What's happening at your Co-op?

June 1, 2009
SECO offers Vidcast on storm restoration
Sumterville, FL – SECO Energy, today announced that it has a vidcast available on its corporate website www.secoenergy.com that deals with how SECO prepares for storm season and restores power during a severe weather event. Storm season has arrived here in Florida. The SECO vidcast offers a behind-the-scenes look into the comprehensive plan the co-op uses to restore power during an emergency situation. In addition, viewers will learn about resources available to them through SECO that will help them prepare their home and family for heavy weather, report outages, track SECO’s restoration progress at any time during the year and more.

The vidcast format is an informal conversation between SECO Director of Corporate Communications Barry Bowman and SECO Director of Reliability and Operations John LaSelva.

SECO serves 170,000 customers in parts of Marion, Lake, Sumter, Citrus, Pasco, Levy and Hernando counties. The co-op’s service territory is 2,000 square miles in size and it delivers electricity to its member/customers over 11,350 miles of SECO owned power lines. Printable PDF

June 16, 2009
SECO announces new builder outreach
Offers new Home Energy Certification
Sumterville, FL – Sumter Electric Cooperative, aka SECO Energy, today announced that it has launched a new effort aimed at helping builders in the region get their homes certified as energy efficient.

SECO Director of Corporate Communications, Barry Bowman, said, “We have had SECO’s energy services specialists trained at the Florida Solar Energy Center to be able to offer builders a very valuable service. Our energy services group has passed the exams necessary to receive their Green Building Rater Certification. Now area builders can have SECO rate their new home construction as truly energy efficient and receive official certification through the Florida Green Building Coalition, Inc. (FGBC).

“That’s a good thing because more energy efficient homes in Florida mean lower utility bills and help conserve energy resources. Not only that, a green certification will give builders an edge in marketing their new construction to potential buyers.”

Bowman noted that SECO’s green team will work hand-in-hand with builders as construction progresses to ensure their building practices are meeting the standards for certification.

He said SECO will use the recommended tiered rating system where scoring is awarded at different levels according to points achieved over the minimum point threshold. Builders can achieve a bronze, silver, gold or platinum level certification.

“We are going to look at a wide variety of categories including energy and water use, site prep, construction materials and more. Each item evaluated has a point value associated with it. The more points achieved, the higher the rating. In addition to their official certification through FGBC, builders participating in the program will also receive a special certificate from SECO documenting their home ratings, which can be used for marketing purposes,” Bowman concluded.

Area builders interested in finding out more about green building certifications are invited to call SECO at 352-793-3801, extension 1202. Printable PDF

May 21, 2009
SECO 2009 scholarship winners
Sumterville, FL – Twelve graduating seniors from Sumter Electric Co-op’s service territory were each awarded $2,500.00 scholarships at a special recognition ceremony at SECO’s headquarters building in Sumterville on May 18th, 2009.

Standing from left to right: Skye Pepe (Citrus High School), Jordan Lewis (Williston High School), Nezla Jans (West Port High School), Elizabeth Wall (South Sumter High School), Katherine Fischer (The Villages High School), Cristina Tremante (Citrus High School), SECO CEO James Duncan, Julie Earles (South Sumter High School), Alison Brooks (South Sumter High School), Wendy Roth (Lake Weir High School), Lydia Greiner (Citrus High School), Christopher Boogar (Tavares High School), and Wren Murphy (Deland High School) was not available for the photo. Printable PDF

May 15, 2009
SECO says be prepared for 2009 storms
Sumterville, FL – The 2009 hurricane season is fast approaching and Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) customers can rest assured that their Co-op will be ready. Officials at SECO say it is a good time to consider what you and your family would do in the event of a major storm in our area.

“We want to remind everyone in Central Florida,” said SECO Director of Corporate Communications & Energy Services Barry Bowman, “that there are many dangers associated with severe weather and the key to being safe is to be prepared.”

Here are some practical suggestions for inclusion in any home emergency preparations:

• Cordless telephones will not work if the power is off. Make sure you have a regular phone and/or cell phone as a backup for emergencies.
• Have a battery-powered radio on hand and a supply of fresh batteries.
• Keep a flashlight and extra batteries handy.
• Have a first aid kit on hand, including prescription medicines which may need to be refilled.
• Make sure you have at least a three-day supply of bottled water.
• Obtain food that won’t spoil – canned, packaged or sealed up in plastic bags or containers. Remember, your electric can opener will be useless if the power goes out.
• If someone in your home depends on medical equipment that operates on electricity, make arrangements in advance for an emergency alternative power source.

Please keep in mind that if you plan to operate a portable generator, keep it outside in a well ventilated area. Carbon monoxide emissions can be harmful. Equally important is that you do not connect the generator directly to your main electrical panel in the home. If installed incorrectly, power from the generator could flow into outside lines and severely injure neighbors or SECO repair crews that believe those power lines are dead.

If power is lost, turn off your appliances. This will protect them when power is restored, prevent electrical fires and lessen the chances of a circuit overload when the service comes back on. Leave one light on (preferably the porch light so that you and the repair crews patrolling the area know when your power is back on).

If it appears that everyone around you has had their power restored, but you still do not, check your electric panel to see if any of your circuit breakers have tripped. A breaker being tripped during a storm is not an uncommon event. Check this before calling again to report your outage.

SECO will be bringing every resource at its disposal to bear to assure power gets restored as quickly and safely as possible to our customers. Our detailed restoration plan details exactly the priority in which power will be brought back on. Essential services such as hospitals, shelters, etc., are the highest priority. Repairs that will bring on large groups of customers are next and then individual electric services are addressed.
Bowman noted that SECO is very concerned about the welfare of its customers and has a colorful, eight-page storm guide that is available free of charge at all SECO offices.

The storm guide has useful information including what to do if your power should fail, safety tips, a glossary of weather terms you should know, wind speed and pressure effects, critical explanations on all types of severe weather phenomena and much more. The guide can be read on-line at secoenergy.com and additional storm related material can also be found there.

The free SECO storm guides can be picked up at Sumter Electric offices in Inverness, Ocala, Sumterville, Eustis and Groveland.

SECO also has a specialty Web site that should prove very useful, particularly during storm events, and it can be located at secostormcenter.com.  The status of the electric system can be tracked here and outages can be reported on-line.

To report outages by telephone, please call 1-800-SECO-141 (1-800-732-6141).    Printer Friendly Version

April 24, 2009
SECO snnounces $2,500 scholarship winners
Sumterville, FL – Jim Duncan, CEO of Sumter Electric Cooperative, today announced that 12 graduating seniors from SECO’s service territory have each won $2,500 scholarships from the Cooperative. According to Duncan, SECO’s scholarship program began in 1996 when the SECO Board of Trustees first approved it. Since then, including this year’s winners, SECO has awarded 172 scholarships to deserving high school seniors.

Duncan said, “With today’s high cost of a college education, every dollar that can be dedicated to the pursuit of higher education is important. At SECO we’re very proud of the young people in our service territory and we hope that, following college, some of them will bring their new found skills and knowledge back to our area. We wish our scholars well as they pursue their academic endeavors.” This year a record 176 qualified applicants were evaluated based on their scholastic achievements, school and community service activities, and financial need.

The 12 SECO Scholars for 2009 are:

These outstanding seniors were selected by SECO’s Scholarship Committee of independent educators from the application materials submitted by each student. The Committee members come from the Sumter, Lake, Marion, and Citrus county school systems. Scholarship recipients and their families will be honored at a special reception at SECO’s headquarters building in Sumterville at 3:30 p.m. on May 18, 2009.

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SECO's Jim Duncan warns of Carbon Tax
Addresses Sumter Chamber of Commerce
Wildwood, FL – SECO Energy CEO Jim Duncan today brought members of the Sumter County Chamber of Commerce up to speed with regard to energy policy being formulated at the federal level that could have a crushing effect on consumers of electricity and other goods.

As he did in his keynote address before 3,500 people at SECO’s annual meeting on March 28, he told the business leaders that comprise the Sumter Chamber that he believes the nation is “on a collision course that will result in rapidly escalating electric rates and diminishing electric system reliability.”

In his speech before the Chamber he said, “The driving forces on this collision course are man-made climate-change proponents and a government that sees climate-change legislation as a huge revenue opportunity – a/k/a taxes.”

According to Duncan, the most onerous of these federal proposals relates to what is being called “cap and trade”, but what is, in actuality, a carbon tax. Under a cap and trade system such as is being proposed by the President and many in Congress, Duncan says consumers of electricity in Florida will likely see a $50 increase in their monthly electric bill which means $600 more per year. He also noted that the $50 projection is a conservative estimate. It could be much higher.

He pointed out that even President Obama recently acknowledged that a cap and trade program would indeed cause American consumers to see enormous increases in their electric bills.

“Cap and trade,” said Duncan, “simply seeks to charge any manufacturer or any producer of electricity fees for the amount of CO2 emitted. It does not help the environment one iota as it does nothing to limit CO2 emissions. It is simply a revenue generator for the federal government to spend as it sees fit. In the end, the astronomical cost of cap and trade will be borne by the consumer.”

SECO’s CEO urged attendees to become more engaged with their legislators and to demand answers to questions about the affordability of what Congress is proposing. He noted that people can ask those questions by going to www.ourfloridaenergy.com or going to SECO’s website www.secoenergy.com and clicking on the Our Energy, Our Future icon. (printable PDF)

Arbor Day Foundation honors SECO Energy
Sumterville, FL For the second year in a row, the national Arbor Day Foundation has recognized Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) as earning the Tree Line USA designation from the foundation. In order to receive the Tree Line USA designation utilities must meet three requirements: they must have a proven program of quality tree care, they must conduct annual training of employees in quality tree care practices, and they must have a tree planting and public education program. The Arbor Day Foundation sponsors the Tree Line USA program in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters.

John Rosenow, chief executive of the foundation, noted that trees are extremely beneficial in helping to clean the air and water. They also help conserve water and increase property values. He pointed out that Tree Line USA utilities bring their communities many environmental and economic benefits.

SECO CEO Jim Duncan said, “We are honored to have been designated a Tree Line USA utility. Proper tree care enhances our ability to deliver reliable electric power and insures that more beautiful trees will live on into the future. We are very proud of our tree program here at SECO and it is yet another example of this co-op’s concern for our environment and the creatures that share it with us.”

For additional data on SECO’s tree program interested persons can go to www.secoenergy.com and go to the drop down menu under the heading “environment” where there is a wealth of information for public consumption. SECO serves 170,000 members and their families in Marion, Lake, Citrus, Sumter, Levy, Pasco and Hernando counties. Printable PDF

Top five ways to save energy in the home
SECO Experts Say They Will Lower Power Costs
Sumterville, FL – The energy experts at Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) have listed the top five ways people can cut down on energy waste and reduce their electric bills. Based on years of doing home energy audits and research, the following tips are offered that will have a dramatic effect in anyone’s home:

1.  THERMOSTAT SETTINGS

• Thermostat settings, higher in the winter and lower in the summer, are the primary cause of higher electric bills in Florida. The Florida Solar Energy Center has stated that for each degree below 78 degrees F in the summer and above 68 degrees F in the winter, the energy usage is increased by 10 to 12 percent.
• Set the thermostat and leave it. Heat pumps, in particular, will use more energy if the thermostat is raised in increments of more than 3 degrees at a time in the winter because it will activate the back-up heat strips to bring up the temperature quickly.
• Installation of digital programmable thermostats to regulate the temperature will greatly reduce the amount of energy used in the home.
• Thermostat settings should be 78 to 80 degrees F for the A/C in summer and 65 to 68 degrees F for the heat in winter.

2.  HVAC SYSTEM

• The best heating system for Florida is a high-efficiency heat pump. The heat pump will save 65 to 70 percent for heating energy use over electric strip heating systems.
• Heat pumps need to be serviced EVERY YEAR to maintain efficiency. Faulty relays in these systems can bring on both the heat pump and the back-up strip heaters constantly in winter and summer resulting in very high energy use.
• Replacement of older electric strip heating systems with high-efficiency heat pumps will greatly reduce the winter usage. Contact HVAC contractors at the first sign of greatly increased usage.

3.  DUCT LEAKS

• Leaks in the ductwork are amongst the largest energy wasters in most Florida homes, both site built and mobile homes, and leaks are prevalent in most homes over 10 years old.
• Leaks in the return ductwork will pressurize the home and raise the supply temperature as well as introduce higher humidity into the system, cutting the Energy Efficiency Rating by as much as 50 percent.
• Supply system leaks will send conditioned air outside and depressurize the home through the infiltration routes.
• These pressure differences increase both positive or negative air changes in homes and will extend the HVAC running time, causing an average 22 percent increase in energy usage.
• New methods of sealing the duct connections with masking material are not expensive and will greatly reduce leakage and higher energy use.

4.  INTERIOR DOOR CLOSURE

• Most homes in Florida are ranch style, single story, and average 1500 to 2500 square feet of climate controlled space.  Most homes built prior to 1995 have only one air return duct, usually in the main part of the home.
• If internal room doors are closed during HVAC operation, those rooms will be pressurized from the fan force and the main part of the home will be depressurized, creating an imbalance in the system and resulting in longer running time due to air changes (conditioned air forced outside in the pressurized rooms and outside air drawn inside to the depressurized area). This imbalance results in extended HVAC running time and higher energy use. Closing all interior doors can increase the energy usage to condition the home by 35 to 45 percent.
• Opening all interior doors when the HVAC is in use preserves the HVAC balance.

5.  INFILTRATION

• The older a home gets the more the caulking and weatherstripping need attention and maintenance.  Especially in older homes, infiltration areas around doors, windows, and electrical outlets can work in conjunction with pressure changes inside the home to extend HVAC running time and increase energy usage in the home.
• Inspect and maintain caulking and weatherstripping at least yearly.

Want more energy-saving advice? Visit www.secoenergy.com/energy.html for a host of additional tips, on-line energy audits, and more. SECO serves 170,000 accounts in Lake, Marion, Sumter, Citrus, Pasco, Levy, and Hernando counties. Printable PDF

SECO rated one of the best by customers
Sumterville – SECO members recently got to voice their opinions on their Co-op’s performance during 2008. A comprehensive customer satisfaction telephone survey was conducted in late November and December and the results have now been tabulated. The bottom line is that the members gave the Co-op a great report card.

The survey, conducted annually on behalf of SECO by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, lets SECO officials know what is on their member/consumers’ minds and how well they think their utility is being run.

SECO CEO Jim Duncan said, “A statistically valid sample of members in Marion, Lake, Citrus, and Sumter counties was surveyed. Overall, members continue to think very highly of their cooperative with a mean overall satisfaction rating of 8.93 on a 10-point scale with 7 in 10 members giving ratings of 9 or 10.”

Duncan noted that the co-op scored very highly on having courteous and friendly employees, having accurate and understandable bills, supporting the local community, being environmentally sensitive, minimizing longer outages and restoring power quickly after an outage, keeping members informed, and delivering good value for the money to name a few of the categories.

Another measurement which was contained within the survey was a series of questions that compare SECO to other types of companies who seek to rate themselves on the nationally recognized American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

“Again,” said Duncan, “SECO’s ACSI score of 85 was one of the highest in the industry and ranked higher than the average for the nation’s Touchstone Energy co-ops, the ranked investor-owned electric utilities in Florida and the rest of the nation, and was 12 points above the electric industry average of 73. We also scored higher than Target Corporation; Nike; PepsiCo, Inc.; Verizon; DirecTV and others who are not in the electric industry.”

“We appreciate the input of our members. Their thoughts help us stay on top of what is important to them. For our part, we pledge to continue to provide them with the most reliable and lowest cost electricity possible, while not losing sight of the high premium our members place on customer service,” he concluded. Printable PDF

SECO presents Lake County School Board with $4,353.85
Sumterville – Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) presented a $4,353.85 check to members of the Lake County School Board at the Regular School Board Meeting in Tavares held Monday evening, December 22, 2008. SECO Director of Corporate Communications Barry Bowman said, “The check represents a return of capital credits to the schools that are in our service territory. Each fall SECO customers get a break and receive a return on their electric accounts once the co-op’s expenses have been paid. The amount varies, and the credits are applied on a pro-rata basis and represent a portion of the total monies paid to the co-op by each customer.”

“This year we have returned a total of $1.2 million to our overall membership. It is one of those things that is unique to the not-for-profit co-op business model,” concluded Bowman, “and we are delighted to be able to share the co-op’s excess margins with our customers.” SECO and Lake County School District Energy Management Program continue to enjoy a professional relationship in providing reliable electric service at a competitive price to the school children of Lake County. Printable PDF

Photo Right: SECO representatives present Lake County School Board members with a check for $4,353.85. The check represents the Lake schools’ share of SECO’s capital credits return to its customer base. Standing left to right: School Board Member Rosanne Brandeburg; SECO Key Accounts Consultant Hank Bolduc; School Superintendent Susan Moxley; SECO Deputy Director for Community Affairs Kathy Judkins; School Board Member Debbie Stivender, School Board Chair Kyleen Fischer, and School Board Member Cindy Barrow.

SECO Presents Sumter County School Board with $1,786.30
Sumterville – Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) presented a $1,786.30 check to Richard A. Shirley, Superintendent of Sumter County Schools, this morning at the school board office...
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SECO presents Inverness Middle School with $1,326.77
Sumterville – Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) presented a $1,326.77 check to Sandra Himmell, Superintendent of Citrus County Schools, this morning at the school board office. SECO Director of Corporate Communications Barry Bowman said, “The check represents a return of capital credits to the school board for Inverness Middle School, which is in our service territory. Each fall SECO customers get a break and receive a return on their electric accounts once the co-op’s expenses have been paid. The amount varies, and the credits are applied on a pro-rata basis and represent a portion of the total monies paid to the co-op by each customer.”

“This year we have returned a total of $1.2 million to our overall membership. It is one of those things that is unique to the not-for-profit co-op business model,” concluded Bowman, “and we are delighted to be able to share the co-op’s excess margins with our customers.” Printable PDF

Photo Left: SECO Key Accounts Consultant Brian Gibbs (right) presents Citrus Schools Superintendent Sandra Himmel with a check for $1,325.77. The check, made out to Inverness Middle School, represents the Citrus school’s share of SECO’s capital credits return to its customer base.

SECO presents $6,277 to Marion County School Board
Sumterville – SECO Director of Corporate Communications Barry Bowman presented a $6,277 check to Marion County School Deputy Superintendents Dr. Diana Greene and Wally Wagoner prior to the EDC luncheon at the Ocala Hilton this week. Bowman said, “The check represents a return of capital credits to the school board for the Marion County schools that are in our service territory. Each fall SECO customers get a break and receive a return on their electric accounts once the co-op’s expenses have been paid. The amount varies, and the credits are applied on a pro-rata basis and represent a portion of the total monies paid to the co-op by each customer.

Photo Right : SECO Director of Corporate Communications Barry Bowman (left) presents Marion Schools Deputy Superintendents Dr. Diana Greene and Wally Wagoner with a check for $6,277. The check, made out to the Marion County School Board, represents the Marion schools’ share of SECO’s capital credits return to its customer base. Printable PDF

SECO members receive $1.2 Million in Capital Credits
Sumterville – Member/customers of Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) will receive a total of $1.2 million in capital credits on their November electric statements this year. Over the last twelve years SECO has given back $13.6 million to its customers in Lake, Marion, Sumter, Citrus, Pasco, Levy, and Hernando counties.

Capital credits are the accumulation of all prior year’s revenue after the co-op’s expenses have been paid. These credits are applied on a pro-rata basis to each SECO member’s account and represent a portion of the total monies paid to the co-op by each customer.
SECO CEO Jim Duncan said, “Capital credits are but one example of the many benefits that come from being a member of a democratic electric cooperative. We normally apply these credits to member accounts each November and they seem to enjoy getting this particular credit around the holidays.”

SECO employees dig deep
United Way benefits
Sumterville – Sumter Electric Cooperative has completed its 2008-09 United Way campaign, and its community minded employees have pledged $60,677 to assist those less fortunate. SECO employees choose where their individual donations go, and the breakdown for the current area United Way campaigns is as follows:

“Our employees have a long and proud history of involvement with, and commitment to, the communities we serve and the people who live within them,” said SECO CEO Jim Duncan. “Their major support of United Way is one manifestation of that, but it is certainly not the only one. Our employees bolster a wide variety of humanitarian causes and events throughout the year by donating their time, talents and monetary support. To say that I am proud of their on-going efforts, which often go way beyond the normal work day, would be an understatement... Full Story/Printable PDF

SECO offers Vidcasts to public
Sumterville –Sumter Electric Cooperative today announced that it has added VidCasts to its communications tool box. The short, informal videos are meant to provide SECO member/ customers and others with information on specific topics about the electric co-op, its operations and member programs. SECO’s first VidCast was completed this month and is now viewable on the co-op’s website at secoenergy.com and on YouTube at youtube.com/secoenergy. It covers storm preparation and power restoration, generator safety and additional resources people can access when preparing for Florida storms. SECO CEO Jim Duncan said, “We reach out to our members and others with a wide array of communications vehicles. We do it because we believe an informed public is important and our customer satisfaction surveys clearly show that our members highly value our focus on keeping them up-to-speed... Full Story/Printable PDF

SECO's Jim Duncan honored as outstanding communicator
CCA cites CEO’s leadership in the communications field
Sumterville – The Cooperative Communicators Association has selected Sumter Electric Cooperative’s CEO Jim Duncan as the recipient of their 2008 CEO Outstanding Communicator Award. The award will be presented at the annual CCA Institute held in Portland, Maine this month. CCA is a national organization of highly trained, professional communicators who work on behalf of many types of cooperative businesses including electric cooperatives. The award selection committee was comprised of representatives from CoBank, Nationwide Insurance, Blue Diamond Growers, Merlo & Company and the Kentucky Association of Electric Cooperatives. According to CCA, “The atmosphere for truly effective communications begins at the top, so it’s appropriate that CCA recognizes those CEOs who support, actively participate in, and provide leadership for communications efforts.”  In accepting the award Duncan said, “I am deeply honored to receive this recognition from as distinguished a group as CCA. Clearly, at SECO communications is highly valued and I consider it essential to our overall operation...” Full Story/Printable PDF

SECO testing hybrid technology
Sumterville, FL – Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) is testing a new plug and go vehicle to ascertain if hybrid vehicles will be practical for SECO’s fleet. “At SECO the environment is important to us,” said SECO CEO Jim Duncan. “In fact, the Co-op has won a number of awards and notoriety for its environmental initiatives. So, it is only natural that we look at how hybrid vehicles might have a significant presence in our fleet.” SECO’s new hybrid is a Toyota Prius with a twist. The standard Prius is not a plug-in vehicle, but SECO’s car has been retrofitted with a plug-in capability. And it employs the latest in lithium-ion battery technology. I believe that in the next five years we’ll see additional strides made in alternative energy type vehicles from many different manufacturers and we’ll be watching those developments closely here at SECO. We have a service territory of 2,000 square miles and 11,000 miles of power lines and other infrastructure. So, if we can gain on fuel mileage with some of our vehicles while we are serving our members, it will benefit everyone,” Duncan said... Full Story/Printable PDF

Arbor Day Foundation honors SECO Energy
Sumterville, FL – The national Arbor Day Foundation has recognized Sumter Electric Cooperative (SECO) as earning the Tree Line USA designation from the foundation. In order to receive the Tree Line USA designation utilities must meet three requirements: they must have a proven program of quality tree care, they must conduct annual training of employees in quality tree care practices, and they must have a tree planting and public education program. The Arbor Day Foundation sponsors the Tree Line USA program in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters.
John Rosenow, chief executive of the foundation, noted that trees are extremely beneficial in helping to clean the air and water. They also help conserve water and increase property values. He pointed out that Tree Line USA utilities bring their communities many environmental and economic benefits. SECO CEO Jim Duncan said, “We are honored to have been designated a Tree Line USA utility. Proper tree care enhances our ability to deliver reliable electric power and insures that more beautiful trees will live on into the future. We are very proud of our tree program here at SECO and it is yet another example of this co-op’s concern for our environment and the creatures that share it with us.” Full Story/Printable PDF

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Page last updated: Wednesday, June 17, 2009