Rio Grande Electric Co-op APRIL 2005 1

2 APRIL 2005 Rio Grande Electric Co-op

(Inside Cover layout)

Let me begin by saying what an honor and privilege it is to serve as President of the board of directors of RGEC. Due tounusual circumstances at our annual meeting last year, there were five new directors elected to the board in 2004. Two ofthe new board members are ladies one from Del Rio area and the other from Carrizo Springs. All of the new directors arepitching in and making a good hand. It is a pleasure to work with everyone.

We have had a very busy year at RGEC, finishing up some major pole replacement projects at Alpine-Persimmon Gap and the DelawareMountain – Sierra Diablo area. The new substation Rosita Creek in Eagle Pass is on line and performing well. We anticipate increased revenuein this area, due to several new subdivisions and related services, such as schools, hospital etc.

According to the people at DESC, we have been awarded the electric maintenance contract for Laughlin Air Force Base. We have not signeda contract, but they tell us it is a “done deal”. It will not bring in as much revenue as Fort Bliss, because it is a smaller facility. However, we feellike it can be served out of the Brackettville Area Office, by adding two additional employees. Our very capable, tough and determined GM/CEO Dan Laws deserves a lot of credit for hanging in there, when lesser souls would have given up. It is not easy trying to negotiate with theUS Government. I might add that Mr. Laws is just as determined to keep the board as well informed as possible, with any and everything thatis going on around us in the outside world. We are indeed fortunate to have someone like Dan, who is so dedicated to the Coop and cares somuch about it. This includes the bottom line, and more especially the group of people who work for RGEC. They are really proud of theorganization they work for, and we are extremely proud of them.

I would like to report that the new internet system, WildBlue, is almost up and running. Due to technical delays, we are not quite there. We dobelieve it will be operational in a very short time. We appreciate the patience of those who have signed up, and hope you will be able to enjoygood service in a very short time.

Finally, let me say that your Co-op continues to grow in size and value. We are constantly adding new technology in the form of ION metersand turtle meters and other equipment that will monitor our very large and extended distribution system. Every new piece of space agehardware we add to the system, will make it that much easier for our employees to troubleshoot problems, and even prevent some outages fromhappening. This will definately be a plus for everyone.

Due to several circumstances, Rio Grande is thinking about moving the area office from Marfa to Alpine. We have enjoyed some very fineyears in Marfa, but we really need a better building and facilities for our area office and crew. We think most of the future growth for the Co-op will be in South Brewster County, which will be a little closer from Alpine. Also, adequate housing and a possible better labor pool will beavailable. We will try to make the move that will be most advantageous from all aspects for the Co-op.

Here at RGEC, we are all very excited about the future, and how we will strive very hard to bring you better and move reliable service at areasonable price. As for myself, until 1960, we made our own electricity here at the ranch. It is definitely better for me to have RGEC deliverit at a price that is reasonable. I would not even like to think about going back to the “Good old days”.

A Message From The Board PresidentW.H. “Bill” Cowden

We apologize for the poor quality of thephoto above. It was taken with a cell phoneby one of the crew members while on anoutage call in the South Brewster Countyarea. The employee in the photo is checkingthe depth of the water to see if servicevehicles can cross.

About This Report:We borrowed the “Survivor” theme of the 2004 Annual Report from thepopular TV show. At first glance, it may appear light hearted, but it accu-rately describes the type of year it was for the Co-op.

There were many “challenges”, and no portion of our service area wasever granted “immunity”.

Each “tribe” of crew members worked together and helped the others,when possible. It is only through hard work and dedication that theCo-op was able to “outwit”, “outlast”, and ultimately “survive” thetrials and tribulations Mother Nature inflicted on it last year.

The “tribal council” of directors saw the cooperative through tryingtimes. We bid farewell to some outgoing members and welcomed newones.

Throughout it all, the “torch” of the Co-op continued to shine --resolute and stronger than ever!

Rio Grande Electric Co-op APRIL 2005 3

A Message From TheGeneral Manager/CEO

By Daniel G. Laws

April, 2005

Rio Grande Electric Cooperative, Inc.

UP DATE 2004Annual Report

Edition

Sometimes, surviving is the best we can do when conditions and situations are so far outside the norm, that all the planning in theworld could not have anticipated the actual experience. I realize that to only be able to say, “We survived”, sounds somewhatdefeated, but it is a fair way to describe 2004, if you are a Rio Grande Electric Cooperative employee.

In 2004, we were repeatedly hammered by severe thunderstorm after severe thunderstorm. We sometimes were not able to recoverfrom one, before another would hit. Linemen repeatedly worked around-the-clock to keep electric energy flowing to your home.Almost every weekend, for most linemen, was spent searching for line breaks and downed power poles. Some of them worked somany hours, the dog didn’t even recognize them when they got home. Total overtime hours were in excess of 30,000.

In January, we lost a couple of 69,000 volt transmission line poles and our circuit switcher in South Brewster County. Parts of SouthBrewster County spent so much time under water throughout the spring, you would have thought the polar ice cap had melted. Bythe time May rolled around, we suffered a catastrophic failure in the Brackettville substation, which destroyed the power trans-

former.

Then, in August, a severe storm hit Dell City, taking out 14 distribution poles and one 115,000 volt transmission linestructure. The rain flooded our local service center and the high winds destroyed our communications tower. In latesummer and early fall, portions of Pecos and Terrell Counties spent some amount of time under water, and all the draws

and ordinarily dry creek beds were out of their banks.

It was not uncommon to have vehicles stuck, send another vehicle to pull it out, and get the rescue vehicle stuck! During floodingnear Altuda, we brought in a bulldozer to pull one of our digger trucks out of the mud. Not only did we get the dozer stuck, but wealmost buried it. A good part of that night was spent pulling vehicles out of the mud.

Despite it all, we managed to accomplish a great deal last year. The pages that follow are filled with information about thoseaccomplishments. There are many measures of success, but for us, the best measure is simply this; when you reached to turn thelights on day in and day out last year, did they come on most of the time? If they did, then we did a pretty good job, in spite of allthe obstacles.

The greatest accomplishment, however, as we close the books on 2004, is that we survived.All of Rio Grande’s employees, and especially the linemen, met the challenges of last yearwith unwavering commitment and dedication, and they survived when there was everyreason to fail. Their resourcefulness is the

essence of what makes Rio Grande your

“Home Team Advantage”.

4 APRIL, 2005 Rio Grande Electric Co-op

OPERATIONS DEPARTMENTANNUAL REPORT

Clinton Brown, Director of Operations

Every year, we in the Operations Department feel as if we can’t be anybusier but it always seems that we are. In the Brackettville area, thefailure of the Brackettville substation in May 2004 had theBrackettville crew hopping for a while. It was a major inconve-nience for members and employees but it showed what the crewcan do when they are severely tested. The RGEC Annual Meetingin Brackettville in October was a bigger success than anticipated and theBrackettville crew and members all seemed to enjoy themselves.

The Carrizo Springs Operating Area seems to keep growing. There was sufficient capacity for the Eagle Pass area from the previousmeter point, but the new “state-of-the-art” Rosita Creek Substation will ensure continued capacity and power quality for the increas-ing demand due to rapid growth and development in the Eagle Pass area.

In the Marfa Operating Area, another transmission pole replacement project was completed on the Alpine/Persimmon Gap transmis-sion line, a vital link in providing power to Brewster County.

There have been quite a few work orders filled in the Fort Stockton area. One is a gas plant that will be a large newcommercial load. We had been short on upper class linemen in the Fort Stockton area and were filling in with 1st and 2nd

Class Linemen from other operating areas, until one of the upper class linemen from Marfa recently transferred to FortStockton.

Dell City had to deal with flood conditions in 2004. We had water in the RGEC office, the road in was flooded and distribution andtransmission poles were down. We had to call in linemen from the El Paso Operating Area, plus contractor crews to get the poles back

up and the power on quickly.

From recent reports, Fort Bliss is likely to doublein size in the next few years. Judging by the workorders and the action taking place in the El Pasoarea, there is little doubt that is true. The FortBliss privatization still looks like a wise deci-sion for all.

In all the efforts of the Opera-tions Department, it is obviousthat “cooperatives” are what thename implies. Cooperativeshelp each other and each RGECOperating Area cooperates withother areas and they pull to-gether when one needs help ormembers are out of power.

Photo: Dell City Flood, as seen from the cab of a Co-op service truck.Photo by Steve Wright, Dell City Area Supervisor

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Rosita Creek Substation

Rio Grande Electric Co-op APRIL, 2005 5

HUMAN RESOURCES/DIVERSIFIED SERVICESANNUAL REPORTPatricia Taylor, Director of HR/DS

Providing competitive benefit packages is a challenge to all indus-tries. Some employees prefer packages with higher salaries and nobenefits, while others prefer the level of comfort they achieve by in-vesting in savings and insurance plans. This past year, our salary ad-ministration plan was updated, and each year, we review our benefits,with the goal of attracting the best qualified employees possible.

Employee development requires continued training and education, and during 2004, we partnered with Southwest Texas JuniorCollege. They were the recipient of grant money earmarked to provide quality training to local employers, and we were pleased tohelp them spend some of the money. In addition, we spent an estimated $ 35,000 for employee training, such as with Texas Engineer-ing Extension Service (TEEX), one of the largest providers of workforce training in the nation and National Rural Electric Coopera-tive Association (NRECA).

Advancements in technology have allowed employees to participate in various educational programs and online courses. One suchcourse, offered by NRECA, was the Essentials of Human Resource Management certification program, a six-week course heldweekly at noon. The class focused on various topics, including employment law and ever-changing federal regulations.

With the click of a few buttons, video conferencing has allowed three of our offices to be linked instantly, and provides the ability formore employees to participate in various training sessions and meetings eliminating the need to travel 8 hours to Brackettville.

The Brackettville office expansion was completed, and departments organized to streamline efficiency. Approximately 2,000 squarefeet of office space and approximately 1,700 square feet of storage space made this possible. In addition, we finalized the purchase of1.5 acres in front of the headquarters office on Highway 90. This will allow for expanded parking and a drive through area in thefuture.

Positive feedback has been received from both members and employees regarding the dispatchers who answer the phones “afterhours” and on weekends. Moving the operation from Uvalde to Brackettville was definitely a good decision.

RioNet accounts have decreased, with many customers opting for DSL, and this has allowed us to reduce the infrastructure needed tosupport our current number of customers.

WildBlue, broadband Internet connection, will be available in the next couple of months to all our members and will allowalways-on high-speed data services to homes and small offices, with speeds up to 30 times faster than today’s dial-up speeds, andupstream speeds of up to 256K, which exceed most current satellite broadband providers. The connection will be through a satellitedish, eliminating the need for additional phone or cable connections…at a cost of only $49.95 a month, along with equipment andinstallation costs of $250 (which members can pay in monthly installments of $50).

If you missed last year’s annual meeting, you missed a good one. Brackettville was the setting for the 59th Annual Meeting, as 306memberships were represented and took home over $16,000 worth of door prizes, full stomachs, and lots of good memories.

Ventriloquist Greg Claassen and his trunk full of dummies entertained the crowd for the second year as heperformed an encore appearance, while employees prepared the serving lines to feed around 700 plates ofsteak, baked potato, green beans, and homemade rolls.

Plans are underway now for this year’s 60th Annual Meeting, which will be held in Alpine October 8. If it’sbeen a while or if you have never attended an annual meeting, you are missing a great opportunity to see aglimpse of what we call your “home team advantage”. If you are curious, come see for yourself!

Full house at 59th Annual Meeting

6 APRIL 2005 Rio Grande Electric Co-op

The employees of the Technical Services Department haveexperienced a busy, yet productive, year in 2004. Wehave accomplished many of the goals set forth by theGeneral Manager/CEO and the Board of Directors, andwe have been able to meet the challenges of providingelectric service to the membership of Rio Grande Elec-tric.

The highlight of the year was the completion of the 138kV/12.47 kV Rosita Creek substation in Eagle Pass. Yearsof planning and months of construction went into the ef-fort, but the end result was a new state of the art substa-tion that should meet the growing needs of Eagle Pass foryears to come. Other work completed in the Eagle Passarea this year includes the expansion of Southwest TexasJunior College and the new Winridge subdivision. Thegrowth of Eagle Pass is phenomenal, and we are begin-ning to see much of this new growth in our service terri-tory.

Our 5 year plan to fully deploy the Hunt Technologies“Turtle” automatic meter reading system is proceedingsmoothly. In all, we have installed approximately 4,000Turtle modules in our meters and should have all single-phase meters installed with Turtles by the end of 2007. This project has been extremely useful to the Cooperative in terms ofacquiring more consistent meter readings and cutting down on driving costs in associated with reading meters.

Much of our work in 2004 focused on updating our substations. Originally built in the late 70’s, our Brundage substation received amuch needed facelift this year. Technical Services staff members teamed up with the line crew in the Carrizo Springs office to replacetimbers, poles, voltage regulators, bypass switches, and metering transformers. Many thanks to Area Operations Manager KenBuscher and his crew for a job well done. The Del Rio substation received a new 3-phase transformer in 2004 and modifications tothe substation were made to accommodate our mobile substation. In the event the Del Rio substation should require use of the mobilesubstation, we have made it easier to situate the mobile in the substation yard and provide power to the appropriate feeders. Inthe Fort Stockton area, an additional feeder was constructed in the Conoco substation to meet the load requirements of the ROCgas plant, and the voltage regulators in the Fort Stockton substation were replaced due to their age.

The low point of 2004 was the damage caused by a bird of prey that found its way into the buss work of the Brackettville substation.The bird inadvertently caused damage to the buss work,destroying the power transformer and causing a lengthy outage for themembers served by this substation. Despite the equipment failure, Technical Services learned from the event, and has stepped up itsefforts to safeguard our substations against future catastrophes. We have gone through every substation documenting maintenancework to be performed and dedicating more time to insuring this work is carried through with.

In regards to transmission projects, 200 poles were replaced on the Alpine - Persimmon Gap transmission line. This line wasoriginally constructed in the 1950’s and the Cooperative has replaced the majority of the poles during the last 10 years. Inaddition, emergency poles were changed out on the Dell City transmission line, in order to insure its continued reliability.

At Fort Bliss, the Cooperative’s engineering staff has been hard at work upgrading old facilities and constructing new ones tomeet the needs of the Army. Engineering staff from the Brackettville and Marfa offices have been working diligently with FortBliss personnel to keep up with the growing demands of the military, as well as to correct many of the mistakes made on thebase years ago before RGEC took over maintenance of the system. Special thanks to Engineering Mgr. Hudson Kerr andSystem Engineering Coordinator Gary Mitschke for the countless hours they have spent working on thisendeavor.

Above: BrackettvilleSubstation - A giant cranelowers a new transformer,which will replace the oneblown by a bird.

Right: Perspective. Thetransformers are somassive, that each18-wheeler can only carryone.

Technical Services Department Annual ReportMike Wade, Director of TechnicalServices

Rio Grande Electric Co-op APRIL 2005 7

ACCOUNTING & FINANCEDEPARTMENTANNUAL REPORTShawn Stanley, Manager of Accounting & Finance

I wish I could say 2004 was an exciting year for my department, but I am talking about accounting after all. Revenue and expensefor 2004 changed very little this year. Revenue increased 1.1% and expense increased 1.01%, resulting in total margins increasing$44,944. Total margins ended the year at $657,471, which translates to less than ½ cent per kilowatt hour sold.

Total number of meters served increased 2.25% from 10,588 to 10,826. Total kilowatt hours sold decreased unexpectedly by 5.6million kilowatt hours from 157.3 to 151.7 million. The decline in kilowatt hour sales was due to milder temperatures and aboveaverage rainfall throughout most the service territory. In some areas, like our Dell City office, the rainfall was so much more thannormal that 1½ feet of water was inside the office itself.

Utility Plant construction was heavy for the third year in a row, increasing net plant to $46.3 million dollars. Growth in the EaglePass area of the service territory necessitated construction of the Rosita Creek Substation ($1.2 million) and her three feeders($400K). This new facility stands ready to meet the future needs of the area, which will include the Fort Duncan Medical Centerand numerous residential subdivisions that are currently under construction. The Alpine-Persimmon Gap transmission linereceived $600K dollars worth of repairs that included over 200 poles being replaced. This transmission line is a life line to one ofthe most remote parts of the country; it serves Big Bend National Park, Lajitias, and much of Brewster County. Numerous polereplacement projects, system upgrades, and repairs were also made throughout the service territory in 2004. Keeping over 9,000miles of line operational, throughout some of the roughest terrain in the country, is a never ending job. Fortunately, Rio Grande’sservice territory is for the most part warm and dry; this contributes to a much longer utility plant life as compared to the rest of thecountry. If we could only figure out how to keep the thunderstorms, woodpeckers, and the occasional bear away from the system,the operations department could get some much needed rest.

Long term debt increased $3.6 million in 2004, as a direct result of the construction noted above. One of the benefits of being anelectric cooperative is that Rio Grande has access to low interest loans through the Rural Utility Service, Federal Financing Bank,and the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (a co-op itself). Borrowing through these lenders gives RioGrande the flexibility to make much needed system improvements, meet future growth, and provide its employees with theequipment they need to do their job. At the end of 2004, long term debt totaled $26.9 million and had a blended interest rate ofless than 5%. Interest expense increased 17% from $909,703 to $1,064,889.

The Cooperative’s 2004 financial statements were audited by the independent accounting firm ofEideBailly, LLP. The opinion expressed in the independent auditor’s report dated February 17,2005, was unqualified (good). The complete financial statement audit is available for memberreview by appointment at Rio Grande Electric Co-op’s headquarters office, located at Hwy 90and FM 131, Brackettville, Texas.

Additional highlights of the year 2004 financial results can be found on the following pages.

8 APRIL 2005 Rio Grande Electric Co-op

$ 53,588,574$ 48,117,492 Total Liabilities

$ 2,227,060$ 1,257,452 Deferred Credits

$ 3,294,439$ 3,005,519 Current & Accrued Liabilities

$ 26,869,473$ 23,314,751 Long Term Debt

$ 21,197,602$ 20,539,950 Patronage Capital and Other Equities

LIABILITIES (What we owe)

$ 53,588,574$ 48,117,492 Total Assets

$ 862,634$ 230,858 Deferred Debits

$ 4,957,559$ 4,088,512 Other & Accrued Assets

$ 51,185$ 51,185 Other Investments

$ 1,407,565$ 1,332,865 Investments in Associated Organizations

$ 46,309,631$ 42,414,072 Net Utility Plant

20042003 ASSETS (What we own)

$ 657,471

$ 54,857

$ (289,383)

$ 156,286

$ 735,711

$ 18,831,822

$ 12,677

$ 1,064,889

$ 8,043

$ 2,250,168

$ 1,594,421

$ 841,994

$ 3,289,106

$ 9,761,524

$ 19,567,533

$ 1,454,831

$ 18,112,702

$ 612,527

$ 22,149

$ (172,169)

$ 50,972

$ 711,575

$ 18,643,637

$ 28,931

$ 909,703

$ 9,205

$ 2,106,431

$ 1,607,645

$ 863,105

$ 3,262,592

$ 9,886,025

$ 19,355,212

$ 1,275,564

$ 18,079,648

20042003REVENUES (What we received)

Sale of Electric Power

Miscellaneous Electric Revenues

Total Revenues

EXPENSES (What we paid)

Total Margins (What was left over)

Other Capital Credits

Non-operating Margins -other

Non-operating Revenues-interest

Operating Margins

Other

Total Expenses

Other Deductions

Interest

Taxes

Depreciation

Administrative and General Expenses

Consumer Accounting & Customer Service

Operations and Maintenance

Purchased Power

Balance Sheet

Operating Statistics

Rio Grande Electric Co-op APRIL 2005 9

WHERE YOUR $$ WENT 50.1

16.9

8.24.311.5

5.53.4

0.1

WHERE YOUR $$ CAME FROM

Purchased Power 50.1%

Operations/Maintenance 16.9%

Depreciation 11.5%

Administrative/General Expenses 8.2%

Consumer Accounting/Customer Service 4.3%

Interest 5.5%

Margins (What Was Left Over) 3.4%

Other 0.1%40.2

18.2

7.3

6.3

0.8

27.1

Residential 40.2%

Commercial 27.1%

Large Power 18.2%

Irrigation 7.3%

Other Electric Revenue 6.3%

Interest 0.8%

Number of Meters

8,000,000

10,000,000

12,000,000

14,000,000

16,000,000

18,000,000

20,000,000

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Total Miles of Line

Revenue Total kWh Sales

80,000,000

90,000,000

100,000,000

110,000,000

120,000,000

130,000,000

140,000,000

150,000,000

160,000,000

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

8,300

8,400

8,500

8,600

8,700

8,800

8,900

9,000

9,100

9,200

9,300

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

7,000

7,500

8,000

8,500

9,000

9,500

10,000

10,500

11,000

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Photo: Damage in Dell City, Texas area after a severe storm system dumped over 6” of rain,causing flooding, and lightning and wind damage to RGEC’s equipment. In this spot alone,one pole is down, and another is missing the middle section.

1 0 APRIL 2005 Rio Grande Electric Co-op

Summary of Board Meeting MinutesFebruary 16, 2005

A Meeting of Rio Grande Electric Cooperative, Inc.’s Board of Directors was called to orderat the Headquarters office in Kinney County, Texas at 8:07 a.m. on February 16, 2005. Thefollowing Directors were present for the meeting: Frank Archuleta, Jimmy Ballew (left atnoon), Hugh Childress, Bill Cowden, Art Gonzalez, Larry Jones, Chris Lacy, Margarita Nelson,Jack Skiles, Howard Wakefield, Bill White, Cindy Whitehead and Lowell Woodward. Alsopresent for the meeting were General Manager/CEO Daniel G. Laws and Executive Assistantto GM/CEO Martha Gerardo.

Approved January 19, 2005 Board Minutes As CorrectedHeard Financial ReportsApproved General Manager/CEO Evaluation And RaiseReviewed Two-Year Construction Work Plan (2005-2006) Prepared By Schneider

Engineering, LTDAuthorized Board Secretary Hugh Childress To Sign Resolution Stating Approval

Of Load Forecast StudyAuthorized Board Secretary Hugh Childress To Sign Cooperative House Resolu-

tion Stating Issues Previously Approved During The June 2003 BoardMeeting

Authorized Board Secretary Hugh Childress To Sign A Resolution Authorizing TheGeneral Manager/CEO To Sell The Old Fort Stockton Office And Prop-erty Located At 615 N. Nelson In Ft. Stockton For $38,000

Approved GM/CEO To Start Negotiations With AEP For A Proposed BoundaryLine Change In The Lewis Farms Estate Subdivision Near Eagle Pass

Approved Redistricting Committee Recommendation to Leave Director DistrictMake-Up as Currently Configured

Heard General Manager/CEO ReportHeard Committee ReportsApproved General Manager/CEO & Director Expenses, As CorrectedApproved December New/Revoked MembershipsReviewed Check Register And Arrears ReportAdjourned 3:22 p.m.

BOARD OFDIRECTORS

*W. H. Cowden, President District 7P.O. Box 3006Kent, TX 79855 432-259-3133 (H)

*Art Gonzalez, Vice-Pres. District 9P.O. Box 306Dell City, TX 79837 915-964-2814 (H)

*Hugh Childress, Secretary District 6P.O. Box 943Ozona, TX 76943 325-392-3848 (H)

*Lowell Woodward, Treasurer District 8P.O. Box 1327Alpine, TX 79830-3320 432-837-7308 (H)

Frank Archuleta District 9P.O. Box 221 915-964-2464 (H)Dell City, TX 79737

Jimmy Ballew District 3P.O. Box 559Brackettville, TX 78832 830-563-2869

Larry W. Jones District 28587 Fm 2691Carrizo Springs, TX 78834 830-374-9691

*Chris Lacy District 7P.O. Box 918Fort Davis, TX 79734 432-426-3380 (H)

Margarita Nelson District 1HC2 Box 53Carrizo Springs, TX 78831 830-876-5237

*Jack Skiles District 5P.O. Box 164Langtry, TX 78871 432-291-3270 (H)

*Howard B. Wakefield, Sr. District 3AP.O. Box 1237Brackettville, TX 78832 830-563-2989 (H)

William White District 4AQuail Run 1 HC Box 7Del Rio, TX 830-775-5053

Cindy Whitehead District 45429 Bent Oak CTSan Angelo, TX 76904 325-944-1128

Daniel G. Laws, General Manager/CEOP.O. Box 240Brackettville, TX 78832830-563-2444 (W) 830-563-9717 (H)

* Certified Credentialed Director

BOARD ACTION

Keeping The Outdoor PortionOf Your AC Unit Clean

If you keep the coils of your air conditioner clean, it will improveyour comfort and reduce your electricity costs this summer. Checkthe outdoor condensing unit. The large outdoor coil (looks like acar radiator) is where heat is dissipated from your home. Makesure there are no airflow restrictions around the unit. Cut nearbygrass, shrubs, and tree branches so they are at least 3 feet away atthe sides and 5 feet away overhead. Most condenser coils are loaded with pollen and dust evenwhen you can’t see it. If your cooling season is 4 months or more, annual cleaning is an excellentidea. Turn off the power to the unit, and remove any visible grass and lint from the fins and/orlouvers with an old hairbrush or whisk broom. Then put on a pair of rubber gloves and spraybiodegradable outdoor coil cleaner into the coil. Wait five or ten minutes and flush the coil witha gentle water spray.Your indoor coil might also need cleaning, even though you can’t easily seeit. If your air conditioner’s filter or blower is dirty, then your indoor coil is probably dirty, too. Itshould probably be serv iced by a professional. Change the filter often to help keep your indoorair conditioner coil clean and reduce energy consumption.Adapted from an article by John Krigger, Saturn Research Management, on Cooperative.com

Rio Grande Electric Co-op APRIL 2005 1 1

Board Of Directors

Co-op directors are people just like you. They areyour friends and neighbors, who unselfishly give oftheir time and talents to help guide the Cooperative.

They are your voice in this democratically-controlledform of business, and make sure your interests andconcerns are addressed. Their decisions are notalways popular, but they must represent the major-ity of Co-op members in each and every decision.

They don’t take their jobs lightly, and it is partlybecause of their leadership that the Co-opSurvives!

W.H. “Bill” Cowden, Pres. Art Gonzalez, Vice-Pres. Hugh Childress, Secretary Lowell Woodward, Treas.

Frank Archuleta Jimmy Ballew Larry Jones Chris Lacy

Margarita Nelson Jack Skiles Howard B. Wakefield, Sr.

William White Cindy Whitehead

1 2 APRIL 2005 Rio Grande Electric Co-op

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Brewster

Crockett

Culberson

Dimmit

Edwards

El Paso

Hudspeth

Jeff Davis

Kinney

Maverick

PecosPresidio

Reeves

Terrell

UvaldeVal Verde

WebbZavala

Eddy (NM)

Otero (NM)

# Severe Weather Events By RGEC County, 2004# Severe Weather Events By RGEC County, 2003

The National Weather Service website lists severe weather events by countyfor any given year. These events include hail, high winds, lightning, tornadoes,ice, sleet, and snow. There is no mention made of exactly what constitutes a“severe storm”, in the view of the NWS, but the website does show, whereavailable, the death toll, and dollar amounts of property damage in a givenstorm. (To see for yourself, go to www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent~storms. )

We compiled the figures to graph the total number of events by county servedby the Co-op. Just six of these storms alone were responsible for approxi-mately $159,437 in damages to the Co-op’s system last year.

Weather Woes