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[YVEA News]Embracing Change to Better Serve YouBY STEVE JOHNSON || PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER

I recently shared with our Yampa Valley Electric Association staff about the need to understand the past, to be effective now and to embrace change in our constantly evolving power industry. Change is certainly something we have seen a lot of at YVEA. It is inevitable if we are to continue evolving to better serve the needs of our members. Yet it is also important for us to remember and honor our heritage in order to remain true to our mission of service.

As if launching and completing the first four years of our construction and technology work plans to better serve you was not enough, we have settled into our renovated service center and corporate office in Steamboat Springs, while moving forward with needed renovations at our Craig service center. Retirements and departures have resulted in new employees who have brought innovative concepts on

how we can improve service and operate better as a company with the revenue you provide us.

The nearly completed installation of advanced metering infrastructure meters and the completion of our substation communications project are already showing their benefits, allowing us to not only identify and speed up recovery from power outages, but also provide members with greater information about their power usage by using our SmartHub app. These and other current and upcoming technologies will allow us to better serve you, while allowing you to live comfortably while saving money through energy efficiency.

This high rate of change is not an “out with the old and in with the new” philosophy. It is more of an “understand the past … be effective in the now …embrace the future” philosophy. Adhering

to this way of thinking opens a plethora of new ideas and new opportunities, while keeping us on task to deliver on our mission of service to you.

My expectation of everyone who works at YVEA is to understand the foundation of who we’ve been for more than 75 years; understand why we’ve made the decisions and choices we’ve made up to this point; and use this foundation as the backbone of who we want to become moving forward.

At YVEA, we are committed to remembering, learning, changing and evolving along with this ever-changing world so that we can continue our more than 75 years of serving our members.

ISteve Johnson

YVEA crews have spent their summer aiding firefighters in battling numerous fires in our service territory, including two fires in the Great Divide hat burned over 20,000 acres, the Skunk Creek fire near Bakers Peak, and the Thornburg fire in the Sunbeam area, among others. In addition, a powerful storm blew through the area on July 10, downing trees into the lines that resulted in 13 power outages that left nearly 2,000 homes and businesses without power. In total 13 poles were lost as part of $40,000 in damages.

“It has been a challenging time,” said YVEA general foreman Patrick Childers. “When the calls come in, we stop what other work we are doing to get up to the fire or the downed lines, inspect the area and our infrastructure, then replace what’s needed, often working well into the night.”

According to Childers, the crew takes these types of emergencies in stride knowing their work is necessary to help keep our

members safe. For our dedicated lineworkers and other field operations staff, fires and other emergencies come with the job, often occurring after hours or at night while the rest of us are safely in our homes. For all that you do, we thank you!

YVEA CREWS BATTLE SUMMER FIRES, STORMS

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Beware of How You Pay Your BillYVEA recently heard from a member who thought she was paying her electric bill through the YVEA.com website, but was confused about being charged a $7 service fee. Unfortunately, there are a number of third-party payment companies that come up when searching for online bill payment. These payment companies will gladly take your money, plus a service fee, if you click on them.

A prominent Google result, doxo.com, comes up often. The payment page even displays the Yampa Valley Electric Associa-tion logo, so it can be a source of confu-sion for someone paying online for the first time. Doxo, and others, are legitimate payment processors (Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is an investor) that allow you to pay multiple bills on the same website, but they do make their money by charging an additional fee for the convenience.

You can always pay your YVEA power bill without a service fee by using Smar-tHub or one of the other billing options below. Learn more at www.yvea.com.

YVEA Billing OptionsYampa Valley Electric offers many payment options:

For immediate payment on your account using a debit or credit card or automatic clearing house or electronic payments:

• Use the 24-hour secure Pay-by-Phone at 970-871-2260

• Download the SmartHub app on your mo-bile device or pay online at www.yvea.com

Drop boxes for your payment are available at the following locations (allow three to five busi-ness days for processing):

• Steamboat at the main office at 2211 Elk River Road

• City Market in Craig and Steamboat• Hayden Mercantile

U.S. mail (allow three to seven business days for processing)

• 2211 Elk River Road, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487

Please call 970-879-1160 if you have further questions.

Finance Charts at a Glance

Justin Hogue has a great view of the valley, but he keeps his eyes on his work. Safety is job number one for all our YVEA staff. Safety training and safety messages are an integral part of the YVEA culture because at the end of the day, we want our entire team returning home safely. #SafetyFirst

Dave Srite, working foreman and a YVEA line worker, had some great four-legged help on a recent new line installation.

It’s a Dog’s LifeA Safe View Is the Best View

YVEA SENDS TWO AREA YOUTH TO TOUR WASHINGTON, D.C.Each year, YVEA sends two students from the communities it serves to an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. This year, high school students Amanda Perlman and Jimmy Osbourn joined 34 students and four chaperones from Colorado at the Washington D.C. Youth

Tour, the largest group ever to attend from the Centennial State. Part of a national initiative, the tour included 1,888 students repre-senting 42 states.

More YVEA Sponsored EventsHayden Daze — July 13-14 Hot Air Balloon Rodeo — Steamboat July 14-15 Upcoming Sponsorships:

Moffat County Hot Air Balloon Festival — August 4-5Moffat County Fair — August 9-12Routt County Fair — August 16-19

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EXPLAINING YOUR BILL and HOW WE RECOVER COSTS …There are two ways YVEA recovers costs: System Access Cost and Electric ChargeWhat is the System Access Cost item on my electric bill?The System Access Cost is the component of a member’s bill that recovers some of the fixed costs that come directly from serving an individual member, regardless of how much electricity is used. These costs include the cost of the meter, wire and other equipment used to deliver electricity to the home or business, as well as billing expenses, such as bill preparation and postage.

What is the Electric Charge item on my electric bill?The “electric” line item on your bill represents the energy and capacity costs, which is about 70 cents of every dollar you pay. As a distribution cooperative, YVEA does not generate power. It purchases most of it wholesale from Xcel Energy. The amount of electricity or kilowatt-hours you use in your home or business will impact how much YVEA has to buy for you and, in turn, how much you have to pay YVEA. While the system access cost is a fixed charge, the electric charge fluctuates depending on how much electricity you use.

Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Project Nears CompletionYVEA is coming to the end of a three-year project of installing new AMI meters throughout the 7,000-square mile territory. According to Tina Bird, CIS administrator, what started out as a pi-lot project in the fall of 2015 involving 500 meters served by the Airport substation in Steamboat Springs is now at 24,720 meters and 92 percent completed. There remains only approximately 2,200 meters left to exchange.

We are currently finishing up north of Craig and will finalize the project with the Baggs, Ham-ilton and Maybell substations. “This project has been a tremendous company-wide effort in which every single employee played a role in some way,” Bird said.

YVEA Capital Credits UpdateThe yearly capital credit retirement process is completed thanks to the board of directors authorizing the retirement of $1.15 million in capital credit allocations from the year 2001. Anyone who was a member in 2001 will receive a capital credit retirement refund through several possible ways.

Active members

• Should have received a check if their retirement is over $50 (checks were mailed from St. Louis, Missouri, on June 15).

• Should have received a credit on their electric bill if their retirement is under $50. These credits started being applied to bills as of the June 8 billing cycle.

Inactive Members

• Will receive a check once their accumulated capital credit refund reaches $25 (checks were mailed from St. Louis on June 15).

If you have any questions, please call 970-871-2251 or email capitalcredits@yvea.com.

CHANGES TO RATE 50 & 52Yampa Valley Electric Association’s avoided cost rate for Customer Generators (rate 50) has been adjusted as is required annually. Rate sheets have been updated accordingly.

The Tariff for Purchases from Member Generators (rate 52) will no longer be available. Those currently par-ticipating in that program will continue with no change unless the property changes ownership. The discontinu-ation of Rate 52 was necessary to align with standard avoided coat calculation.