March 2006
29
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
March 2006
MANAGER'S
MANAGER'S
Comments
Comments
By Hugh Richardson
n a previous article, I stated that our only immedi-
ate recourse to our higher power cost is to reduce
our annual summer peaks. The way to get that
accomplished is to shut something off during those
peak hours. Peak power capacity is extremely costly
and will affect our wholesale power billing for the
entire following year.
This year we are continuing our load manage-
ment rate and time-of-use rate for irrigation pumps,
and we are adding an optional load management rate
for poultry houses. These rates will offer savings to
those customers should they elect to be shut off dur-
ing peak hours, and will also provide savings to ALL
our members through the power cost adjustment.
Irrigation customers can save about 30 to 50 percent
on the load management rate, or they can save about
40 to 60 percent on the time-of-use rate. These sav-
ings are compared to the regular seasonal rates they
would be on should they not elect a rate option.
Poultry customers can
save about 5 percent
after their generator fuel
cost on the load man-
agement rate. Their saving percentage is less than irri-
gation customers' savings because their normal rate is
fairly low to begin with.
Middle Georgia EMC will install a control switch
to shut off irrigation pumps on the load management
rate and will provide poultry growers a signal or mes-
sage to turn on their generators. Load management
hours will probably occur during a nine-day period,
typically from 2 to 7 p.m.
Mail outs will be sent to all irrigation and poul-
try customers before June, which is when the peaking
season begins. Below are the rates for 2006, with the
load management rates being new, and the time-of-
use rate revised to 50 cents per kilowatt-hour for
peaking cost.
I
I
Load management rates for 2006
Monthly charges effective June 1, 2006
Time of Use Agricultural
Facilities Charge: $25
On-peak Energy:
50 cents per kwh
Off-peak Charge:
1st 10,000 kwh:
10.20 cents per kwh
Additional kwh:
8.80 cents per kwh
Peak hours are 2 to 7 p.m. weekdays,
June 1-Sept. 30, excluding holidays.
Poultry Load Management
Facilities Charge: $25
On-peak Charge: 50 cents per kwh
$6 per KW
Off-peak Charge:
1st 300 HUD*:
7.51 cents per kwh
Additional kwh:
4.73 cents per kwh
Demand charge:
$4.64 per KW
*HUD (hours use of billing demand)
Irrigation Load Management
Facilities Charge: $25
On-peak Charge: 50 cents per kwh
$6 per KW
Off-peak Charge:
1st 3,000 kwh:
16.80 cents per kwh
Next 7,000 kwh:
12.80 cents per kwh
Additional kwh:
8.80 cents per kwh
30
GEORGIA MAGAZINE
Middle Georgia EMC Newsletter
Easy casserole recipes for those in a hurry!
Retro-metro Fancy
Tuna Casserole
Courtesy of Rachel Ray and the
Food Network
Recipe summary
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1/2 loaf day-old bread, or 2 crusty day-old
rolls
1 to 1-1/4 pounds of tuna steaks, 1 inch
thick--2 big steaks
1 cup white wine
Water
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil--1 turn
of the pan
4 tablespoons butter, divided
2 large shallots, chopped
16 small button mushrooms, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons ground thyme or poultry
seasoning
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
1 cup frozen baby peas
1 pound extra-wide egg noodles, cooked to al
dente, or 1 (12-ounce) box, egg fettuccini
Chopped fresh parsley leaves, to garnish
Directions
Place bread in warm oven,
250 degrees, to dry and toast, 20
minutes.
Place tuna in a skillet and add
wine, then water--just enough to
cover fish. Add bay leaf and pep-
percorns. Bring liquids to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer and cover
skillet. Poach fish for 12 minutes.
Heat a large skillet over medi-
um heat. Add oil, 1 turn of the
pan, and 2 tablespoons butter--
reserve remaining 2 tablespoons
butter. Add shallots and mush-
rooms and season with salt and
pepper. Sauté gently for 5 min-
utes. Sprinkle in ground thyme or
poultry seasoning and flour and
cook flour 1 minute, stirring with
whisk. Whisk in stock, then cream.
Adjust seasonings. Add peas.
Remove cooked, poached
tuna to a bowl and flake fish with
a fork.
Add cooked noodles and tuna
to sauce. Remove sauce from heat
and transfer mixture to a casse-
role or serving dish.
Use the widest cutting edge
on a box grater to grate the bread
into large crumbs. Melt remaining
2 tablespoons of butter in a small
cup in the microwave and pour
melted butter over bread. Scatter
buttery bread crumbs and parsley
over the top of the casserole.
Serve immediately.
30-minute
Shepherd's Pie
Compliments of Rachel Ray
and the Food Network
Recipe summary
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
2 pounds potatoes, such as russet, peeled
and cubed
2 tablespoons sour cream or softened
cream cheese
1 large egg yolk
1/2 cup cream, for a lighter version, sub-
stitute vegetable or chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 turn
of the pan
1-3/4 pounds ground beef or ground
lamb
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock or broth
2 teaspoons Worcestershire, eyeball it
1/2 cup frozen peas, a couple of
handfuls
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
leaves
Directions
Boil potatoes in salted water
until tender, about 12 minutes.
Drain potatoes and pour them
into a bowl. Combine sour
cream, egg yolk and cream. Add
the cream mixture into potatoes
and mash until potatoes are
almost smooth.
While potatoes boil, preheat
a large skillet over medium-high
heat. Add oil to hot pan with
beef or lamb. Season meat with
salt and pepper. Brown and
crumble meat for 3 or 4 min-
utes. If you are using lamb and
the pan is fatty, spoon away
some of the drippings. Add
chopped carrot and onion to the
meat. Cook veggies with meat
for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
In a second small skillet over
medium heat, cook butter and
flour together for 2 minutes.
Whisk in broth and Worcester-
shire sauce. Thicken gravy
March 2006
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Middle Georgia EMC Newsletter
1 minute. Add gravy to meat and
vegetables. Stir in peas.
Preheat the broiler to high.
Fill a small rectangular casserole
dish with meat and vegetable
mixture. Spoon potatoes over
meat evenly. Top potatoes with
paprika and broil 6 to 8 inches
from the heat until potatoes are
evenly browned. Top casserole
dish with chopped parsley and
serve.
30-mile Pot Pie
Compliments of Chef Jerry
Chollet and the Food Network
Recipe summary
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
6-1/2 cups of chicken stock or broth
6 (6-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken
breasts, diced
1 stick of butter
2-1/2 cups diced onions
2-1/4 cups diced carrots
1-3/4 cups diced celery
1/2 pound medium mushrooms, quartered
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper or 1/2 tea-
spoon black pepper
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, warmed
Store-bought puff pastry or pie dough
2 egg whites
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium saucepan, bring
stock or broth to a simmer. Add
chicken and poach until just
cooked through. With a spider or
slotted spoon, remove chicken
and set aside. Set stock aside for
later use.
In a 10-quart saucepot, melt
butter over medium heat and
then add onions, carrots and cel-
ery and sauté for a couple of
minutes. Add mushrooms and
continue to cook until onions are
about transparent, being careful
not to brown. Add flour and gen-
tly mix well. Cook this mixture
over low heat for 6 to 8 minutes,
stirring occasionally and gently
so as not to break up the vegeta-
bles. Scrape the bottom of the
pan often with a wooden spoon
so that the roux doesn't burn.
Increase the heat and add the
chicken stock in 3 additions,
whisking well after each so that
no lumps appear and returning to
a brief simmer each time.
Add bay leaf, salt and pepper
and cook over low heat for about
10 more minutes. Add poached
chicken and warm heavy cream
and stir well. Spoon equal por-
tions into 6 individual (16-ounce)
ovenproof casserole dishes or
bowls. Top with your favorite pie
dough or puff pastry.
In a small bowl, whisk togeth-
er 2 egg whites with a little water.
Brush dough with egg wash.
Place casseroles on a sheet
pan and bake until golden brown
on top. Remove from the oven
and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes
before serving.
Always-on computers drain energy
desktop computer and monitor can consume
about 65 watts per hour, according to a fact
sheet published by the Energy Department in ref-
erence to its conservation program, Energy Star.
Nationally, computers in home and business set-
tings use 32 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity
each year. More than half of this energy could be
saved by following these simple guidelines:
·
Enabling power standby modes can reduce
consumption to 35 watts per hour.
·
Turning off PCs and monitors after work can
cut the annual energy costs from $185 per
computer to $97 per computer.
The Energy Department noted that computer
users are reluc-
tant to turn off
the power for
fear of harming
the circuits of the
hard drive.
The power
switch on
computers is
designed to handle
40,000 cycles before failure.
--Source: Electric Co-op Today
A
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Middle Georgia EMC Newsletter
Board of Directors
Don Wood
President
Johnny Noble
Vice President
Kay West
Secretary
Ronnie Youngblood
Treasurer
John David McCall
Director
Jerry F. Rhodes
Director
Royce Conner
Director
Ronnie Fleeman
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
Years of Service
Recognition
Years of Service
Recognition
Years of Service Recognition for Middle Georgia EMC's employees who cele-
brated an anniversary in February 2006:
Gloy Hobbs
,
lineman, has
been an employee for seven years at Middle Georgia EMC.
Daniel Bloodworth
,
serviceman, has been with us for three years. And
J.P. Smith
, lineman,
is celebrating his first anniversary here at Middle Georgia EMC.
arents who plug protective
covers into their home's
outlets are taking the first
step toward keeping their
children safe from an
electrical mishap. But if
your youngsters watch
you plug those covers
in, don't be surprised when
they figure out how to pull
them all out!
Limit your children's access to electrical appliances--even the ones
that seem harmless. Children love to mimic their parents' activities.
Keep that in mind whenever you're using a heated electric appliance
like an iron, or one with blades or other sharp objects like a blender
or can opener.
Ironing, for example, can look fun to a child. But left unattended
to discover how to turn the device on, a little homemaker-in-the-mak-
ing can suffer a severe burn or even start a fire.
Sometimes, devices that seem harmless to adults can harm a
child who doesn't know how to use them safely. Here are some
tips for parents:
·
Operate appliances when children are not around.
·
Store heated and sharp devices out of your children's reach.
·
Search for appliances with childproof "on" switches.
·
Unplug sewing machines and other appliances when you're not
using them.
·
Install a lock on your oven door.
·
When you do operate appliances in front of children, use them
in a safe manner and teach youngsters how to use them safely.
P
Appliance safety around children
Appliance safety around children