®
The
ConneCTion
ONE OF TWO MONTHLY $5 BILL CREDITS
THIS MONTH’S CONTEST
How do you prefer to receive
information from Consumers
Energy?
• Newsletter
• Billing Statement
• Social Media
(if so which one?)
• Text message
• SmartHub app
• Other
1. Answer the question or challenge
posed each month.
2. Send answers to Consumers Energy
with name, service address, account
number, phone number, and email
address:
Email: [email protected]
Subject line: Contest
Mail: Consumers Energy
Attn: Contest
2074 242nd Street
Marshalltown, IA 50158
3.Winners’nameswillbedrawnat
random and published in an upcoming
issue of The Connection.
February 2017
Consumers Energy
– Your Source for
Power and Information
Dates To Remember:
Feb. 1
Feb. 3
Feb. 3
Read Meters
Bills Due
Automatic Payments
Deducted
Feb. 9
Mail Bills
Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day
Feb. 27 Automatic Payments
Deducted
March 1 Read Meters
March 3 Bills Due
March 3 Automatic Payments
Deducted
Paying for a System that Works
Around the Clock
Y
our electric cooperative has been around for a long time
– 79 years to be exact. We’ve witnessed the many ways
electricity has transformed the communities we serve
and our rural landscape. Before electricity, today’s household
tasks were hard work and dangerous. For example, cooking
and washing clothes involved a lot of manual labor. Thankfully,
practically everything we do – from entertainment to our jobs –
is impacted by the ease of electricity.
A lot has changed since electric cooperatives first turned the
Jim Kidd
lights on for rural Iowa. One thing that hasn’t changed is our
mission to provide electricity to you. Because we’ve been reliably, efficiently, and
affordably delivering electricity to homes and businesses for decades, some of our
members ask why they still need to pay for a system that should have been paid for by
now.
The truth is, most – if not all – of the original system was paid for many years ago. The
original infrastructure, such as poles and wires, which was paid for many years ago
has likely been replaced. When you have a system that operates 24 hours a day, 365
days a year, equipment needs to be replaced at regular intervals. Imagine if you had
a car that was 79 years old, and it was driven all day, every day. By now, either the car
would not be operating, or every part of the car – from the tires to the engine – would
have been replaced many times. The same is true for utility infrastructure. While poles
and wires generally have a life span of 30-40 years, some may not last as long due to
a variety of conditions. For example, a major ice storm can cause power lines to snap
and poles to break regardless of their age.
Paying for an electric cooperative system can be compared to paying for your home.
Over many years or decades, the original tract of land and the physical property
are paid in full. But infrastructure updates such as a new furnace, air conditioner,
windows, and roof are required, not to mention updates to appliances, carpeting,
flooring, and paint. Consider how inefficient it would be to heat your home with a
79-year-old furnace. Think of the additional money you’d spend each month due to its
inefficiency instead of replacing it with a new model. The same logic applies to your
co-op as we need to replace vehicles and equipment over the years to serve you best.
Aside from the costs of hard assets at the co-op, there are also the costs of property
taxes, insurance, regular maintenance, and staffing that contribute to our overall
system costs.
The original co-op infrastructure fulfilled the expectations of that time in terms of
reliability and affordability. Over the years, many of those needs have changed. What’s
in place today is an improved distribution system that allows us to meet increasing
continued on page 8-D u
February 2017 • A supplement to Living with Energy in Iowa • 8-A
FIRE EXTINGUISHER TRAINING
Fill the practice fire extinguisher… Pull the pin…
Aim…
Squeeze…
The fire is OUT!
Sweep…
In December, Consumers Energy staff had fire extinguisher training. Pictured here, employees are
working hard to put out those fires! This annual training is provided by the Iowa Association of
Electric Cooperatives at one of the co-op’s monthly Employee Safety Meetings.
LIHEAP Qualified Members:
Important Reminder to Continue Making Payments
on Electric Accounts
The winter moratorium for disconnecting electric service runs from November 1 through April
1. During this time, those who have been approved for LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Program) cannot be disconnected for nonpayment. It is still very important for
members who participate in LIHEAP to continue to make payments on electric accounts. It
can cost a lot to heat a home during the winter months, and if a member pays nothing during
the winter months, it is possible to have electric service disconnected once moratorium ends.
Consumers Energy recommends making payments throughout the winter months in order
to keep accounts as current as possible and to call the cooperative office by mid-March to
talk about options if an account is past due at that time. Please call the Member Services
Department at 800-696-6552 if you have questions.
For more information on LIHEAP, contact your local
community action agency. For help finding your local
community action agency, call 515-281-0859 or visit
https://humanrights.iowa.gov/dcaa/liheap.
8-B • A supplement to Living with Energy in Iowa • February 2017
Pole Top Rescue Training – December 2016
O
ur linemen brave
the cold, even to
stay sharp with
their skills! Rain in October
delayed Consumers Energy’s
linemen’s usual Pole Top
Rescue training which was
pushed back to December,
when it was bitterly cold.
Thank you, Consumers
Energy linemen, for working
as hard as you do to keep
everyone safe and to keep
the lights on!
What is a trip charge, and why does Consumers Energy
charge members for it?
C
onsumers Energy charges a $75 trip charge when a cooperative employee needs to go to a home or business
to collect a past due balance. The term trip charge covers more than the cost of the trip by the cooperative’s
employees to notify the member of the past due amount. The $75 fee helps the cooperative pay for the
administrative time and effort to track past due accounts, prepare the documentation required by the Iowa Utilities Board
(IUB), and the labor and equipment time to hand-deliver notices. There is no profit made in charging this trip charge. This
is simply a way to avoid having members subsidize other members. The cooperative prefers that all members pay electric
bills on the regular due date so that co-op employees can put efforts into providing service to all members and keeping
costs down. Please note that if an account is posted for disconnection, actually gets disconnected for non-payment, then
reconnects after payment, there will be a total of $225 in trip charges that may be applied to the reconnected account.
Please contact the Member Services Department if you are unable to pay your electric bill when it is due so that a
Payment Arrangement can be established to avoid disconnection and additional fees.
To help members avoid this charge, this is the cooperative’s billing and collection timeline:
• Bills are due in the Marshalltown headquarters office by the end of the 3rd day of every month. This bill is for electricity
used over a month ago because Consumers Energy bills you for actual usage; this is not estimated. For example, the
electric bill that is due February 3rd is for electricity used during the month of December.
• If a bill has not been paid by the 4th of the month, late fees are calculated at the end of the business day and posted to
the account. The late fee is 1½% of the past due balance on the account. A Friendly Reminder is sent out at that time
for any account with a past due balance.
• Approximately one week after bills are due, the co-op typically places one or two courtesy phone calls to the primary
phone number listed on any account that is still past due.
• If the past due balance is not paid by the past due cut-off date – typically the 3rd Wednesday of the month – the
member is notified of pending disconnection by posting a notice at the door. A $75 trip charge is then added to the past
due amount.
• If the past due amount is not paid by the date on the Disconnect Notice that was posted, electric service will be
disconnected the following day by 2:00 p.m.
If you have questions about the co-op’s billing and collection procedures or are unable to pay your electric bill by the due
date, please call the Member Services Department at 800-696-6552.
February 2017 • A supplement to Living with Energy in Iowa • 8-C
Coming in 2017:
Consumers Energy to Enhance Cyber
Security with Secure Payments
Consumers Energy cares about member safety whether it pertains to electricity
or cyber security. In order to continue to increase security for our members,
the cooperative will soon begin using an automated pay-by-telephone system
to process debit/credit card and check payments. The Secure Payment system
is PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant and meets worldwide requirements
that are designed to help companies process payments in order to prevent
fraudulent activity through increased data controls.
With Secure Payments,
you will be able to check
your account balance,
make payments, and store
card or electronic check
information for future
payments. This system is
automated with all personal
information entered by you.
This service is FREE and
available 24 hours a day,
7 days a week!
More details to come in future editions of The Connection.
Paying for a System
(continued from page 12-A)
demands for kilowatt-hours
in an efficient manner.
Not only has the need for
electricity increased, but
our processes now result
in reduced outage times.
We also work to extend
the life of infrastructure
through maintenance at
regular intervals. Poles are
routinely tested for ground
rot and termites, and we
trim vegetation throughout
our system on cycles to
maintain a high level of
reliability. To balance
reliability with affordability,
we upgrade our system
when and where it makes
sense to do so. We balance
financing upgrades and
replacements with debt and
equity so that we can keep
your rates affordable while
providing power that you
can count on for your home
or business.
--Jim Kidd,
General Manager
Consumers Energy Billing Statements Explained
8-D • A supplement to Living with Energy in Iowa • February 2017
February 2017 • A supplement to Living with Energy in Iowa • 8-E
2017 Scholarships Available
Lineworker/Powerline
$1,000 for a full-time student pursuing a career in
the power industry.
This scholarship is limited to Iowa residents.
Academic
$1,000 for full-time students who are dependents
of Consumers Energy members.
Applications available:
• Consumers Energy’s Headquarters
2074 242nd Street, Marshalltown
• By mail
• By email
• On the cooperative’s Website at
www.consumersenergy.coop:
Eligible? High School sophomores, junior and seniors
who are dependents of Consumers Energy members
Get details by contacting Kippen Glenney at:
[email protected] or 800-696-6552
Applications available at consumersenergy.coop by accessing the
Community dropdown and clicking on Youth Tour
Deadline to apply: February 24, 2017
NEXT YOUTH TOUR • JUNE 9-15, 2017
APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 10, 2017
For applications or more information, contact
Kippen Glenney at Consumers Energy
at [email protected]
or 800-696-6552.
Annual Pole Inspection and Treatment Program for
Continued Reliable Service and Safety in 2017
C
onsumers Energy has partnered with Ameripole Inspection Company to inspect and treat
approximately 1,700 poles this year for the cooperative. The annual pole maintenance program
will be in Marshall and Jasper Counties in the Melbourne and Ferguson areas.
Ameripole crews will be performing maintenance on meter
poles, transformer poles, and line poles. The treatment helps
extend the life of the poles in the cooperative’s system. The
inspection process also determines the poles that cannot be
saved with treatment. These poles are marked and will be
replaced by Consumers Energy crews.
The Ameripole Inspection Company will use their service trucks with the Ameripole logo on their
doors to perform the pole inspections.
8-F • A supplement to Living with Energy in Iowa • February 2017
Valentine’s Day Word Search
E
T
S M
W B F
R A E H
C A R D N
O R O
O F
S E
S
L O W E R
V
S
I V M N F
G E C A N D Y X
H A N D H O L D
I
H U G S G C D P
D K F
Q S
U N E C N A M O R
D
R O T
I
I
U S
N G L L
O R
T S
B E M I
N E
P U C H O C O L A T E
S G N
I
F R P
V N D
I A M O N D Z
Y E
W Y R
A U R B
V
L
V P
E
E F C G
Q R T
O U R Z
I Y
I F
V
Z
T
E F
T
E
L O V
W
Arrow
Be Mine
Candy
Card
Chocolate
Couples
Cupid
Date
Diamond
February
Feelings
Flowers
Friendship
Gift
Hand holding
Heart
Hugs
Kisses
Love
Lovers
Romance
Roses
Stroll
Suitors
Valentine
February 2017 • A supplement to Living with Energy in Iowa • 8-G
Office Hours
Contact Us
What do the hearts say?
Unscramble the words to find out.
7:30 am — 4:30 pm
Monday through Friday
2074 242nd Street • Marshalltown, Iowa 50158
Phone: 641-752-1593 • Toll-Free: 800-696-6552
Fax: 641-752-5738 • E-mail: [email protected]
SKIS
EM
ERAHT
VOEL OYU
www.consumersenergy.coop
Directors:
Bill Hobson, President
Mark Wampler, Vice President
Pat VonAhnen, Secretary-Treasurer
Allan Armbrecht, Asst. Secretary-Treasurer
Terry Benskin
Jeff Edler
Arden Greiner
Bob Meimann
John Ripley
RTEU ELVO
TEWSE
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NMEI
LOCO EDDU
ECTIU IPE
EVOL UGB
If you have an idea for a topic for The Connection,
please contact Kippen Glenney at 800-696-6552
or [email protected].
Membership Pays Off! Enter Monthly for Your Chance to Win!
C
onsumers Energy is beginning a monthly contest for members in The Connection. This monthly contest
will vary. Some months the cooperative will ask a question for member feedback; other months
members may be asked to find something hidden in The Connection. The contest is located on page 8-A
of the co-op’s newsletter each month, and two random entries will win a $5 bill credit.
To enter the monthly contest, members must submit entries to be received at the cooperative by the last day
of the month of the issue date (e.g. December 31 for the December issue). The contest runs for the complete
month. All entries are purged on the last day of the month, so members must enter every month to be eligible
to win. Only members of Consumers Energy are eligible for this contest. Enter the contest only once. Multiple
entries will be disqualified. Winners’ names will be drawn at random and published in an upcoming issue
of The Connection. Entries must include first and last name, electric service address, account number, phone
number, and email address.
Here’s how to win:
1. Answer the question or challenge posed each month.
2. Send those answers to Consumers Energy:
 • Email: [email protected]
Subject line: Contest
 • Drop off or mail to: Consumers Energy
Attn: Contest
2074 242nd Street
Marshalltown, IA 50158
3. Winners’ names will be drawn at random and published in an upcoming issue of The Connection
8-H • A supplement to Living with Energy in Iowa • February 2017