Give space heaters their space

Space heaters can work wonders on the coldest winter days to warm rooms your central heating system can’t quite reach. But while manufacturers 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 an Underwriters Laboratories seal, and follow these guidelines for safely using it:

  • Keep space heaters at least three feet away from drapes and furniture that could catch fire.
  • Don’t use extension cords with space heaters unless absolutely necessary.
  • Inspect the heater’s cord periodically for frayed wire or damaged insulation. Don’t use a space heater with a damaged cord.
  • Check periodically 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.
  • 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.
  • Unless the heater is designed for use outdoors or in bathrooms, don’t use it in wet areas.
/by

Get refrigerator ready for the holidays

If Thanksgiving or Christmas will be celebrated at your house this year, your family members aren’t the only ones who will be stuffed. So will your refrigerator. 

Is it up to the task? 

In fact, if your fridge is more than a decade old, it might not be. Today’s models—those bearing the Energy Star label, at least—use at last 15 percent less energy than current federal standards require, and 40 percent less than models in the early 2000s, according to the Department of Energy.  

Yet more than 60 million households have refrigerators that are more than 10 years old, DOE says. By replacing it with a new, energy-efficient model, you could save up to $300 in electricity charges over its lifetime. 

When shopping for a new refrigerator or freezer, read the EnergyGuide label. It tells you how many kilowatt-hours of electricity the unit will consume over a year of operation. The smaller the number, the better. Look for refrigerators that have a freezer on the bottom or the top, as side-by-side designs consume more energy. Chest freezers are typically better insulated than upright models.  

Whether you’re buying a new fridge this year or not, follow these tips for more efficient use around the holidays: 

  • Brush or vacuum your refrigerator’s coils regularly to improve efficiency by as much as 30 percent. 
  • Keeping your refrigerator full shouldn’t be hard this time of year and doing so will help your unit retain cold better. If you have trouble keeping it stocked, fill the extra space with bottles or containers of water.
  • If your milk is frosty in the morning, reduce the refrigerator’s temperature. Refrigerators should be set between 36 degrees and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Freezers should stay between 0 degrees and 5 degrees.
  • Put a dollar bill in the door’s seal to see if it is airtight. If the dollar slips out easily, so will cold air.  
/by

Don’t let a full house send energy bills through the roof

Preparing a Thanksgiving feast means you’ll be using more energy than usual.  Here’s how to keep it under control: 

  • Lower the heat a couple of degrees before company arrives. You’ll be using the stove and oven all day, so the house will be warmer than usual anyway. Plus, people generate heat, so a cooler house will feel more comfortable. 
  • Keep an eye on the refrigerator and freezer so you’ll know the doors at snugly closed. Doors that aren’t tightly sealed will send cold air into the kitchen. 
  • Wait until the leftovers cool off a bit before placing them in the refrigerator. The appliance has to work harder to cool hot food than to keep cool food cold. 
  • Place lids on pots and pans as you use them for cooking. The lids keep heat in, so food cooks quicker. 
  • Heat up whatever you can in the microwave instead of on the stovetop or oven. Microwaves use about half the energy as your oven. 
  • Fill your oven with as many different dishes as you can fit and cook them all at once. As long as the recipes don’t call for temperatures that vary by more than 25 degrees, everything should cook or bake evenly. 
/by

Keeping Cherished Family Traditions while also Keeping Safe

It’s been said that the kitchen is the heart of a home, and that’s never more true than during the holidays. We instinctively gather there: to cook, eat and just enjoy each other’s company. With the approach of Thanksgiving, our kitchens will get quite a workout — and that means it’s time to think about safety.

“When we look forward to the aroma of roasting turkey, baking pumpkin pies and all the other delicious smells coming from the kitchen this time of year,” says Gibson Electric Membership Corporation’s Safety Coordinator Billy Porter, “the one thing we don’t want to smell is smoke from an electrical fire! We remind our members to stay safe as they prepare holiday meals for their family and friends.”

With that in mind, here are some helpful tips to improve kitchen safety — during Thanksgiving and all year round:

  • With so much hustle and bustle, it’s easy to get distracted by the arrival of guests, the latest score in the big game, etc. But to stay safe, keep an eye on your cooking and stay in the kitchen. About a third of all kitchen fires are started by unattended cooking.
  • Keep dish towels, pot holders and oven mitts away from stovetop burners.
  • Pay attention to what you’re wearing. Big loose sleeves are a no-no — as are scarves.
  • Watch children closely, and never leave hot pots or pans within their easy reach on the edge of a countertop or table.
  • Don’t overload outlets by plugging in multiple appliances like slow cookers, electric skillets, and unplug the devices when they’re not in use.
  • By the time it all finally comes together, the crew is famished and you’re ready to get off your feet and enjoy the results of your culinary efforts! Before you leave the kitchen, check one last time to make sure that the oven, stove and any electrical appliances are all turned off.

If a kitchen fire should occur, however, be ready to respond by taking these steps:

  • Quickly turn off the heat source.
  • Never throw water on an electrical fire. A stovetop fire in a shallow pan can usually be extinguished by covering the flames with a metal lid or baking sheet.
  • If it’s small and fairly manageable, pour baking soda or salt on the fire to smother it. (Never use flour; it can explode and make the fire worse.)
  • If something inside the oven catches fire, do not open the oven door; just turn the oven off and back away — the fire will eventually go out due to lack of oxygen. Opening the oven door can fan the flames and burn your face or set your hair on fire.
  • For a stovetop grease fire that grows into a larger blaze, spray with a Class B dry chemical fire extinguisher. Stand 8 feet away from the fire and aim above the flames.

If the fire has started to spread beyond your ability to put it out swiftly, do not hesitate to call 911.

/by
, , ,

Day of Service impacts state

Nashville, TENN. – More than 750 electric co-op employees participated in the sixth annual Tennessee Electric Cooperative Day of Service on Thursday, Oct. 20. Forty-six individual service projects were completed across the state with 757 employees from 17 electric co-ops volunteering more than 1,581 hours in service to their local communities. This year’s projects included painting and repairing playground equipment, picking up litter and coordinating food, clothing and toy drives.

“This is one of my favorite days of the year,” says Trent Scott, TECA’s vice president of communications and organizer of the event. “Co-ops have an impact on their communities each day, but today is special. Co-op employees live, work and raise their families in these communities, and they get excited about these projects. Giving back is natural when you care about the place you call home.”

Sponsors for the 2022 Day of Service were Bass, Berry and Sims, Central Service Association, Ervin Cable Construction, Silicon Ranch, Tennessee811, TVA and The Tennessee Magazine.

In the six-year history of the Day of Service event, 2,705 employees have volunteered more than 6,520 hours to complete 153 individual projects in co-op communities across the state.

Co-ops participating in the 2022 Day of Service and the projects they completed were:

  • Appalachian Electric Cooperative – Support for coat and food drives in Jefferson County
  • Caney Fork Electric Cooperative – Coordinated Christmas toy drive for area children
  • Chickasaw Electric Cooperative – Hot line safety demonstration at a festival, supporting food and toy drive for Fayette Cares
  • Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation – Painted playground equipment for local schools
  • Fayetteville Public Utilities – Assisted Hands of Mercy Outreach’s mobile food pantry
  • Gibson Electric Membership Corporation – Provided classroom supplies for Samburg and Hornbeak areas of Obion County
  • Holston Electric Cooperative – Restoration work at Crockett Springs Park
  • Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooeprative – Multiple litter pick up projects in Hickman and Humphreys counties, food bank projects in Hickman and Lewis counties. Additional projects in Perry and Houston counties.
  • Middle Tennessee Electric – Habitat for Humanity build in Lebanon, Scholastic Book Fairs in Woodbury and Christiana, Discovery Center’s Lantern Parade in Murfreesboro
  • Pickwick Electric Cooperative – Assisted the Jesus Cares Thrift Store
  • Plateau Electric Cooperative – Volunteer work in Scott and Morgan counties
  • Powell Valley Electric Co-op – Lunch for first responders in New Tazewell and Jonesville
  • Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative – Provided meals for veterans, assisted with renovation of a senior center’s garden, building beds for Sleep in Heavenly Peace and work with local animal shelter
  • Southwest Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation – Support for Breast Cancer Awareness Day
  • Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association – Volunteering at local domestic violence shelter and The Store free community grocery
  • Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation – Beautification project in Livingston, lunch for front line workers and boxing and landscaping at a food bank
  • Volunteer Energy Cooperative – Donations to food banks in Spring City, Decatur, Georgetown, Benton, Cleveland, Crossville and White County
/by
, ,

Power in Purpose

Dave Cross, CEO Plateau Electric Cooperative and Board President, TECA

Vince Lombardi, famed coach of the Green Bay Packers, once said, “Success demands singleness of purpose.” The purpose of Tennessee’s electric cooperatives — the reason we exist — is to provide safe, reliable and affordable energy and improve the lives of the people we serve.

October is National Co-op Month, which is the perfect time to consider how our purpose impacts almost everything we do.

Co-ops are consumer-owned.

Electric co-ops are owned by the people we serve, not by the government or investors. Co-op members elect directors to represent their interests and set policy and procedures for the co-op. This focus on our consumers makes co-ops far more responsive to the people and places we serve.

Co-ops are not-for-profit.

Co-ops serve their communities instead of shareholders. We distribute and sell energy to our members at cost and invest excess revenues back into the electric system. All of this means that our consumer-owners pay less for energy — 15 percent below the national average.

Co-ops are community-focused.

Electric co-ops work to improve everyday life in our rural and suburban communities. We do this through reliable energy and investments in education and community development.

Later this month, cooperatives across the state will participate in the Tennessee Electric Co-op Day of Service, an intentional effort to get our hands dirty by serving our communities. This is a small but real example of the many ways our co-ops impact the communities we serve.

According to Coach Lombardi, if you wish to be successful, you need to first identify your one true purpose.

Tennessee’s electric cooperatives are successful because we have identified that purpose. It is not serving shareholders in another state. It is not making a profit. It is not pushing a political agenda.

Our business model is unique. It is pragmatic, mission-oriented and people-focused.

Our one true purpose is serving our members, and I hope that is seen in everything we do.

/by
, , ,

Chris Kirk named editor of The Tennessee Magazine

Chris Kirk has been named editor of The Tennessee Magazine, replacing Robin Conover who retired at the end of September.

Kirk joined the magazine team as field editor in May of 2005 and has served as associate editor since 2011.

“Chris is a journalist of integrity who has been an asset for the magazine for many years,” says David Callis, executive vice president and general manager of the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, publisher of the magazine. “He has shown tremendous skill, commitment and passion, and I know the magazine will thrive under his leadership.”

Kirk follows in the footsteps of his father, Jerry Kirk, who also served as editor of The Tennessee Magazine in the late 1980s.

“As far as I’m concerned, I step into this new role as a steward of the quality, informational, entertaining publication that for 65 years has been telling the stories of Tennessee’s electric cooperatives and the communities they serve,” says Kirk.

With more than 775,000 subscribers and 1.7 million monthly readers, The Tennessee Magazine is the state’s most widely circulated periodical. The magazine is published by the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association and Tennessee’s 23 electric cooperatives. Visit tnelectric.org or tnmagazine.org to learn more.

/by
, , ,

Trent Scott named vice president of communications

The Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association has named Trent Scott vice president of communications. He joined the staff of the association in 2011 and was most recently vice president of corporate strategy.

Scott will lead the association’s internal and external communication activities, including the publication of The Tennessee Magazine, the state’s most widely circulated monthly periodical.

“Over the past decade Trent has been instrumental in positioning TECA as a nationally recognized leader in the electric cooperative community,” says David Callis, executive vice president and general manager of the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association. “His dedication has greatly improved our outreach and raised our visibility through programs such as the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Day of Service. The state’s co-ops and the consumers they serve will benefit from Trent taking ownership of all of TECA’s communication efforts.”

“I grew up around this industry,” says Scott, whose father was a lineman for Southwest Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation in Henderson. “From energy to broadband, this is a dynamic time for electric co-ops and the state’s rural and suburban communities. It is a privilege to help co-ops highlight the impact they have on the people and places they serve. Tennessee’s electric co-ops have a great story to tell.”

Electric cooperatives serve more than 2.5 million consumers and 72 percent of Tennessee. The Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association provides leadership, advocacy and support for Tennessee’s 23 electric cooperatives and publishes The Tennessee Magazine, the state’s most widely circulated periodical. Visit tnelectric.org or tnmagazine.org to learn more.

 

/by