Peninsula Light Company News

Supervising Editor: Jonathan White • 253-857-1514 • newsletter@penlight.org • Produced by Peninsula Light Co.

DON’T FORGET THOSE HIDDEN NUMBERS!Every month, five randomly chosen account numbers are hidden in Lights. If you spot yours, call Cathy at 253-857-1525 and receive a $50 credit on your next bill.

INSIDE:

To report an outage, call877-853-1388. Learn more at PenLight.org/Power-Outages.

PenLight 253-857-5950 • PenLight.org • PenLight Office: 13315 Goodnough Drive NW, Gig Harbor, WA 98332

NEW!Pay by Text

Register online at www.penlight.org

CommunityCALENDAR A FESTIVE CHRISTMAS REVELRY – DEC. 10, 6 P.M. The Bluegrass Minstrels present A Festive Christmas Revelry at Waypoint Church Hall, 12719 134th Ave. KPN, Gig Harbor. The suggested donation is $6. Proceeds benefit the Hope Recovery Center. For more information, visit www.thebluegrassminstrels.com.

LIGHTED BOAT PARADE – DEC. 10, 5 P.M. The Gig Harbor Yacht Club will host the annual holiday parade of lighted boats around Gig Harbor Bay. Any skipper is welcome to join by emailing ghyclightedparade@gmail.com. For more information, visit www.gigharboryc.com.

HARK THE HARBOR & ARGOSY SHIP VIEWING – DEC. 11, 5:45 P.M. Join a small-town, old-fashioned holiday atmosphere to sing carols and wait for the arrival of the Argosy Ship at the Maritime Pier, 3003 Harborview Drive NW.

CRAFT FAIR – DEC. 17 Trop’s Chocolates, 3303 Jahn Ave. NW, Suite 235, Gig Harbor, hosts local vendors and performances from both Gig Harbor and Peninsula High School choirs. The event is a fundraiser for the high school programs. For more information, visit www.tropschocolatefactory.com.

STEELHEAD BLUEGRASS BAND – DEC. 17, 6 P.M. The Mostly Music series includes a holiday show that features the Steelhead Bluegrass Band at the Olalla Community Hall, 12970 Olalla Valley Road SE. The evening begins with a potluck at 6 p.m. Music at 7 p.m. For more information, call 253-439-0078 or visit www.olallahouse.org.

A WOODWIND CHRISTMAS – DEC. 18, 7 P.M. A Woodwind Christmas with the Symphony Tacoma Woodwind Quintet is at Morso, 9014 Peacock Hill Ave., Gig Harbor. Tickets are $59. For more information, call 253-530-3463.

UPTOWN MENORAH LIGHTING – DEC. 28, 6:30 P.M. Celebrate and hear the Hanukkah story during the lighting of the menorah at the Uptown Gig Harbor Shopping Center pavilion. For more information, call 253-851-4557 or visit www.uptowngigharbor.com.

Apply to Become a Board CandidateThe Peninsula Light Co. nominating committee is accepting applications for upcoming board positions, which will be up for election in March 2017. Application forms are available at www.penlight.org/become-a-board-member.

All applicants must be members in good standing who are permanent residents in PenLight’s service area. When submitted, applications should be marked “Attention: Nominating Committee.” They must be received no later than noon December 30, 2016.

Another way to run for the PenLight board is by petition, which requires about 1,000 signatures from members in good standing (3 percent of our approximately 32,000 members). Petition information is available by calling Britni Wickens at 253-857-1504 or via email at Britni@penlight.org.

December 2016/January 2017 Holiday Closures: December 26 & January 2

Outage TrackerOctober 1-30, 2016

OUTAGES BY CAUSE:

# of Members Duration (minutes)

Member Damage

Equipment Failure

Vegetation

Misc.

Holiday LED Decorations

New bill pay option links to mobile devicesPeninsula Light Co. has made paying bills even easier. Members now can pay their electric bill via text message. The Pay by Text feature offers members an option to receive text notifications about their bill, and then make a payment with the appropriate reply. Members can register when they log in to their account or when they make a one-time payment online.

Ways to Register

• Update Account Info: Once you’ve logged in to the web portal, click on My Profile and then the Update Account Info link. Next to the How Would You Like to Receive Invoice Notifications option, select Email and Text from the dropdown menu. Enter your mobile phone number and click on the Update button. A text message will be sent to your phone, and you will be asked to reply with “OK” to confirm registration.

• One-Time Payment: When you make a one-time payment online, the review screen will include an option to sign up for SMS TEXT notifications.

Enter your mobile phone number and check the box labeled Send me TEXT messages for future invoices. A text message will be sent to your phone, and you will be asked to reply with “OK” to confirm registration.

Pay by Text is just one more feature that could make it easier for our members to keep their account up to date.

Paying Your Bill is as Easy as a Text Reply

Downed Power Line Safety

Winter Weather Conditions

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In appreciation for the services Jud Morris and the Children’s Home Society provides to the Key Peninsula community, and for being a strong advocate for those who need help during the holiday season, PenLight would like to say, “Go Buckeyes!”

Jud Morris, Director of Children’s Home Society

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The National Weather Service expects weak La Niña conditions to develop this fall, and it’s slightly favored to persist during the winter months. La Niña typically brings cooler, wetter conditions in the northern United States, including the Pacific Northwest.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, points to sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific and forecasts how they might affect weather patterns. Other factors include arctic air masses that come from the north and tropical masses that influence heavy rain in the Northwest.

NOAA expects mountain snow levels to be about normal this season, meaning there are good odds for an average snowpack. That’s good news for the hydroelectric facilities that generate power along the Columbia River system.

For the latest projections, visit www.weather.gov/seattle.

Wet Conditions Expected This Winter

Holiday LED Decorations Can Save You Money

Follow PenLight for the Latest News: facebook.com/PenLightCo twitter.com/PenLightCo

Peninsula Light Co. Newsletter December 2016/January 2017

Help Your Neighbors by Donating to Project Help Sometimes there’s not enough to make ends meet.

During the winter, many living expenses go up and often make it difficult for families who are struggling to make ends meet, let alone stay warm. We can help.

Our Project Help program is designed to help income-qualifying families with up to $200 of support each year. The program provides funds through a partnership with Key Peninsula Community Services to offset costs for those who need assistance with their electric bill.

The economy is still hurting, and the need continues to rise. We’re looking for additional support from the community. The best part is, we will match your donations dollar for dollar.

THREE WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE PenLight members can donate to help their neighbors in one of three ways:

• One-time gift.

• Recurring monthly donation.

• Rounding up your bill each month to the nearest whole dollar.

The round-up campaign is the newest way members can contribute. On average, those who enroll add only about $6 to their annual bill. Those donations go a long way to help neighbors who sometimes have to choose between food and heat.

Since last year, more than 1,500 people have signed up to donate funds. That brings the total number of supporters to about 1,900. Our goal is to encourage 10,000 of our members–one-third of our service area–to sign up for the Project Help Round-Up campaign. You can help by visiting www.penlight.org/project-help, or by calling our Member Services Department at 253-857-5950.

PROGRAM BENEFITS About 550 Gig Harbor-area families have benefited from an average of $110,000 through Project Help annually since 2009. Yet the program needs more funds because demand is on the rise. No administrative costs are deducted. All contributions are tax-deductible. Every dollar goes to help your neighbors in need.

Contact us today to learn how you can give the gift of warmth this winter.

We all love holiday light displays. We don’t like the January electric bill quite as much. However, you can save quite a bit of money by switching out traditional bulbs for LEDs.

Light-emitting diodes can shine just as brightly as traditional bulbs. Today, they come in warm or cold colors in a variety of beam patterns and dimming speeds, providing many decorating options.

LEDs also last longer than traditional lights. They have a life span of about 20,000 hours, enough to last 40 holiday seasons. Since they don’t have glass or filaments, they’re more resistant to breaking. And because LED bulbs are so strong, one individual outage generally doesn't darken the whole strand.

Most importantly, LEDs use less energy, which means less strain on your first winter electric bill. Running LEDs on one 6-foot holiday tree for 12 hours per day for 40 days can save 90 percent or more energy when compared to traditional incandescent lights. Since they use less energy, LEDs make it safer to connect multiple strands end-to-end without overloading a wall socket. And they’re cool to the touch, which reduces the risk of fire.

Look for brands and manufacturers of Energy Star-qualified LED decorative light strings at www.energystar.gov.

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Winter storm season is here, and that means we could see wind, snow, ice or other types of hazards that may affect your electric service. If you come across downed power lines, follow these steps to stay safe:

• Immediately report a downed line by calling 877-853-1388.

• Never touch, move or go near any kind of downed or hanging line, even if it looks harmless. Getting near it could cause a severe injury or even death.

• Do not use objects to move power lines.

• Do not try to move tree limbs that are on or near power lines. Anything that touches a downed line may be dangerous.

• If you see someone who has been shocked and is in direct or indirect contact with a downed power line, do not touch them. Efforts to move an electric-shock victim could also make you a victim.

• If a power line falls on a car, stay inside your vehicle. It’s the safest place to be.

• The only time you should consider leaving a car that is in contact with a downed power line is if your vehicle catches on fire. If that happens, open the door but do not step out. Make sure you jump completely free of the vehicle with both feet together to avoid contact with the outside of your car (metal) and the ground at the same time. Hop with both feet as far away as possible from your vehicle.

Keep Your Distance From Downed Power Lines

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