A SUPPLEMENT TO OKLAHOMA LIVING

LIVEWIREA U G U S T 2 0 1 8 | V O L U M E 6 9 I S S U E 8 | P U B L I S H E D F O R M E M B E R S O F T R I - C O U N T Y E L E C T R I C C O O P E R A T I V E

Schools need support from area organizations for activities and publications such as the yearbook, sports programs, field trips and clubs. TCEC has established a new program called GiFTS (Giving Funds to Schools) to support local schools. GiFTS replaces the single donation TCEC gave to area schools based on enrollment. The same amount will be available to each school under the new program. Educators and students will fill out a short form to apply for the funds when needed.

Another benefit of being served by a cooperative is that TCEC collects gross receipts tax in Oklahoma. Most of this

tax, 95 percent, directly benefits the schools it serves in the state based on the miles of power line in each district. Five percent of the funds collected go toward administrative costs for the state. In 2017, TCEC collected and paid $1,676,917 in Oklahoma gross receipts taxes.

Additional ways TCEC shows its commitment to community, the seventh cooperative principle, are: electrical safety poster contest, safety demonstrations at schools and youth events, scholarships and free trips.

To request a GiFTS donation or find more information, visit tcec.coop. n

All members can attend any district meeting. However, only residents of the district can vote.

District 3Incumbent: Ronny WhiteFiling Period: July 17-27, 2018Date: Monday, August 6, 6 p.m. Location: No Man’s Land Senior Center 515 NE 15th Street, Guymon

District 4Incumbent: CJ MouserFiling Period: July 18-27, 2018Date: Tuesday, August 7, 6 p.m. Location: Hooker High School Auditorium 301 Broadway Street, Hooker

District 5Special Meeting - Advisory ElectionFiling Period: July 24-Aug. 3, 2018Date: Monday, August 13, 6 p.m. Location: Hardesty School Auditorium 5th & Crawford Streets, Hardesty

District 9Incumbent: Larry HodgesFiling Period: July 20-27, 2018Date: Thursday, August 9, 6 p.m. Location: Forgan Community Building S. Broadway & First St., Forgan

Annual meeting is Thursday, September 20, at the Activity Center in Guymon. Registration and meal begin at 5:30 p.m. See you there!

2017 OKLAHOMA GROSS RECEIPTS TAXESSchool Miles Dollars School Miles DollarsBalko 510 $181,710 Hooker 361 $128,762

Beaver 232 $82,792 Keyes 212 $75,561

Boise City 619 $220,335 Optima 63 $22,437

Felt 193 $68,654 Straight 172 $61,279

Forgan 188 $66,868 Texhoma 242 $86,334

Goodwell 200 $71,305 Turpin 392 $139,509

Guymon 621 $221,183 Tyrone 91 $32,493

Hardesty 239 $85,141 Yarbrough 372 $132,554

TOTAL 4,707 $1,676,917

Supporting Area YouthTCEC programs like GiFTS support education and community

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Energy Efficiency Tip of the Month Everyone pays for power theft.

Power theft carries deadly risks. Many thieves pay for the power they steal with their lives. Help ensure safe, reliable and affordable power by reporting illegal activity to TCEC at 580.652.2418 or to local authorities.

Electrical Safety Tip of the MonthLook for LED products and fixtures

for outdoor use, such as pathway, step and porch lights. Many include features like automatic daylight shut-off and motion sensors. You can also find solar-powered lighting for outdoor spaces.

Source: Energy.gov Source: SafeElectricity.org

ATTENTION: Don’t get tripped up Rules and Regulations outline when a trip charge may be applied

The following information is from TCEC’s Rules and Regulations of Service in the Micellaneous Service Charges section under the ‘Trip Charge’ heading. A charge of $250 per occurrence shall be charged for the Service Calls, Service Connections and Return Trips during regular working hours as described below. Reasonable efforts will be made to advise the Member about the appropriate service call fees before the service call begins.A. For interruptions caused by the Member’s willful

act of omission, negligence, or failure of Member-owned equipment, even though TCEC is unable to work beyond the point of delivery.

B. For reconnection of electric service to any Member due to previously unlawful use of service, misrepresentation to TCEC, unsafe conditions, threats to Cooperative personnel or property, failure to permit access, detrimental effects of Member loads on TCEC System, failure to establish credit and/or sign an agreement for service, reconnection for failure to pay or any other reason authorizing TCEC to make such disconnections, per trip.

C. For response to a power interruption call where it is determined that the Member’s equipment is at fault and there is electricity at the point of delivery.

D. Replacing meter seal that has been cut or otherwise tampered. TCEC is aware that electricians occasionally need the meter seal removed to safely perform work on the member’s side of the meter. TCEC will inform by letter local licensed electricians once each year of the need to contact TCEC before removing the meter seal. TCEC will have its personnel remove the meter seal as soon as possible. If an electrician chooses to remove the meter seal, TCEC is not liable for any personal injury or damages that may occur. TCEC shall inform members once each year to not remove the meter seal and the costs of doing so.

E. In the event of a member calling multiple times and either requesting a check service or an outage that is actually on the member side beyond our service disconnect and they have been notified that they will be charged a fee.

Please take note, this article serves as a reminder to members not to remove the meter seal and that a $250 trip charge may apply if it is removed.

Access the full Rules and Regulations under ‘Our Cooperative’ at www.tcec.coop. n

Website makeoverTCEC’s website gets a new look

Call for recipesBe part of 75th anniversary cookbook

Submit your recipe for inclusion in TCEC’s 75th Anniversary cookbook to be published in 2020. Go to: tcec.coop under ‘Our Community’ or email info@tcec.coop n

The website now scales to fit any screen. If you visit from your phone or tablet, you will see the same information as you would from a PC. Simplified menus make it easier to use too. Visit www.tcec.coop. n

LIVEWIRE | AUGUST 2018 | PAGE 3

As we reflect back on 2017 from halfway into 2018, it’s difficult not to talk about today. We’re going to talk about both years in this report.A tough year

The year 2017 was tough for the

cooperative due to severe weather. It was even tougher to absorb than a normal year because 2016 was poor financially due to several business member bankruptcies and other factors.The ice storm in January and the blizzard in May wreaked havoc on our system. Alone, each storm was the worst in the cooperative’s history. Together, they combined to make the single worst year for storm damage that we’ve ever had in the cooperative’s 73-year history. Thank you to members

I want to personally thank you, the member, for the patience and the kindness you showed the cooperative and its employees throughout these outages. These are always tense times and we want to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. Unfortunately, when damage is severe it takes days and even weeks to restore it sometimes.Looking to 2018

By now, we had hoped to begin the reconductoring needed due to the 2017 storms. We will replace about 1,300 miles of wire during this project. To put that in perspective, you could drive from Hooker, Oklahoma, to Detroit, Michigan, in 1,200 miles. Unfortunately, we’re still waiting for the final approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for that to happen. We’re hopeful it will be approved by the end of the year.There’s a side benefit to these repairs. We’re replacing aged infrastructure that is 40 to 60 years old with new materials. As a result, the system will be more robust. You are going to see a lot of electrical lineworkers here over the next few years because we can’t do this by ourselves. This is especially true due to the tight timeline FEMA sets for the repairs to be completed.TCEC is financially stable right now. We’ve turned the proverbial corner and I’m cautiously optimistic. Annual Meeting

Please join us at the Member Appreciation Meal and Annual Meeting on Thursday, September 20, at 5:30 p.m. at the Texas County Activity Center, 5th & Sunset Streets, in Guymon. Your invitation will arrive in the mail soon. nThis message is taken from the 2017 annual report which will appear in August 2018 bills. It is also on tcec.coop.

Member Matters: Annual CEO Message

By Zac Perkins, CEO

JUAN MARTINEZ, LEFT, AND AUSTIN STONECIPHER ASSIST WITH SETTING A POLE.

CREW FINISHING UP AND PREPARING TO HEAD TO THE NEXT JOB.

A CREW HANGING A TRANSFORMER DURING A NEW POLE INSTALLATION.

PAGE 4 | LIVEWIRE | AUGUST 2018

CONTACT USTri-County Electric Cooperative 995 Mile 46 RoadP.O. Box 880 Hooker, Oklahoma 73945

Office Hours:8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - FridayPhone: 580-652-2418Toll Free: 800-522-3315E-mail: info@tcec.coopwww.tcec.coop

BOARD OF TRUSTEESDistrict 1 Randy SchreinerDistrict 2 Gayla JamesDistrict 3 Ronny WhiteDistrict 4 C.J. MouserDistrict 5 VacantDistrict 6 Larry DunnDistrict 7 Shawn MartinezDistrict 8 Cletus CarterDistrict 9 Larry Hodges

TCEC board meetings are the fourth Friday of every month.

PAYMENT OPTIONSAutoPay (Bank or credit card draft)

Pay As You Go (Prepay)

Online Bill Pay (www.tcec.coop)

Pay by Phone IVR (844-203-6547)

Drop off Payment (Office in Hooker)

Payment Centers (Locations below)Town Name and AddressBeaver Downing’s Market

216 Douglas St.

Boise City Moore’s Food 201 East Main Street

Elkhart EPICTOUCH 451 Morton St.

Goodwell 54 GAS-N-GO 108 West Highway 54

Guymon Mitchell Theaters Northridge Shopping Center, 1928 N. Hwy 64

Guymon Mora’s Market 702 N. Main Street

Hooker TCEC Office 995 Mile 46 Road

Texhoma Slats Food Market105 East Highway 54

DIGITAL EDITIONwww.ok-living.coop

CO-OPCONNECTIONS

Participating Local Businesses

Stop by and ask about their offer or look them up on the app!

Absolute Endeavors Satellite and Cellular

Advanced Water Solutions Air TronicsAll Fired Up GalleryAmbassador Inn Ambassador Restaurant America's Best Value Inn Anytime Fitness Apollo MedFlight Bank of the Panhandle Beauty & Beast Hair CareBig C's Cafe Bluebonnet Cafe By His Hands Cimarron Motors Extinguishers Unlimited Clingan Tires, Inc. Dancer's Wine & Liquor Dizzy B's Corner Mart EagleMed Elkhart Motel EPICTOUCH Exact Well Service Far West Contracting Farmers Insurance - Gonzalez

AgencyFirst Security Bank Gene's Leather Shop Golden Crown Guymon Heating and Air Guymon Tire & Auto H&R Block Guymon Harana MedSpa Harris Gallery Heartland Tri-State Bank Jay D's Satellite L & J Auto Parts La Diva Boutique Labyrinth Plumbing Linda's Flowers and Gifts

Little Miracles DaycareLumber Mart Master Cleaners Mazzio's Pizza Merle Norman Naifeh's Steak House Northwest Line Construction Ozzies Convenience Store Panhandle Veterinary ClinicPerformance Auto Repair Pizza Hut Beaver PTCI Quality Inn & Suites R/T Windshields Red and Sons Auto Parts Roadway Inn and Suites Rock Paper Scissors Salon Sims Electric of OklahomaSound Service Southwest EmbroiderySPC WOW Boutique State Farm Insurance, Charles

White Agent State Farm Insurance, Ken Lane State Farm Insurance, Mindy

DoughertyStockmen's Feed BunkTexas County Family YMCATexas County Farm Bureau The Code The Cottage Inn The Water Barrel The Willow Inn Bed and

Breakfast TK Flowers & The Beauty NookUrban Bru Cafe Verizon Western Medical Equipment Whispering Bliss Boutique Whispering Plains Apartment

Homes