Lyon REC News

November 2018

Phone : 712-472-2506 or 1-800-658-3976 ~ Website : www.lyonrec.coop Office Hours : Monday thru Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

You Will See a New Line Item on Your Electric Bill

When you receive your bill in mid-December for your November electric use, you’ll see a new line item for the Energy Efficiency Adjustment Clause (EEAC). While this charge has been included in your electric bill as part of the energy charge since 2008, we are now showing it as a separate line item for your infor-mation and awareness. Your bill amount will not increase or decrease due to this line item addition and Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative will continue providing energy efficiency programs and encouraging our co-op members to use electric energy efficiently.

Earlier this year, the Iowa Legislature passed Senate File 2311 which requires investor-owned utilities to line item the costs of energy efficiency programs on customer bills, claiming that embedding the program costs in rates represents a hidden tax. Prior to this legislation, Iowa law prevented investor-owned utilities from disclosing energy efficiency program costs on customer billings without ap-proval from the Iowa Utilities Board.

While member-owned electric cooperatives in the state are not required to line item energy efficiency program costs, Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative has elect-ed to show the EEAC as a separate line item for our members’ knowledge.

Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative has promoted energy efficiency programs for more than 30 years, long before Iowa utilities were mandated to do so. We are committed to helping our members use energy wisely.

Beginning with your December electric bill, which includes charges for your November electric use, your bill will look similar in format to this sample of a Farm and Residential bill:

Facility Charge $ 15.00Energy Charge 1567 kWh 107.48Demand Charge 0.00P.C.A. (Power Cost Adjustment) 53.76Water Heater Credit (3.00)EEAC (Energy Efficiency Cost Adjustment) 3.00Sale Tax 1.76

Total Bill $ 178.00

If you have any questions about this new line item, please contact our office at 712-472-2506 or info@lyonrec.coop. Again, your bill amount will not increase or decrease due to this bill format change and Lyon Rural Electric Coop-erative will continue providing energy efficiency programs and promoting energy efficiency.

As always, we are proud to be a member-owned cooperative that powers lives and empowers the communities we serve with accountability and transparency.

Retirement of Patronage Dividends

The Board of Directors of Lyon Rural Electric Coop-erative met on September 25, 2018 and approved a gen-eral retirement of patronage dividends to the members in the amount of $285,538.83. This represents the re-maining unpaid patronage dividends for 2004, 96.68% of the remaining unpaid patronage dividends for 2005 and 20 % of patronage dividend assigned for 2017 for patronage dividends assigned from Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative operations and L & O Power Cooperative assigned patronage dividends. Patronage dividends are returned to Cooperative members on a rotating schedule. Patronage dividend checks are scheduled to be mailed around November 15, 2018.

With this retirement of patronage dividends, Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative has retired $7,763,804.49 in patronage dividends. Lyon Rural Electric Coopera-tive's retirement of patronage dividends is faster than most electric cooperatives in the nation. Per a study by The National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Cor-poration (CFC), our banker, as of December 31, 2017, the latest year reported, Lyon Rural Electric Cooperative has retired 41.25% of all patronage dividends assigned compared median, the cooperative in the middle of all reporting cooperatives, of 24.86% for Cooperative's re-porting. Some electric cooperatives have never paid a retirement of patronage dividends.

As a Rural Electric Cooperative member, you are part owner of a business. Basically, you have pooled your money with other members and created equity for your Rural Electric Cooperative to buy electricity and pro-vide services at an affordable cost.

Continued on page 2Remember to Thank A Veteran! Veteran's Day November 11, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving!The Lyon Rural

Electric Cooperative

office will be closed

November 22 and 23

in honor of the holiday.

Space heaters: Play it safe

Continued from page 1

Retirement of Patronage DividendsAs a locally owned business, your Rural Electric Co-

operative is committed to the people it serves and the communities in its area. Because cooperatives are mem-ber-owned and operated, one of the principles your Rural Electric Cooperative follows is a commitment to return-ing your investment. This is done in the form of patron-age dividend.

Since Cooperatives are nonprofit, they return any mar-gin to members through the patronage dividend pro-cess. The amount returned is in relation to the individual member's transactions or patronage, with the Coopera-tive.

When you think about your Rural Electric Cooperative, think about being an owner of a local business, because that is what you are. Reap the benefits from the Coopera-tive services provided today and look forward to a return on your investment in the future.

KWH Purchased . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .KWH Sold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Percentage of Line Loss (Year to Date) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Total Demand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Average Farm Consumption . . . . . . . .Average Farm Bill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Income Per Mile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Expenses Per Mile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Miles Energized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cost of Wholesale (For the Month) . .

SEPTEMBER OPERATING STATISTICS

8,849,8998,630,735

2 .78%17,738 KW2,062 KWH

$214 .31 $955 .90 $945 .23 872 .86 6 .81¢

9,134,7938,872,757

2 .75%18,136 KW2,117 KWH

$214 .18 $960 .25 $994 .35 872 .866 .56 ¢

2017 2018

Make this year's Thanksgiving your most energy-wise ever. Enlist the whole family-even those visiting just for the holiday-to come up with energy-saving ideas.

Along with your invitation to family and friends, ask everyone to bring more than a side dish. Instruct them to come prepared to share their favorite ways to save energy and reduce their monthly electric bills. After dinner, go around the table and have each person share a favorite tip.

Save your own ideas for last. Here's a cheat sheet to help you show off:h Turn down the thermostat. With a full house and a hot kitchen, your

house will be too steamy at its usual setting. h Replace your light bulbs with LEDs and new LED fixtures. Your

guests won't notice a difference in lighting, but you'll see a difference in your energy bill.

h Don't just stuff the turkey - stuff the oven. As long as your oven will be running all day, make the most of it by cooking several dishes at once. A variation of 25 degrees in either direction from the recommended cooking temperature will still produce the desired result.

h Cook at least one dish from start to finish in the microwave. Microwaves are faster than the oven and use about a third of the electricity.

h Keep cleanup easy. Load the dishwasher completely full. With a mountain of dinner plates, using the dishwasher will be more efficient than hand washing.

h Don't rush to put leftovers in the refrigerator, which will work harder to cool off hot foods. Let leftovers cool slightly on the counter.

SAVOR AN ENERGY-EFFICIENT THANKSGIVING FEAST

Space heaters can work wonders on the coldest winter days to warm rooms that your central heating system doesn't keep comfortable. But while manufac-turers have worked to build more safety features into this alternative heating source, users still should take precautions to ensure these cozy heaters don't become fire hazards.

Space heaters are designed as a supplemental source of heat, not as the main source. So you shouldn't use them constantly, especially in rooms that you don't use much. Check your space heaters for a UL seal, and fol-low these guidelines for safely using them:f Keep space heaters at least three feet away from

drapes and furniture that could catch fire. f Don't use extension cords with space heaters

unless absolutely necessary. f Inspect the heater's cord periodically for frayed

wires or damaged insulation. Don't use a space heater with a damaged cord.

f Check for a secure plug/outlet fit. If the plug gets hot, the outlet may need to be replaced by a qualified electrician. This could be the sign of a home wiring issue.

f Place your heater on a flat, level surface. Don't place heaters on furniture, as they may fall and break or even start a fire.

f Unless the heater is designed for use outdoors or in bathrooms, don't use it in wet areas.

Switch to LED

holiday lights this yearIf you're still decking the halls with your years-old incandescent

Christmas lights, it's time to make the switch to LED lights .LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are more efficient, more durable and

longer-lasting than your old strands. They won't burn out; they're cool to the touch .

That makes them safer to hang on a tree or from your roof . And they won't send your holiday electric bills through the roof.

LEDs are a holiday gift to yourself that keeps on giving year-round: The U .S . Department of Energy estimates that LEDs use 75 percent less energy and last about 25 times longer than incandescents.

Sure, they're a bit more expensive than traditional light strands. Look for a home improvement store with a trade-in program that gives you a discount on LEDs if you turn in your old, inefficient incandescent strands.

Consider going all-electricWhether you're choosing your energy supply for a new

home or looking to consolidate the energy sources in your existing home, consider these advantages to an all-elec-tric house:

V If your home is already wired for electricity, there's no need to also install and connect gas and oil lines.

V Electric appliances are quiet, clean and fume-free. Electric appliance manufacturers are constantly working to produce more efficient products like those with the Energy Star label, which means the government has deemed them extra-efficient.

V Energy-conscious California is updating building codes to encourage all-electric homes. Some utili-ties there are even offering rebates to homeowners who buy new, all-electric homes or retrofit their existing homes to get rid of the need for gas.

Imagine stepping out of bed at 6 a.m. onto a warm floor or getting ready for your early-morning shower without shivering in an underheated bathroom.

The trick: radiant floor heating.Sure, it's a bit of a luxury. But it can keep your toes toasty and add a layer of heat in chilly months. It also can be an effective

and efficient source of heat-and even a primary source of heat-for additions, sunrooms or anywhere your traditional heat source has trouble reaching.

Because heat rises, radiant floor heating not only warms the floor, but it radiates heat from floor to ceiling. The heat in radiant floors is typically either electric, from coils running under the floor, or hydronic, from tubes that carry heated water from a boiler. The installation and operating cost of each varies greatly depending on the size of the room or home, the type of installation, the floor covering and the subfloor.

Tile floors and laminate wood floors are best paired with radiant floor heating because of their ability to conduct heat. If your floors are carpeted, radiant heat is a poor choice because the carpet insulates the floor from the rest of the room and requires the radiant system to work harder to heat the space.

Radiant floor heating is most effective when it is installed within a thick concrete slab in the basement or a thin layer of concrete above the subfloor. That's because the con-crete acts as a thermal mass, storing heat and transferring it well. It's also possible-and often faster and cheaper-to install the tubes or cables in an air space beneath the floor. However, because it's operating in an air space, the sys-tem will likely have to run at a higher temperature.

Talk to a professional contractor to determine which type of heating system and installation is the most effective and efficient choice for your home.

Keep toes toasty on warm floors with radiant heat

“This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.” If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at program.intake@usda.gov.”

Non-Discrimination Statement

A program for dependent children of:•Member-cooperative employees•Member-cooperative consumers

How much is the scholarship?The Basin Electric Power Cooperative (BEPC) Scholarship Program will award more than 180 scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each. Five of the 25 scholarships for children of BEPC or subsidiary employees will be designated for qualified applicants who plan to attend a certified Vocational or Technical school, and five of the 25 will be designated for qualified applicants who plan to achieve an engineering degree.

Twenty will go to children of member cooperatives' employees, and 141 to children of member-cooperative consumers. There will be one $1,000 scholarship for each member cooperative to award to a dependent of a consumer member.

The scholarships must be used for Educational costs, and the student must enter college in the fall of the school year for which the scholarship is given. Checks will be made payable to the school, and will be distributed to the school by BEPC. Scholarships will be distributed in August.

Who is eligible to receive the scholarship?Dependent children (including adopted or step-children) of member-system consumers and dependent children of member-cooperative employees are eligible. The application must also be a U.S. citizen.

The applicant must be a student who is enrolled or planning to enroll in a full-time graduate or undergraduate course of study at an accredited, two-year or four-year college, university or vocational/technical school.

BEPC scholarships will be awarded without regard to other awards, loans or financial assistance the applicant may have obtained.

How are the recipients selected?Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of academic record, potential to succeed, leadership and participation in school and community activities, honors, work experience, a statement of education and career goals, and an outside appraisal.

Applicants for the member-cooperative employee dependent category will first be screened by their cooperative. A BEPC selection committee will make the final selection in the member-cooperative employee dependent category.

Member cooperatives will be responsible to select one recipient to be awarded a scholarship in the member cooperative consumer category. The final recipient's completed application will then be forwarded to BEPC by the member cooperative.

The scholarship award winners or the member coops are asked to notify the BEPC human resources division with the name and address of the school the student will be attending by July 1. It is also important to know if the student has switched schools, or has decided not to attend.

What are the recipient’s obligations?Except for the requirements outlined in this brochure, no obligations will be imposed upon the student as a scholarship award winner. Other than payment of the scholarship, no obligations or liability are assumed by BEPC, its subsidiaries or member cooperatives.

How can I apply?To apply, complete the required criteria and the scholarship application, which can be obtained from your local electric cooperative office.

Children of member-system employees and consumers must submit the application and all necessary information to apply for a scholarship to their local electric cooperative office. The applications must reach your cooperative by February 11, 2019.

Each year the Lyon REC, Rock Rapids, Iowa awards one $1,000.00 scholarship to a student of a member of the Lyon REC. The scholarship can be used to assist in paying for the costs of the student's college, vocational-technical, or community college education. Priority will be given to applicants planning to attend vocational-technical, 2-year community or junior college education. Scholarship applications are available at the Lyon REC office or online at www.lyonrec.coop with a deadline date of February 11, 2019.

ScholarShip program for member cooperativeS

Lyon REC Scholarship