August 2005
19
Middle Georgia EMC Newsletter
Member Newsletter
Middle Georgia
Middle Georgia
The Official Newsletter of Middle Georgia Electric Membership Corporation
P.O. Box 190, Vienna, GA 31092
August 2005
MANAGER'S
MANAGER'S
Comments
Comments
By Hugh Richardson
n our mid-year review and analysis of this coop-
erative, one thing was evident--the cost of
power is much higher than we expected. Several
things have caused this increase and it is a
statewide, and probably nationwide,
occurrence. But let's concentrate on
this EMC for now.
First of all, we had a couple of
great power supply contracts to end
this year. We knew this was coming,
and we already had replacement power
in place. However, the cost of power from
the former contracts was so good that the
change was very noticeable. Second, as a
bad coincidence, the cost of generating
power has increased from coal prices, natural
gas prices, and some downtime to a nuclear
plant in Georgia. In addition, our cooperative
just implemented in May a small increase to the
I
facilities charges on our
rates. This was our first
increase of most rates since 1991. The sum of all
these factors has resulted in our largest power cost
jump in more than 12 years.
Residential rates this year are still
expected to be less than in 1994-1995,
just before we started the five-year rate
decrease totaling 14 percent. It was for-
tunate that we were able to offer the rate
decreases from 1996 to 2000, and we
hope everyone appreciated and benefited
from these savings.
We intend to do whatever is possible to
keep our wholesale power cost down, either
through replacement power, additional contracts
or load management. We are currently exploring all
the alternatives. We will keep everyone informed of
this progress and our expected power costs for 2006.
Middle Georgia EMC's July employees celebrating an
anniversary are as follows:
Danny Goss
, our apparatus
technician, is celebrating his 26th year with the co-op.
our serviceman,
Rosby Anderson
, is celebrating his 19th year
with Middle Georgia EMC. And finally we have
Chipper Jones
celebrating three years at Middle Georgia EMC.
Years of Service Recognition
Years of Service Recognition
Factors for high power cost
20
GEORGIA MAGAZINE
Middle Georgia EMC Newsletter
omputer technology has come a long way since the first personal
computers hit the market in the mid-1970s.
NASA's Apollo 11 guidance computer weighed 70 pounds and had a
2.048-megahertz (MHz) processor. By comparison, an original Nintendo
Entertainment System, released in 1985, had a 1.79-MHz processor.
The Cray-IA, one of the first commercial supercomputers, weighed
5.5 tons and needed a Freon-based cooling system. Essentially, the
Cray-IA had the equivalent of an 80-MHz processor and
eight megabytes of storage.
A top-of-the-line desktop computer today has a
processor more than 40 times faster with upwards of
12,000 times the storage space.
The Internet was invented so military computers in
distant locations could share information. That early
Internet precursor, ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects
Agency) came out in 1969.
Integrated circuits (ICs) allow computers to fit on
our desks. Before ICs, computers used vacuum
tubes, followed by transistors. Even the
smallest of these computers could take
up an entire room.
The IC came into use in the early
1960s. The first ones had a transistor,
capacitor and three resistors and
were the size of a finger. An IC
today can fit more than 120 million
transistors and is smaller than a penny.
RECA's Cooperative Research Network has named
Middle Georgia EMC as one of the ten co-ops to
receive a certificate of merit. The ten certificates of merit
were awarded to innovative co-ops that recognize their
ingenuity in the application of new energy and information
technologies that improves customer service.
Middle Georgia EMC faced several challenges common to
small co-ops with limited resources: to support knowledge trans-
fer, increase staff productivity and effectively handle outages.
To meet these main goals with just a four-figure budget, the co-op
deployed a geographic information system (GIS) viewing technology
that delivers current facilities maps and data to all its employees. Origin
Geosystems supplied MGEMC with the technology, called Origin Reader.
A special thanks goes to Wes Bennett for implementing this system
and keeping it running smoothly.
NRECA'S Cooperative Research Network
awards certificates of merit!
eft-handed
people
can celebrate
their day--Aug.
13 is International
Left-Handers Day--by indulging
in some specialty products
designed just for southpaws.
Xero-Tech sells a left-handed
keyboard for $78 on its Web
site, www.xero-tech.com. The
USB keyboard's letters are in the
same place as on a traditional
keyboard, but the arrow buttons
and number keypad are on the
left side. The number pad can
be customized so the buttons
run right to left, as opposed to
left to right on a standard key-
board.
Lefties might like left-handed
computer mice from The Left
Hand (http://thelefthand.com).
Prices range from $90 to $110.
A great novelty gift for the
left-hander with a summer birth-
day is a backward clock avail-
able from Left Hand Zone for
$20. The numbers on the face of
the clock run the opposite direc-
tion, as do the hands. Order it at
www.lefthandzone.com.
The Left-Handed Liberation
Society sells a left-handed 35-
millimeter camera on its Web
page at www.lefthander.com.
The camera, which costs $40
plus shipping, features the shut-
ter control button on the left
side. It includes an automatic,
built-in flash, as well as red-eye
reduction.
Lefties might love
some products
designed for them
Computer technology: a timeline
C
Computer technology: a timeline
N
NRECA'S Cooperative Research Network
awards certificates of merit!
L
August 2005
21
Middle Georgia EMC Newsletter
he Department of Homeland Security has said the
potential for terrorist attacks in rural areas is
about the same as in urban areas.
The most likely kinds of rural attacks, says DHS,
are: blowing up chlorine tanks, infecting livestock
with disease, bombing a sports venue, spreading dis-
ease in high-traffic areas like train stations and air-
ports, or dispersing nerve gas in offices.
A chlorine tank explosion is estimated to kill
17,500 people and injure 100,000 more, according to
a DHS report, while a mass effort to infect cattle with
he insulation in your attic not only keeps winter's
icy fingers from reaching into your attic, it keeps
hot air out during summer.
A poorly insulated attic wastes energy, which can
raise your utility bills. If the insulation in your attic
measures less than six inches thick or has an R value
of less than 20, consider adding more. An ideal
amount: between 12 and 20 inches (R-35 to R-50).
Before installing it yourself, repair any leaks in
the roof, which can let in water that will damage
your home and your insulation.
Attic insulation:
a must for any season
Likewise, seal any air leaks--common near
chimneys, light fixtures and pipes--to minimize
heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the
winter.
In addition, the wiring in your attic should be
modern and plastic-coated. Hire a licensed electri-
cian to update old wiring, as it can be a fire hazard.
Construct a barrier around the opening to your
attic so insulation doesn't fall into your home
when you open it--especially if you use loose-
fill insulation.
T
Attic insulation:
a must for any season
foot-and-mouth disease would cost hundreds of
millions of dollars in losses.
While the report details 15 hypothetical attack
plans, it does not include scenarios for every conceiv-
able type of terrorist attack because the U.S. govern-
ment has well-formulated defense plans to prevent
many kinds of attacks, such as airplane hijackings.
The report stresses that the scenarios are simply
possibilities, and that no gathered intelligence has
indicated any terrorist groups are planning such
attacks.
Government warns of potential
attacks in rural areas
T
Government warns of potential
attacks in rural areas
22
Middle Georgia EMC Newsletter
Board of Directors
Don Wood
President
Johnny Noble
Vice President
Kay West
Secretary
John David McCall
Treasurer
Jerry F. Rhodes
Director
Royce Conner
Director
Ronnie Fleeman
Director
Ronnie Youngblood
Director
David Dunaway
Director
Davis and Forehand
Attorneys
Staff
Hugh Richardson
General Manager
Lisa Laney
Executive Secretary,
Newsletter Editor
Randy Kent
Office Manager
Mike McGee
Manager of Operations
and Engineering
Vienna Area (229) 268-2671
Rochelle
(Day) (229) 365-2263
(Night) 1-800-342-0144
Hawkinsville
(Day) (478) 892-3436
(Night) 1-800-342-0144
Office Hours
Mon-Fri 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
(Branch offices closed from
12-1 p.m. daily)
Closed Saturday, Sunday and holidays.
There is a dispatcher on call 24 hours
a day for your convenience.
GEORGIA MAGAZINE
one up on radio trivia before Aug. 20, which is Radio Day. A few fun
facts:
The W or K at the beginning of a station's call letters refers to the
station's geographical location. Most stations beginning with W are east
of the Mississippi River. Most stations beginning with K are west of
the river.
The first commercial radio station, KDKA in Pittsburgh, started broad-
casting on Nov. 2, 1920. Its first broadcast told
listeners about the election returns in Warren G.
Harding's successful run against Ohio Gov.
James M. Cox. The station's first broadcast ran
on 100 watts of power. By contrast, the most
powerful licensed radio stations today operate
at 100,000 watts.
FM, which stands for frequency modulation,
was invented by Edwin Howard Armstrong, who
served with the Army Signal Corps in World War
I. The first FM station was built in 1936, but it
would be the late 1970s before FM stations out-
numbered AM stations.
NBC first used its familiar "three chimes" tones on Nov. 29, 1929.
The notes are G, E and C. Some have said this was a nod to the General
Electric Corp., which was part owner of the network. The notes were
broadcast by the network to let local stations know when to come back
on the air. NBC stopped using the chimes on radio broadcasts in 1971,
but used them again in 1976 to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
By June 2004, 4,771 AM stations, 6,218 commercial FM stations
and 2,497 educational FM stations were licensed by the U.S. Federal
Communications Commission.
B
Bone up on radio trivia
for Radio Day
Did you
KNOW
Did you
?
Georgia EMCs are securing new sources of elec-
tricity to meet our future needs. These include con-
struction of new generation and transmission facili-
ties and long-term contracting with other energy
suppliers. They are also researching and developing
renewable resources such as biomass and solar tech-
nology. Our goal is to ensure the safe, reliable deliv-
ery of electricity to our homes and businesses at an
affordable price far into the future.