Volunteer Energy Cooperative

VEC Scholarship Deadline Approaching

01/27/12

Volunteer Energy Cooperative (VEC) wants to reward students who have used their time and talents to benefit their local communities. VEC’s Lillard-Shadow scholarship program rewards academic and community service achievements by awarding four $2,000 scholarships to students who will graduate from high schools in VEC’s service area in the spring of 2012.

The scholarships honor J.W. Lillard and Willis A Shadow, two community leaders who spearheaded efforts to bring electric power to Decatur and Meigs County in the 1930s, forming the organization that would become Volunteer Energy Cooperative. Mr. Shadow and Mr. Lillard were instrumental in improving the lives and livelihoods of thousands of residents through electric power.

Four awards of $500 per semester each (renewable for up to four semesters) will be presented to spring 2012 high school graduates whose parents or guardians are VEC electric customers. Applications will be judged by an independent panel based on student’s community service activities and citizenship - 40%; written communication skills – 20 %; financial need – 25%; and academic achievement – 15%.

Scholarship applications are available at any VEC Customer Service Center or from high school counselors in the VEC service area. Applications are also available online at www.vec.org.

All application materials must be completed and delivered to VEC’s Cooperate Office in Decatur no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Time on March 2, 2012.

Volunteer Energy Customers are Better Informed Than Most

01/27/12

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) recently recognized Volunteer Energy Cooperative for their efforts in keeping their customers well informed with an exceptionally detailed monthly bill and newsletter that help customers conserve energy and use energy more efficiently.

“Not all electricity bills are created equal,” said Jeannie McKinney an energy efficiency policy associate with SACE’s Knoxville office. “Today we’d like to commend a local utility company on providing their customers with an exceptionally detailed one. Volunteer Energy Cooperative provides information and advice beyond what the average national utility bill presents.”

McKinney cited a study conducted by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEE). The study placed VEC in the top 10 percent nationally in terms of relating useful information about each customer’s energy use patterns, as well as, information on energy-efficiency and energy conservation.

Some of the components of VEC’s bill that particularly impressed SACE were a detailed breakdown of electric rates, data on previous month and previous year usage, and information on average daily use and average daily temperature.

“Most important to us about VEC’s bills, though, are the highlights and tips about energy efficiency and useage awareness that they also bring their customers,” McKinney said. “There’s a paragraph at the top of each statement which promotes VEC’s free In-Home Energy Evaluation program, and provides contact information for the customer to find out more about the distributor’s energy efficiency programs.”

She added, “In addition to this paragraph, VEC also goes a step further to promote energy efficiency and includes a monthly flyer with every bill sent. Called Powerlines, this newsletter provides further information about energy efficiency opportunities and energy conservation tips. Powerlines also offers more details and explanations of electricity terms, so that customers can further understand their bills and how to make use of all this information.”

Volunteer Energy Cooperative President/CEO Rody Blevins said the acknowledgement from SACE is very encouraging.

“We recently put a great deal of effort into redesigning our bills in order to provide as much information as possible to our customers,” Blevins said. “Since we are a cooperative, owned and operated by our customers, we want to partner with them to conserve energy and use energy more efficiently. It not only helps provided a cleaner environment, it produces lower electric bills.”

VEC is a member-owned electricity distribution cooperative that serves all or part of 17 counties in east-central Tennessee. For more information visit: www.vec.org.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy promotes responsible energy choices that create global warming solutions and ensure clean, safe, and healthy communities throughout the Southeast with seven offices in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. For more information visit: www.cleanenergy.org.

Wind Causes VEC Outage

01/12/12

1/12/2012, 8:30 p.m.

Some Volunteer Energy Cooperative customers in south Bradley County experienced a brief power outage on Thursday evening at approximately 5 p.m.

Strong winds, coupled with the saturated ground, caused a tree to fall on electric lines. Approximately 500 VEC customers were without power.

The outage was restored within an hour.