a c t t e - clearwater-polk electric cooperativea c t t e oi o: : am: m moayia ... parked utility...

Website at www.clearwater-polk.com

CURRENTA C T I V I T I E S

–– OFFICE HOURS: 7:00 AM-4:30 PM ... MONDAY-FRIDAY ––

Phone 218-694-6241 – or – toll free (888) 694-3833JUNE – 2018 –

MINNKOTA POWER PLANT TOUR

Names of Participants Address

_______________________________________ _______________________________________

_______________________________________ _______________________________________

_______________________________________ _______________________________________

_______________________________________ _______________________________________

Telephone Number _______________________ Account Number _________________________

Number Attending ________________________ Amount Enclosed $ ______________________

MAIL TO: Clearwater-Polk Electric Cooperative, PO Box 0, Bagley, MN 56621– YOU WILL BE MAILED A LETTER OF CONFIRMATION WITH MORE TOUR INFORMATION. –

Power Plant Tour Registration Form

Make plans today to travel with your friends and neighbors through scenic North Da-

kota for the two-day power plant tour offered by Clearwater-Polk Electric. The tour is sched-uled for June 20th and 21st, 2018.

The first day of the trip will include a stop at Minnkota Power Cooperative’s headquarters in Grand Forks. From there, a tour of the Gar-rison Dam Hydro Plant in Riverdale. The evening will be spent at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Bis-marck, which will include a banquet sponsored by Minnkota Power.

The second day includes a tour of the Milton R. Young generation station near Center, ND.

Weather permitting, a tour through the BNI coal mine operation is scheduled, also. You are guaranteed to have a better understanding of the process involved with generating the electricity that serves you.

The cost to participate is $80 per per-son for double occupancy and $100 for single occupancy. This includes trans-portation, meals and lodging. The tour is open to all Clearwater-Polk Electric members and/or spouses. Accommo-dations are limited, so reserve your spot now by returning the form to the left.

Any questions please call Clearwater-Polk at 218-694-6241 or 888-694-3833

Tour Dates:June 20th and 21st,

2018

Notice:Only 4

seats left!

2018 ~ Clearwater-Polk eleCtriC Newsletter PAGE ... 2

Clearwater CountyBreakfast on the Farm

2018

Located: South of Bagley on Hwy. 92.

Saturday, June 30th

8:00 – 11:00 am

Les & Sharon Olson Farm

Come join us for a complimentary breakfast!!

A PERFECT COMBINATIONBill4U and AutoPay are a perfect match.

If you are an AutoPay member, why not sign up for Bill4U and receive your bill electronically?

You can view your bill online, as well as your daily usage, anytime you want.

Eliminate one more piece of mail and save your cooperative money at the same time.

It’s convenience for you, it’s convenience for your

co-op.

Sign up for Bill4U today!

Our office WILL BE

CLOSEDWednesday, July 4, 2018

FOR

If you experience an emergency or power outage, please call 1-877-881-7673

SIGN UP FOR AUTO-PAY AND YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE

TO WIN $25.00EACH MONTH WE DRAW TWO MEMBER’S NAMES

THAT HAVE CHOSEN TO PAY BY AUTO-PAY. THEY WILL RECEIVE A $25.00 CREDIT

TOWARDS THEIR ELECTRIC BILL.JUNE WINNERS: John W. Larson • Stephen Grimsley

A message from Harlan Highberg…Dear Clearwater-Polk Electric members,

Congratulations to your new board member, Greg Renner.Thank you for granting me the opportunity to serve you on your

REA board over the past six years.It has truly been an unforgettable learning experience about

how electricity first came to our rural areas and the many chal-lenges still facing your local REA board to keep the power coming at reasonable rates.

Sincerely, Harlan Highberg

Leroy Riewer, President ..................BagleyVernon Hamnes, Vice President ....GonvickRobert Johnson, Secretary .............BagleyGary Mathis, Treasurer .................GonvickGreg Renner ................................. ShevlinGreg Spaulding ...............................BagleyKeith DeMaris ................................ Shevlin

Bruce Bjerke ............... General Manager

OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

SCHEDULEDBOARD MEETING

Held at the Clearwater-Polk Electric board

room at 8:00 a.m. on the last Wednesday of

each month.

June is Dairy Month

Clearwater-Polk ElectricCooperative

salutes the dairy farmers in our area.

Move Over Bill Receives the Governor’s Signature

The Move Over bill passed both bodies and was signed by the Gov-ernor on Saturday, May 19.

Senator Goggin, chief author on the Senate side, is an IBEW member and a great promoter of this legislation. Chair Davids was the chief author on the House side. Both Senator Goggin and Representative Davids are excellent supporters of electric cooperatives.

In 2015, Minnesota electric cooperatives promoted, and the legislature passed, legislation that expanded Minnesota’s move over law to include parked utility vehicles with their emergency or warning lights activated. This legislation applied to a highway having two lanes in the same direction.

The legislation this year adds to the statute streets or highways having only one lane in the same direction. The legislation requires that drivers slow down, maintaining a safe speed for traffic conditions, and operate the vehicle at a reduced speed until safely past the parked utility or emergency vehicle.

Safety is a priority for electric cooperatives, who have employees work-ing alongside roadways every day. Traffic is always an issue. This additional piece of legislation will further increase the safety of our lineworkers.

Thank you for your help getting this important piece of safety legislation over the finish line.


You probably don’t pay much attention to the utility poles found throughout Clearwater-Polk’s service territory, but did you know

these tall structures are the backbone of our distribution network?

Strong, sturdy utility poles ensure a reliable electric system, which is why we routinely inspect the thousands of poles found on our lines. Throughout the year, our crews check poles for decay caused by exposure to the elements. They know which poles are oldest and conduct inspections through a rotational process. Typically, a standard wooden distribution pole is expected to last more than 50 years.

“Uncompromised utility poles ensure a reliable source of electricity for our members which is why we thoroughly inspect each pole for structural integrity approximately once every 10 years. Over time the poles in ground contact may become vulnerable to decay and wood-destroying insects, so they each receive a below ground inspection where most decay and insect activity takes place. Above ground issues such as lightning damage, woodpeckers and animal damage are also noted.” A well-maintained pole from the original energization of the Cooperative may still be in place.”

Occasionally, poles need to be re-placed for other reasons besides decay and old age. Weather disasters, power line relocation and car crashes are poten-tial causes for immediate replacement. When possible, Clearwater-Polk Electric communicates when and where pole replacements will take place so that you stay informed of where crews will be working.

Here is a quick breakdown of how crews replace a utility pole:

When a pole needs to be replaced, crews will start the process by digging a hole, typically next to the pole being replaced. The depth of the hole must be 15 percent of the new pole’s height. Next, the new pole must be fitted with bolts, cross arms, insulators, ground wires and arm braces – all of the neces-sary parts for delivering safe and reliable electricity. Then, crews safely detach the power lines from the old pole. The new pole is then raised and guided carefully into position, and the lines are attached,

Why electric co-ops replace utility poles

leaving the new pole to do its job. So, the next time you come across a Clearwa-

ter-Polk Electric crew replacing a pole, use cau-tion and know that this process ensures a more

reliable electric system for you, our members. Source: Abby Berry writes on consumer and

cooperative affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.


RULES: Ads for Clearwater-Polk Electric members only. Ads received after the 15th of each month will be held over for the following month. Ads may be run consecutively for two months. Limit your ads to two items. No commercial ads, please.

WANTED TO BUY: ASPEN, PINE and HWD stumpage any amount. Call and leave mes-sage at 218-556-1840.

l l l l l l l l l l l

FOR SALE: 1998 XC 600 Polaris Snowmo-bile, very good condition. If interested call 218-556-9484.


WANTED: Old round oak dining table and chairs (if you have them) will refinish myself. Call 218-657-2806.


FOR SALE: Three Goodyear Wrangler pick up tires, size P265/65R/18. Good tread left on them. Call 218-435-6857.


FOR SALE: JD 175 mower w/bagger. Call 218-255-7029 for more information.

WANTED: 6 and 8 ft. tables and folding chairs, any condition. Also skid steer, tractor. 218-766-8176.


FREE: Large TV aerial. Call 218-657-2304.l l l l l l l l l l l

FOR SALE: Coleman Powermate electric generator - Vantage 5000, $100.00. Call 218-657-2853.


FOR SALE: Small 2 bedroom home with walkout basement, a detached 2 car garage plus 2 storage sheds. It sits on 4.5 acres. Quiet country living. A short walk through the woods will bring you to the creek. Great starter home. Located north of Bagley on County Rd. #22, $59600.00. If interested call 218-785-2223 or 218-694-6561.

SWAP

SHOP

1 cup butter1 cup white sugar1 cup brown sugar2 eggs1 Tbsp. molasses2 tsp. vanilla2½ cup flour1 tsp. salt1 tsp. baking soda1 tsp. baking powder1 cup quick cooking oatmeal (not instant oatmeal)1 cup coconut2/3 cup dried cranberries6 oz. white chocolate chips1 cup chopped nuts

Cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs, molasses, vanilla.

Sift and add flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Next, stir in oatmeal, coconut, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, and chopped nuts.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 minutes. Do not overbake!

*Butterscotch chips can also be substi-tuted for white chocolate chips!*

FIBER COOKIES

If you have a favorite recipe you would like to share with Clearwater-Polk Electric members, please send to:

CLEARWATER-POLK ELECTRIC COOP.P.O. BOX 0

BAGLEY, MN 56621

CHEF’S CORNER

Does your old AC unit need replacing?

Replace it with an air-source heat pump

In size and appear-ance, a standard heat pump looks like a central air conditioner. But unlike a central air-conditioning system, which only cools a home, a heat pump provides heating and cooling. Heat pumps also dehumidify better than standard air condition-ers, resulting in less energy use and more cooling comfort in summer months.

Heating efficiency for air-source heat pumps (ASHP) is indicated by the heating seasons performance factor (HSPF), and cooling effi-ciency by the seasonal energy efficiency ratio

(SEER). The most efficient heat pumps have a SEER between 14 and 24, and an HSPF between 8 and 11. Always remember the

higher the number the higher the efficiency.When selecting a new air-source heat

pump, it’s important to determine the proper size needed for your home. Bigger is not always better. Oversizing causes the heat pump to start and stop more frequently, which is less efficient and harder on the components than letting it run for longer cycles. A properly sized heat pump will also provide better comfort and

humidity control than an oversized one.When choosing an air-source heat pump, it

is best to look for ENERGY STAR ® label. Most heat pumps that are ENERGY STAR®-rated qualify for rebates through Clearwater-Polk Electric’s rebate program, as well as Minnkota Heating rebate program. Air-source heat pumps that have a 14 SEER, 8.2 HSPF or greater qualify for a $400 rebate from Clearwater-Polk Electric and a $100 per ton rebate (maximum $600) from Minnkota.

If you are considering installing a heat pump, or any other electric heating system, and would like more information on rebates and/or off peak heating, contact Clearwater-Polk Electric Cooperative’s Member Service Department at 218-694-6241 or toll-free 1-888-694-3833.


Manager’s Message

Bruce Bjerke

ElectricityOne of the

Most Important Forces in Our Everyday Life

We depend on electricity 24/7, but have you ever wondered how it’s made, or where it comes from? To understand

the basics of something so important to modern life, think about steam from a teakettle and those magnets stuck to your refrigerator door.

Magnetic metals in nature attract each other because parts of the atoms that make up those metals want to match up with others. Those rest-less atomic particles are called electrons—and that’s where we get the word “electricity.”

In the early 1800s, a scientist in England named Michael Faraday noticed that when he rotated a metal disk through the middle of a horseshoe-shaped magnet, he could get elec-trons to flow together in an electric current.

Engineers soon took over and made Faraday’s process really complicated—and really useful. Today, nearly all our electricity comes from tur-bines that spin a magnet inside a coil of wires.

One way to turn those turbines is by heating liquid into steam that forces the turbine to spin, using the same principle that makes a teakettle sing. When you boil water on your stove, that liquid expands more than 1,000 times as it vaporizes. If you’ve ever had your hand burned near boiling water, you’ve felt the power that steam produces.

Most of our nation’s electricity is generated by coal, natural gas and nuclear energy. These three energy sources utilize heat (in different ways), which ultimately causes a large turbine to spin. The spinning motion creates the electricity.

COALCoal is dug from the ground, either near the

surface, or from deep underground mines; and then it’s shipped to power plants, often by train.

Minnkota Power, Clearwater-Polk Electric’s wholesale power supplier, contracts with BNI Coal located in Center, ND. BNI’s coal mines are ideally located near Minnkota’s Milton R Young Station, a lignite coal power plant. The mined lignite coal is loaded and transported in haulers, as large as 240-ton, to the power plant where it is dumped into underground hoppers and moved along feeder chains to the primary crusher. The coal chunks are crushed into smaller pieces, or even a powder, that is burned in a furnace.

The heat from that combustion is used to turn liquid into the steam in a furnace/boiler that spins the steam turbine/generator producing electricity.

Large transformers at the plant boost the volt-age of the electricity (while lowering the current and minimizing line loss potential) for shipment to Clearwater-Polk Electric’s substations through tall transmission lines. The substation of trans-formers reduces the voltage to a level that can be safely delivered to a smaller transformer on the utility pole or pad mounted transformer in your yard, decreasing the voltage further for use in your home.

As simple as that process sounds, each step is extremely complicated in order to make it as efficient and safe as possible. The furnace burns the coal up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and the steam it produces gets hotter than 1,000 degrees.

Coal plants produce about a third of the na-tion’s electricity. Minnkota’s electricity produced by coal is approximately 55% of their generation portfolio.

NATURAL GAS Like coal, natural gas comes from the ground,

and it can burn in a way that can drive a steam turbine or a natural gas-fired combustion turbine. Unlike coal, you can’t hold it in your hand—it’s a colorless gas, like air, and has to be transported by pipeline.

In a natural gas power plant, specially-designed combustion turbines burn the gas to make them spin, generating the electricity. The way natural gas turbines work is similar to a jet engine; they are a large, complicated version of what you see hanging on airplane wings.

The natural gas power plants are simpler, cheaper to build, require less staff and they can be shut down and powered up more quickly. In the past, natural gas was more expensive than coal—until the 1990s when fracking and other new drilling techniques flooded the market. Natu-ral gas prices dropped dramatically and many utilities are using it to replace coal generation.

Natural gas plants now produce about a third

of the nation’s electricity, about the same as coal.

NUCLEARA nuclear power plant works basically the

same as a coal plant—making steam to spin a turbine and generator. The difference is that instead of burning coal, heat from a nuclear reactor heats the liquid into steam.

The basic fuel for a nuclear power plant is uranium, which is mined from the ground. It must then be formulated into expensive and complex fuel components for utility use.

A little uranium can last a long time, making it a promising, incredibly cheap power source. And it produces none of the pollution or greenhouse gas that comes from burning coal or natural gas. But the concentrated radioactivity in the nuclear reactor is potentially so dangerous that complex, expensive safety measures need to be part of any nuclear plant. Highly technical control systems need to be in place to slow or shut down the level of heat produced, and the nuclear reactor needs to be inside a strong containment building to keep radioactivity out of the atmosphere in the event of a low-probability accident in the reactor core.

Another controversy still has not been solved—how to dispose of the spent nuclear fuel, which can stay radioactive for millions of years before the radioactivity is brought down to naturally occurring radioactivity in the environ-ment. Most of the spent fuel is currently stored in pools of water and dry storage casks at the site of the nuclear plant. Nuclear power generates about one-fifth of the nation’s electricity.

Coal and nuclear power plants are often re-ferred to as “baseload,” meaning that since we want electricity to be available all the time, those plants are well suited to run all the time. Natural gas has long been considered a fuel for “peak load,” meaning it is used for times of especially high electricity use. But with the drop in natural gas prices, it has become base load for the na-tion’s electric grid.

Heat produced by coal, natural gas and nuclear power generates about 80 percent of our electricity. The rest comes mainly from hy-droelectricity, solar and wind.

For a first-hand look at how most of your electricity is generated, I encourage you to sign up for the coal plant tour on June 20th – 21st. Detailed information is included in this newsletter.

As always, I welcome your questions and concerns.

Have a wonderful summer! –Bruce


To reward our faithful readers, one member’s name will be drawn at random each month and placed somewhere in the newsletter. If you should find

your name, let us know before the 15th and win $25 off your next bill.

YOU COULD WIN$25 DURING OFFICE HOURS 7:00 am-4:30 pm, Mon.-Fri.

CALL 694-6241 or 1-888-694-3833

** AFTER HOURS OUTAGES CALL

1-877-881-7673

TR CO AU LB LL SE

The Progressive Agriculture Foundation® has worked hard to provide education, training and resources to make farm, ranch and rural life safer and healthier

for children and their communities. Since 1995, the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day® program has been at the heart of this effort. This educational pro-gram provides training and resources for local communities to conduct one-day safety and health programs. (Larry Shelquist) Safety Days are designed to be age-appropriate, hands-on, fun, and safe for children. It is the largest rural safety and health education program for children in North America.

Clearwater-Polk linemen, Adam Sweno and Travis Trefz, demonstrated electri-cal safety to area sixth-graders participating in Progressive Ag Safety Day held at the Bagley Hockey Arena on Tuesday, May 8th.

There was approximately 189 students from Bagley, Clearbrook-Gonvick and Fosston schools who participated.

Other areas of safety students learned about included: Food Safety, Animal Safety, Dangers of Distracted Driving, Fire Prevention, Tractor/Grain Bin Safety, AED Training, ATV Safety, and Hazardous Chemicals. Each session provided education, training and resources for youth to make healthier and safer choices on a farm, ranch and in their own communities.

Clearwater-Polk Electric linemen teach electrical safety to area 6th graders

Energy Efficiency Tip of the MonthLaundry Tip: Use rubber or wool dryer balls, which help separate clothing in the cycle, providing better airflow and a shorter drying time. Wool dryer balls can help absorb moisture, which also reduces drying time.

Source: energy.gov

Laundry Tip: Use rubber or wool dryer balls, which help separate clothing in the cycle, providing better airflow and a shorter drying time. Wool dryer balls can help absorb moisture, which also reduces drying time. Source: energy.gov

Energy Efficiency Tip of the MonthLaundry Tip: Use rubber or wool dryer balls, which help separate clothing in the cycle, providing better airflow and a shorter drying time. Wool dryer balls can help absorb moisture, which also reduces drying time.

Source: energy.gov

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