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GRAND VALLEY POWER LINES
coloradocountrylife.coop 4 JANUARY 2018 7
NNew Year’s resolutions have been around for centuries, prompt-ing people to set goals that they pursue for the next 12 months. At Grand Valley Power, our focus has always been to provide safe, reliable, affordable electricity to our members. In 2018, we’re adding some new resolutions that will enhance our service to members.
For this year, we’re planning on improving system reliability in 2018. Our operations and engineering departments laid out plans for upgrading our Orchard Mesa Substation. What this means to members is continued reliable energy when you need it. As our system grows and ages, upgrades are needed to ensure our system integrity is intact. Various other equipment upgrades will commence in the new year, including meter upgrades and continued tree trimming efforts to alleviate any potential safety
issues and power outages on our system. Look for more information on these sys-tem upgrades in the coming months.
Another resolution is positioning ourselves as technology leaders in cyber-security. In 2017, GVP’s information technology department was accepted to participate in the RC3 program, short for Rural Cooperative Cybersecurity Capabilities Program. Building a culture of cybersecurity will reduce the risk of cyber-attacks and will ultimately protect our members, their personal data and our system integrity.
It’s not a surprise that many of our members today find information by using mobile devices to access the internet. A resolution for our members is to enhance member experiences. During the year, we’re upgrading our website to be user friendly, easier to navigate and accessible to all devices. We want to be a one-stop resource for information regarding your electric ser-vice. In 2018, you’ll begin to notice our refreshed logo with the yellow bolt — still representative of our 1936 roots. In addition, we’ll ask our members what we can do to further improve our service and communications to you through surveys. Listening improves understanding, builds trust, strengthens relationships and fosters cooperation.
So, how are we keeping to our resolutions? The same way many of us do. Through accountability and our commitment. Our guiding principles and cooperative values are what drive us every day to meet our goal of empowering lives with hometown service. We’re ready for the new year and for the challenges ahead.
GVP’S NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
Tom Walch
TOM WALCH || CEO
BOARD MEETING NOTICEGrand Valley Power board meetings are open to the members, consum-ers and public. Regularly scheduled board meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month at 9 a.m. at the headquarters building located at 845 22 Road, Grand Junction.
The monthly agenda is posted in the lobby of the headquarters building 10 days before each meeting and posted on the GVP website. If anyone desires to address the board of directors, please let us know in advance and you will be placed on the agenda.
Scholarship applications are due by March 1, 2018
We’re awarding
$14,000 in
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Powering Your
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Apply today at gvp.org
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COMMENTS TO THE CEOYou are a member of a cooperative and your opinion does count. If you have any questions, concerns or comments, please let me know by writing to Ask the CEO, P.O. Box 190, Grand Junction, CO 81502, or send an email to me at [email protected]. Check out our website at gvp.org.
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GRAND VALLEY POWER LINES
coloradocountrylife.coop8 JANUARY 2018
TThe data is clear: The cost of college tuition rises every year at both public and private institutions. According to U.S. News & World Report, between 1995 and 2015 “the average tuition and fees at private national universities jumped 179 percent, out-of-state tuition and fees at public universities rose 226 percent since 1995 and in-state tuition and fees at public national universities grew the most, increasing a staggering 296 percent.”
It can be difficult for even the most diligent of savers to properly anticipate and save for a college education.
If you require additional money to attend the college of your choice — approximately 70 percent of students do — there are several scholarship options to consider that are sponsored by Grand Valley Power. All of the scholarship opportunities below are open to any applicant residing in a home served by GVP.
Jack Broughton-Colorado Mesa University ScholarshipThe Jack Broughton-CMU Scholarship awarded by Grand Valley Power was named to honor the former general manager of Grand Valley Power, Jack Broughton.
Jack was instrumental in helping to develop the mechanical engineering program at CMU. Thanks to an innovative partnership with the University of Colorado in Boulder, a student attending classes at CMU can receive a four-year CU mechanical engineering degree.
This $2,000 scholarship is not limited to mechanical engineering majors. However, mechanical engineering majors will receive additional consideration during the selection process.
This scholarship is renewable for a total of four years if the student maintains a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Applications are due for the Jack Broughton-CMU Scholarship on March 1, 2018.
Grand Valley Power ScholarshipsGrand Valley Power will award six $1,500 scholarships to applicants from the Grand Valley Power service territory. These scholarships are granted for use at accredited colleges, universities and vocational schools for undergraduate education.
Applications are due for the Grand Valley Power Scholarships on March 1, 2018.
Western Colorado Community College ScholarshipGrand Valley Power also awards a $1,500 scholarship for applicants attending Western Colorado Community College. This scholarship is for use by any applicant who lives in GVP’s service territory and will be enrolled in any of WCCC’s program offerings.
Applications for the Western Colorado Community College Scholarship are due March 1, 2018.
Western Colorado Community College Electric Lineworker ScholarshipThis is a $2,000 scholarship to Western Colorado Community College’s electric lineworker program. This program prepares graduates to enter apprenticeship programs at electric utilities, such as Grand Valley Power.
The electric utility industry is facing a shortage of lineworkers as the workforce ages. This career offers high pay, good benefits and job stability. Grand Valley Power encourages aspiring applicants to look at this career path and is happy to visit with any potential electric lineworkers.
Applications are due for the WCCC Electric Lineworker Scholarship on June 1, 2018.
Selection ProcessApplications received by March 1 for the GVP scholarships, the Jack Broughton-CMU Scholarship and the Western Colorado Community College scholarship will be reviewed by a committee of educators appointed by the board of directors. Applicants selected to receive scholarship awards will be notified by mail and/or email by April 1, 2018.
A similar process will take place for the electric lineworker scholarship applications after the June 1 deadline.
Scholarship applications and details can be completed online this year at gvp.org/content/scholarships. You can also pick up applications at high school counseling offices, CMU’s financial aid office or at Grand Valley Power’s main office.
For questions about the scholarship program or requirements, please email [email protected] or call us at 970-242-0040.
APPLY NOW! Scholarships available for furthering education
GRAND VALLEY POWER LINES
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IYOU GET THE CREDITGrand Valley Power retires more than $1 million to membersIt’s time for you to get the credit — capital credits, that is — for helping build, sus-tain and grow your local electric coopera-tive. This winter, Grand Valley Power retires — or pays by cash — $1,294,881 to members like you. You share in the financial strength of your cooperative. So, what does this mean? Let’s begin with what capital credits are.
When you signed up to receive electric service from GVP, you became a member of an electric utility. While investor-owned utilities return a portion of any profits back to their shareholders, electric co-ops operate on an at-cost basis. So in-stead of returning leftover funds, known as margins, to folks who might not live in the same region or even the same state as you do, GVP allocates and periodi-cally retires capital credits (also called patronage dividends, patronage refunds or patronage capital) based on how much electricity you purchased during a year.
GVP members will receive capital credit retirements by mail, reflecting their contribution of capital to, and ownership of, the cooperative. The capital provided by members helps GVP keep the lid on rates, and reduces the amount of money it needs to borrow from outside lenders to build, maintain and expand a reliable electric distribution system.
For more information on this part of the cooperative business, read the follow-ing Q & A.
Common Capital Credits Questions:WHAT ARE CAPITAL CREDITS? An electric cooperative operates on an at-cost basis by annually “allocating” to each member, based on the member’s purchase of electricity, operating revenue remain-ing at the end of the year; later, as finan-cial conditions permit, these allocated amounts — capital credits — are retired. Capital credits represent the most sig-nificant source of equity for GVP. Since a cooperative’s members are also the people the co-op serves, capital credits reflect
each member’s ownership in and contri-bution of capital to the cooperative. This differs from dividends investor-owned utilities pay shareholders, who may or may not be customers of the utility.
WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? Member-owned, not-for-profit electric co-ops set rates to generate enough money to pay operating costs, make payments on any loans and provide an emergency re-serve. At the end of each year, we subtract operating expenses from the operating revenue collected during the year. The balance is called an operating margin.
HOW ARE MARGINS ALLOCATED? Margins are allocated to members as capital credits based on their purchases from the cooperative — how much power the member used. Member purchases may also be called patronage. GVP strives to
return capital credits to members on a 20-year cycle, with 60 percent from the oldest year and 40 percent from the most current year.
ARE CAPITAL CREDITS RETIRED EVERY YEAR?Each year, the GVP Board of Directors makes a decision on whether to retire cap-ital credits based on the financial health of the cooperative. During some years, the co-op may experience high growth in the number of new accounts, or severe storms may result in the need to spend additional funds to repair lines. These and other events might increase costs and decrease member equity, causing the board to reduce the capital credits retired in a given year. For this reason, GVP’s ability to retire capital credits reflects the cooperative’s strength and financial stability.
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GRAND VALLEY POWER LINES
HOW MUCH WAS RETIRED IN TOTAL FOR 2017? For 2017, $1,294,881.97 was retired.
HOW OFTEN DO MEMBERS RECEIVE CAPITAL CREDIT RETIREMENTS?The GVP Board of Directors makes a decision each November whether or not to retire capital credits. When the coop-erative is strong enough financially and member equity levels are high enough, the board directs staff to retire some por-tion of past years’ capital credits.
WHAT IF I MOVE?If you move or no longer have electric service with GVP, it is important that you inform the cooperative of your current address so that future retirements can be properly mailed to you. If you purchased electricity during the years being retired, then you are entitled to a capital credit retirement even if you move out of the GVP service area. If GVP has your cur-rent address, then you will receive your retirement check by mail.
WHAT IS THE MINIMUM CHECK AMOUNT FOR A HOUSEHOLD TO RECEIVE?The minimum a member receives is $15. Members traditionally receive a check in December. Due to the expense involved in processing printed checks, $15 is the minimum retirement check amount is-sued to members. Retirements less than $15 are accumulated year to year until the sum is equal to or greater than $15.
Cooperative DifferenceAs a not-for-profit cooperative, return-ing our members’ investment is one of the seven cooperative principles we live by. By distributing the money back to our members, that money gets spent in our communities, helping to strengthen our economy.
Top 10Home Electrical
Sa�e�� T�p�
use a quali�ed
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getregularcheck-upsfor older homes
unplug electrics if you smell something burning
use bulbs with correct wattage for the �xtures
educate the household on electrical safety
if children are presentinstall tamper resistant outlets to protect against shock
use extension cords temporarily, not as permanent wiring
repair looseoutlets; replace cracked, worn electric cords
watch for hot or discolored switch plates, �ickering lights, or buzzing sounds.
keep cords out of walkways and high tra�c areas
Learn more about home electrical safety at
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