Cuming County Public Power District ~ August 2017 Page 1

August 2017

PP

DC

ounty

Cum

ingManager’s Report

By: Chet McWhorter A mother was telling her little girls what her own childhood was like: "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this in. At last she said, " I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!" After our ice cream socials in June, I was thinking how great it was to get to see and visit with so many of you, and thought many times; “I sure wish I’d gotten to know you sooner!” Thankfully, I have only been here for three years and didn’t have to wait longer to get the opportunity to meet so many of our customer-owners and community members. As I’ve stated before, at the end of the day my job is to serve the customer-owners of Cuming County Public Power District. We uti-lize your opinions along with a steady message, focus, and map to keep the District moving for-ward. The map that we use, along with the Core Values for a compass, is CCPPD’s Mission and Vision. The Mission Statement of CCPPD is: The employees of CCPPD provide highly relia-ble, cost-based electricity in a safe, professional manner. This is our Mission day in and day out 24/7, 365. This has been our Mission, stated or not, since long before I arrived in Cuming County and will continue to be our Mission long after I’m forgotten. Reliable service is key. We provide 99.8% reliable electricity to our customer-owners. Frankly, this is not good enough and we know it. The 0.2% affected by outages are not happy when these outages occur, their businesses and lives are interrupted. We are continually seeking 100% reliability. We do provide cost-based electricity. We are not-for-profit and thus free to simply operate on a cost basis. We endeavor toward zero accidents and zero incidents in the safety realm. This includes not only our personnel but also the public. We are also extremely cognizant of your expectations for professional service and hold ourselves accountable to your high expectations. Cuming County Public Power District’s

Vision Statement reads: The customers of CCPPD view us as a leader in providing in-novative, customer-ori-ented utility services who are accountable for our decisions and actions. A Vision State-ment states a desired outcome. In other words, if we live out our Mission to the highest degree, you will view us in this light. We aim to be a leader in providing innovative, cus-tomer-oriented utility services. To this end, we have undertaken LED lighting programs, we are consid-ering additional renewable energy options, we are working with customer-owners on energy efficiency programs, and we are available for any questions or concerns that you might have in our area of expertise. We are accountable for our decisions and actions. If there are any concerns regarding any employee, ac-tion, or decision of the District, please bring them to my attention as soon as possible. Also, the Board of Directors is available at any time. We know you have high expectations and we are accountable to you. CCPPD’s Core Values are: g Safety – keep safety first in mind, heart and action g Accountability – take ownership, be decisive and move forward g Teamwork – One District – make it happen together g Integrity – do the right thing g Service – proud of our service g Ingenuity – create resourceful solutions As you can see, we have a good map and compass. And we have a clear message. We exist to serve our customer-owners. Every decision we make has to meet up with our Core Values, Mission, and Vision or it will not pass muster. It is my hope that you approve of how we go about our business and how and why we do what we do. We are extremely blessed to have served you for the past 80 years and are looking forward to the next 80. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me. As always, I’d love to hear from you! It is my pleasure to serve you all. Thanks for reading!

Cuming County Public Power District ~ August 2017 Page 2

Thank You 80Years

Bancro f t

Wes t Poin t

Dodge

Beemer

Youth Tour Student Travels to Washington D.C.

Page 3 Cuming County Public Power District ~ August 2017

Josie Dvorak is in the middle of the front row.

CCPPD representative, Josie Dvorak, gets selected as the Nebraska representative for the Youth Leadership Council

We are so proud of you Josie! Thank you for representing Cuming County Public Power District and Nebraska.

Josie Dvorak, from the Dodge area, was Cuming County Public Power District’s first ever Youth Ener-gy Leadership Camper that was chosen to attend Youth Tour in Washington D.C. For a week in June she and the other students from Nebraska visited Gettysburg Battlefield, Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery,

the National Cathedral and numerous historical sites and monuments around Washington, D.C. They also met with members of the Nebraska Congression-al delegation and came together with 1,800 other rural high school students from across America for the annual National Rural Electric Cooperative Youth Day where they learned about political engagement, leadership, and the pressing issues facing the electric industry today. Josie took time to tell the Cuming County Public Power District Board Members about her experience. She also talked about how she was selected to represent Nebraska on the Youth Leadership Council (YLC) of the National Rural Electric Coopera-tive Association (NRECA). “I am very

excited and honored to represent Cuming County and Nebraska on a na-tional level,” Dvorak said. “My first trip was amazing and I am looking

Photos by Leroy Mostek

Photo by Kari Haase

Electrical Safety Night with Beemer Fire & Rescue

CCPPD Foremen, Jim Yosten & Gene Cihacek, went over electrical safety with the Beemer Fire & Rescue Depart-ment on July 11, 2017. It was hot, but there was a great number of people who attended. Thank you for working with CCPPD to keep everyone safe!

forward to next month!” As the YLC delegate, Josie will next attend the YLC Conference in Washington, D.C. The conference agenda includes leadership and team building exercis-es, meeting with Capitol Hill staff members who are alumni of NRECA’s Rural Electric Youth Tour, and a competition to select the NRECA’s National Youth Spokesperson. All 43 members of the YLC from across the nation, including Josie, will participate in the 2018 NRECA Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. While at the annual meeting, Josie will provide assis-tance to the NRECA staff and co-op delegates; par-ticipate in the Parade of States at the opening General Session, and take part in a variety of educational forums. We will have more stories of Josie’s travels in the upcoming newsletters.

Visit our website at www.ccppd.com

CCPPD BOARD MEETINGSRegular meetings of the CCPPD Board are normally held on the second Wednesday of

each month at the office. Notice of times and date changes are

published monthly.

CCPPD BOARD OF DIRECTORSGreg Strehle, President.......402-380-3659Leroy Mostek, Vice Pres......402-528-3872 Dennis Weiler, Sec................402-372-2713 Ed Kaup, Treasurer................402-372-2966Fred Schneider.......................402-528-3683Danny Kluthe............................402-693-2833

Cuming County Public Power District ~ August 2017 Page 4

We wanted to congratulate Dalton Blaha on his purple ribbon at state

for his 4-H electrical project.

He also had special recognition

from Nebraska Rural Electrical Association. He constructed his night stand lamp

out of many recycled products.

Dalton used his money that he was awarded to pay

off the rest of the products he needed to

complete his lamp. He said it is very sturdy and he had fun making it. Congrats to Dalton and have a great fair season this year!

Tip of the Month

Tip

of

the

Mon

th

Source: U.S. Department of Energy

Setting your thermostat to a colder setting than normal when you turn on your air conditioner will not cool your home any faster and could result in excessive cooling and unnecessary expense.

Brian Throener working on an underground wire

inside a transformer box.

Tristan Bettenhausen and Jess Hunke working on setting a pole.

All in a day’s work...

Photo by Jim Yosten

Photo by Jim Yosten