Albemarle Soundsis published monthly by

Albemarle Electric Membership Corporation

P.O. Box 69Hertford, NC 27944

(252) 426-5735

Gary Ray, General ManagerChris Powell, Editor

Website and member portal:www.aemc.coop

Outages:1-800-274-2072

24-hour payments: (252) 426-4419

We are members of NC 811. Call 811 or 1-800-632-4949

two business days before you plan to dig. They will contact us to locate any underground

electric lines. It’s the law.

June 2017 Proudly serving the members of Albemarle Electric Membership Corporation

Albemarle EMC Carolina Country JUNE 2017 21

In late March, President Donald Trump signed the “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth” executive order. The order aims to reduce regulatory barriers to domestic energy production. It also begins the lengthy process of suspending components of the Clean Power Plan, a rule implemented under

President Obama to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. What does this mean for members of Albemarle EMC?

As a utility, Albemarle EMC is subject to regulations set by both the state and federal governments. And while pieces of the Clean Power Plan will likely be rolled back, other federal and state standards, like the North Carolina Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard, are likely to remain in place.

President Trump’s executive order on energy now faces administrative, regulatory and legal processes that could take years to complete. Regardless of the time line on that particular issue, Albemarle EMC will continue to engage with local and state policy makers, and participate in federal policy processes along with our national cooperative network. We support policies that allow us to best serve our local members by incorporating into our energy portfolio multiple cost-effective generation resources, including solar and grid enhancements.

Market forces, technology and consumer expectations are driving changes in the industry, beyond policy activities. Together, over the last decade, these elements have guided utilities’ decisions to make modifications and incorporate alternative sources of generation to reduce our overall carbon footprint.

As a local, member-owned power provider, Albemarle EMC seeks solutions and proven technologies to bolster our distribution system, with the goal of serving the growing needs of cooperative members and mitigating cost increases in a changing environment.

We will continue to work with electric cooperatives nationwide to advocate on behalf of members in the halls of government, and help elected officials understand how legislative and regulatory actions can impact electric cooperative members. And above all, we will continue to pursue strategies that best serve you – our members.

Co-ops Monitor New Energy Policy

by Gary Ray, general manager of Albemarle EMC

Weedeaters Cause DamageMembers are advised to be cautious when using weedeaters

around equipment. Ground-mounted transformer pads and various equipment covers are made of fiberglass. Over time weedeaters will cut through the fiberglass and compromise the equipment.

“These damages result in expenses to the cooperative and, ultimately, the membership” said Gary Ray, general manager of Albemarle EMC.

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Renewable Rate Riders to Increase

The Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard rate riders for three revenue classes will increase slightly for the remainder of 2017 and 2018.

Effective June 1, the residential rate rider will increase from 49 cents per month to 54 cents. The monthly commercial rider will increase from $2.17 to $2.37. The monthly industrial rider will increase from $14.45 to $15.84.

Each month there is a charge on members’ bills, called the N.C.

Renewable Mandate. This charge is a result of the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, which was passed into state law in 2007. The law mandates that power providers must purchase a certain percentage of renewable energy each year. Because renewable energy is more expensive than traditional generation, the utilities can recover those costs, using an additional charge, called a rider, on members’ bills

Class Wins Field Trip

Teacher LeAnne Nixon (back row, left) and her class from White Oak Elementary School, in Chowan County, won a drawing for a field trip to Deadwood, a western-style theme park in Martin County. The class was selected for the field trip at the 2016 Bright Ideas awards dinner, where Nixon was also awarded a Bright Ideas grant.

“This is our small way of rewarding our teachers for going the extra mile for their students,” said Chris Powell, coordinator of public relations for Albemarle EMC.

Students Win Scholarships

New Line Truck Put into Service

Albemarle EMC recently purchased a new line truck that has been outfitted and put into service.

The large digger derrick is needed to set the taller, heavier poles that the National Electric Safety Code requires, depending on the construction. The truck has a lift capacity of 30,000 pounds and a maximum sheave height of 50.6 feet. The truck also has a maximum digging radius of 29 feet.

“This line truck gives us considerable capability,” said Glenn Parks, manager of operations for Albemarle EMC.

Linemen Practice Pole Top RescueAlbemarle EMC linemen recently participated in annual pole top rescue training and bucket rescue training. The training

simulates rescuing an injured lineman from the top of a utility pole as well as from a line truck bucket.

Lineman Robbie Stallings runs to truck.

Lineman Bobby Upton lowers a training dummy.

Lineman Ken Winslow removes safety equipment.

Chowan Middle School students Olivia Hare and Joshua Twiddy were recently awarded scholarships to two prestigious basketball camps this summer.

Olivia will be attending the N.C. State Women’s Basketball Camp, and Joshua will be attending the Roy Williams Basketball Camp, at the University of North Carolina.

Both students were selected based on the quality of their submitted essays, grades and extra curricular activities.

Olivia plays on the school’s basketball and softball teams. She is an honor roll student and has received the Principal’s Award, the Outstanding Band Student Award, Achievement of Independent Reading Award and the Youth Citizenship Award from the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Joshua has a 4.0 grade point average. He has won the Vidant Medical Center’s Martin Luther King speech writing contest and also took second place in the N.C. BAR Association’s mock trial contest. He plays baseball, soccer and basketball.

“We are proud to provide this opportunity to these two student-athletes,” said Gary Ray, general manager of Albemarle EMC.

Chowan Middle School Principal John Lassiter congratulates basketball camp winners Olivia Hare and Joshua Twiddy.

How Albemarle EMC works to provide its members with the highest-quality service possible.

Albemarle EMC is at Your Service

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Nikola Tesla Would Have Understood Co-opsLegend has it that famous physicist

Albert Einstein was once asked what it was like to be the smartest person alive. He reportedly replied, “I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Nikola Tesla.”

Born in what is modern-day Croatia, Tesla immigrated to the U.S. in 1884 to work at Edison Machine Works, which was founded by Thomas Edison. Tesla’s insight into the relatively new field of electricity was noticed by Edison, and he was soon promoted into a research and development role. Thus began the work of a genuine genius, who eventually went on to invent much of what operates the modern electrical grid.

The list of his inventions is jaw dropping, considering that most occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s. His achievements included: alternating current, fluorescent bulbs, Tesla Turbine, Tesla Coil, remote control (which led to radio), X-ray, first hydroelectric plant at Niagra Falls and the induction motor. Prior to his death in 1943, Tesla had around 300 patents worldwide.

According to his autobiography, Tesla’s mind functioned in a very unique way. For example, he never used blueprints, diagrams or engineering to design his inventions. Instead his process involved visualizing the building of apparatuses. In his head, he would make the computations, then imagine constructing and test-running the devices with incredible precision and detail. He described how he would then mentally deconstruct the apparatuses and could inspect how the internal parts performed, even down to bearing wear.

“Do you know how I discovered the rotating magnetic field and induction motor, which made me famous when I was 26,” Tesla once asked a reporter

during an interview. “One summer evening, in Budapest, I watched with my friend Sigetijem, sunset. Thousands of fire was turning around in thousands of flaming colors. I remembered Faust (a play written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) and recited his verses and then, as in a fog, I saw spinning magnetic field, and induction motor. I saw them in the sun!”

Tesla viewed electricity as essential toward promoting peace and the ascension of human consciousness. He felt that wars were often the result of misunderstandings. If nations could easily communicate with each other across great distances, he thought conflicts could be reduced, if not eliminated. He also believed that labor-saving devices made possible by electricity would give humanity the time for introspection and deeper self awareness.

“I am searching how to preserve human energy,” Tesla said. “It is forms of light, sometimes straight like heavenly light. I have not looked for it for my own sake, but for the good of all. I believe that my discoveries make people’s lives easier and more bearable, and channel them to spirituality and morality.”

Two years after the death of Nikola Tesla in 1945, Albemarle EMC was born. Since its beginning, your electric cooperative also has championed electricity’s ability to transform people and communities. Touchstone Energy’s slogan “The Power of Human Connections” exemplifies electric co-op’s core principles: open and voluntary membership, democratic member control, members’ economic participation, autonomy and independence, education, training and information, cooperation among cooperatives and concern for the

community. Similar to Tesla’s futuristic vision,

electric co-ops have understood the transformative role they would play in rural America. In a short amount of time, co-ops took rural folk from a fairly primitive existence to a life of ever-increasing modern conveniences. The ability to refrigerate food, cook with electricity and have adequate lighting were monumental shifts.

Owned and run by the members it serves, Albemarle EMC exists to safely provide affordable, reliable power. All are welcome to become members of the co-op. Members also govern the co-op, serving on a nine-member board. This board gives Albemarle EMC a unique autonomy. Your cooperative does not fall under the purview of the N.C. Utilities Commission, which frees Albemarle EMC to chart its own path.

All benefit from being members of the cooperative. As a nonprofit corporation, your cooperative returns margins to its members. The community, as a whole, is also enhanced by the numerous programs the co-op offers. These programs include the Albemarle Community Trust, which provides grants mainly to nonprofits that serve the public at large. The co-op also offers Bright Ideas grants to teachers, hosts a charity golf tournament for a toy drive and does so much more.

Profiting from his discoveries was not a priority for Tesla. He died poor and, apparently, with no hard feelings toward those he had made so wealthy. Instead he was motivated by the positive impacts available electricity would have on society. For more than 70 years, Albemarle EMC also has put people ahead of profits and made his vision a reality.