Some of the folks accepting checks from the Arrowhead Electric Operation RoundUp program at the Saturday, June 11 annual meeting were (L-R, front) Marja and Kaj Erickson for Cooperation Station Daycare and Biz Clark for the Cook County Coalition of Lake Associations. (L-R, back) Jesse Derscheid for Hovland Fire Department; Fred Smith for the Gunflint Trail Historical Society and Gunflint Trail Scenic Byways; Barb Bottger for Gunflint Trail Fire Department and the Banadad Trail Association and John Bottger for the North Shore Dragon Boat Festival.
For its 58th annual meeting on Saturday, June 11, Arrowhead Electric Cooperative, Inc. took over a portion of the School District 166 campus. Members gathered for pancakes and sausage served by the Cook County girls’ fast pitch softball team and after the hearty breakfast wandered the halls to the Arrowhead Center for the Arts for the business meeting.
In between, customers had the chance to trade a donation to the Cook County Food Shelf for an energy efficient light bulb, to learn about possible energy saving measures to use at home, to take a quiz about the cost of bringing electricity to the door and to watch a safety demonstration. Arrowhead Lineman John Twiest gave the presentation offered to area schools to teach children the dangers of playing near power lines and electrical substations.
Broadband signup begins
Perhaps the busiest place was the table with information on Arrowhead Electric’s newest venture—broadband Internet service. Time and again Arrowhead’s Director of Member Services Joe Buttweiler and Cook County IT Director Dana Mackenzie answered the question of “How much will it cost” with “We’re not sure at this time,” followed quickly by, “You don’t need to commit to anything today.”
However, Buttweiler encouraged members to signup to have the equipment for broadband—the new network interface unit (NIU)—installed now. He said members who want to wait until they know the final cost before installing would pay a premium later. There is no cost to have the NIU installed now. And, he said, there is no obligation to sign on for broadband from Arrowhead. However, if a customer decides they do want broadband later, there will be a $500 installation charge.
Another question asked over and over was if the broadband fiber optic line would be brought to homes on overhead or underground lines. Buttweiler told customers that the fiber optic cable would come to the house in the same manner as the current electric lines. “If you get your power from overhead lines, it will come on the overhead. If it’s underground, you’ll have underground lines,” he explained.
Although skeptical, many customers were willing to sign on. The cooperative printed 100 sign-up sheets and all were taken.
Power costs explained
The Arrowhead Arts Center auditorium was full as Board of Directors Chair Wayne Anderson welcomed members and declared that a quorum of members was in attendance. He introduced new CEO/General Manager Jeanne Muntean, who in turn, called the employees on hand up on stage, teasing, “I know they won’t like it, but misery loves company.”
Muntean talked about the ever-changing energy industry and Arrowhead’s partnership with its power provider, Great River Energy—and the cooperative’s efforts to keep electrical rates down. “Since I came to work for Arrowhead 30 years ago, rates have always been our biggest challenge. Our remoteness, terrain and our uniqueness— with the greatest of the Great Lakes out our front door, one million acres of wilderness out our back door and a little sliver of land where people live, work, and play in between makes everything more expensive,” she said.
Muntean explained that the service availability charge (now $43.50 per month), a sore spot among some members, is a flat fee designed to a portion of the cost of delivering electricity to all members. She said it reflects Arrowhead’s investments in poles, wires, transformers and other electrical equipment. “Whether you use only 1 kWh of electricity and another member uses 100 kWh of electricity, the cost to build the line, maintain the distribution system and deliver electricity to each member is the same.”
New building paying off
Muntean had some good news for members on the cooperative’s investment in its renovated and expanded building. She said the new headquarters was built with monies from the sale of the cooperative’s DIRECTV business and it appears the investment is paying off. She said the old building, with its leaky roof and perpetual smell of diesel from its days as a generating plant, was 6,000 square feet. She said the average annual kWh used was 705,000. In 2010, the new office building, which is approximately 12,000 square feet, consumed just 159,000 kWh—a decrease of 546,000 kWh, which at 10 cents per kWh equates to a savings of over $54,000 for one year.
“We planned that it would take 10 years for payback on our heating system,” said Muntean. “And it’s looking like it will be more like seven years.”
Broadband questions
Muntean spoke of the 1930s rural electric authority (REA) act that brought power to rural areas and said Arrowhead was now using the same idea to bring high-speed Internet to any home that wants it in Cook County. She said through a 70% grant, 30% agreement with the Rural Utility Service (RUS), Arrowhead was taking on this new challenge.
She asked Member Services Director Buttweiler and Cook County’s IT Director Mackenzie to talk about their work on this, which they did, with Buttweiler declaring that the project is soon to become a reality. “We just placed our first order for 48,000 feet of fiber optic cable. All of our federal environmental clearances have been approved. We are ready.”
When it came time for member questions, there were only five, and four of those questions pertained to broadband. One member questioned the risk that Arrowhead was taking by becoming involved with the broadband build out. “How are members being protected?” he asked.
Buttweiler said the project is receiving grant funds and is assuming a $4.8 million loan. However, he said the loan would be amortized over a 22-year term. And, it was explained, the RUS loan would not be given to an organization that did not have a long, successful history.
Operation RoundUp awards
Director Anderson introduced Customer Service Manager Georgene Daubanton to announce the May 2011 Operation RoundUp distribution. Eighteen organizations received financial support ranging from $388 for a “Get Active” incentive to $2,400 for special reading curriculum for Cook County Schools.
Daubanton told the audience that the Operation RoundUp program has 80% participation from its members. Anderson encouraged those that have not signed up to do so. “The most it can cost a member is 99 cents a month. It ranges from 1 cent to 99 cents. It adds up and it’s a huge benefit to the county,” said Anderson.
See the spring 2011 Operation RoundUp grantees below.
Operation Round Up grants – Summer 2011
Hovland Area Volunteer Fire Department – $850 for a scoop
stretcher, which meets medical protocol for moving patients.
North Shore Dragon Boat Festival – $500 for family related
activities, games and entertainment during the festival.
Colvill Fire Department – $613.65 for 13 pairs of extrication
gloves and six OSHA traffic safety vests.
Cook County Community Education – $750 for 4-6th grade girls’
volleyball program.
Birch Grove Community School – $750 for assistance for lowincome families to attend Saplings Preschool.
Sawtooth Mountain Clinic – $388.35 for a child’s bike for the May
2011 Move It week.
Gunflint Trail Historical Society – $500 to Chik-Wauk Museum
and Nature Center for a Gunflint Trail Explorer adventure booklet.
Girl Scouts of Cook County – $732 to sponsor a portion of the
cost of an overnight experience on the USS Yorktown in Savannah,
Georgia in the spring of 2012.
Gunflint Trail Association/Scenic Byways Committee – $400 to
replace dead wildflowers and to purchase signs and maps for the
Wildflower Sanctuary on Devil Track River and the Gunflint Trail.
Superior Cycling Association – $600 for signage for the new
mountain bike trails being constructed this year.
Banadad Trail Association – $500 for food and canoe/camping
gear use for crews repairing the Banadad Creek Bridge.
Good Harbor Hill Players – $600 to help offset the cost of the
2011 summer solstice puppet pageant.
Sugarloaf North Shore Stewardship Association – $400 to
purchase and install a boot brush and interpretive sign to alleviate
the spread of invasive plant species at Sugarloaf Cove.
Cook County Coalition of Lake Associations – $500 for materials
for two citizen education workshops aimed at changing behavior
with respect to how we act to keep our lakes clean and healthy.
Gunflint Trail Fire Department – $1,000 to purchase a rescue
litter and litter wheel with handles to transport patients through
rough terrain.
Violence Prevention Center – $500 to provide a more structured
curriculum for the girls’ life skills group at Cook County Middle
School.
Cooperation Station – $400 for a scholarship fund for childcare
assistance for low-income families.
MaeAnna LaFavor – $2,400 for the Barton System for students
with dyslexia at Cook County Schools.
Total awarded: $12,384.00
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