are a few common ones to look out for:
Computer
Cordless Phone
Doorbell
DVD player
Dryer
Lighting Dimmers
Microwave
Monitor
Motion detectors
Power strips
(the type that do not have an on/off switch)
Printer
Television
VCR
Wall battery chargers
(cell phone, shavers, electronic games, etc)
Washer
Do you know how much phantom loads cost
you each day?
Answering machine ........................................ 2 watts
Cable box (2) ................................................. 30 watts
CD player (2) ................................................ 14 watts
Cordless phone ............................................... 4 watts
Computer ........................................................ 2 watts
Digital clock (5) ............................................ 10 watts
Dishwasher .................................................... 10 watts
DVD player