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Grand River Dam Authority's- : ReConnections····j 4- Q) www.grda.com Winter 2010 ~. n informal supplement to GRDA Currents, especially for GRDA retirees o o~ N <.!:l 3RDA Rate Increase set to begin in 2010 While it plans to roll out an 11.95 percent base rate increase on January 1, 2010, the Grand River Dam Author-ity remains optimistic the in-crease can also be rolled back in the future. "It is possible this can be adjusted down in the future," said GRDA Chief Financial Officer Carolyn Dougherty. "Based on our ongoing fi-nancial condition and rate requirements, things could certainly change." The GRDA Board of Directors approved the increase during its October 14 meeting, after reviewing the findings of recent rate analysis conducted by C.H. Guernsey and Company. Those findings pointed to 2010 as the year when the rate adjustment would be most needed. However, because the older GRDA debt is scheduled to be paid off in 2014, the increase is considered temporary, and would not last beyond May 2014. "We are going to be in a belt- With Retiree Walt Jackson ... Plugsbee reports in from the road nemucca, Nevada, My Bride and Eric's wife got to talking and before we knew it, we had reservations When we moved from Ne-vada to Oklahoma and were exposed to the beauty of the leaves turning, we started dream-ing about a trip to see the leaves in New England. There was always something else to do, so we never went. A couple months ago we we visiting our son, Eric, in Win-to spend a week at a condo in Lincoln, New Hampshire .... There were no rea-sons nor excuses not to go. So, here we are. We drove from Pryor and met their Continued on Page 2 tightening period for the next few years," said GRDA Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley. "Like many other organizations, we are seeing the results of a slowing economy, where growth projections did not materialize. However, the future remains very bright for GRDA past 2013." Because GRDA is cost-of-service utility, it does not have to build in a profit component into its rate structure, and "as we continue to analyze our rate requirements each month Continued on Page 6 In this issue ... News and views p. 2,3 Special retiree section p. 4, 5 Traveling Up North P.7 A stronger voice for Oklahoma public power ... GRDA CEO Kevin Easley Appointed to APPA Grand River Dam Author-ity Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley is calling his new appointment to a na-tional electric utility com-mittee a great opportunity to represent Oklahoma public John Kerr had the right answer to last month's puzzle: The German. power communities. In June, during the American Public Power Association (APPA) National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, he was se-lected to serve on the APPA Executive Committee. Headquartered in Washing-ton, D.C.,APPAis the na-tional organization for pub-licly owned electric utilities. A nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, APPAhelps is members in areas of govern-ment relations, engineer-ing and operations, energy research and development, public information and other key utility areas. Nationwide, From the Road ... plane at the Manchester, New Hampshire airport. Then Eric drove on up to Lincoln. An-other item checked off our "bucket list". We have seen amazing leaves, eaten New England sea food, sampled maple products of every type but we won't see any moose until tonight on a "moose tour". We have eaten out very little, APPAhas over 2,000 mem-ber utilities, which combine to serve roughly 43 million people. Of those 2,000 utili-ties, GRDAis the 20th larg-est in terms of generation, according to the latest APPA statistics. "I look forward to being part of the executive com-mittee," said Easley, who began serving a six-year term on the APPAgeneral board in August 2005. "I think it further enhances the opportunity to insure Oklahoma public power can have a strong voice at the policy-making table." mostly cooked in the condo or built a fire and roasted hot dogs. Eric is fixing Mexican Chicken right now... we Left New rtIAVvt:psV1~re for IA c\lAtJ tr~-p r V 9 u Nort We got off the toll road and drove 300 miles through Vermont and New H1mpshire. We saw many colorful valleys and hillsides. We went through several small towns, if the road hadn't been paved, it looked like it could have been 150 years ago. We stopped just outside Manchester in Bedford, NH. What a convenient name ... Walt & Karen The possibilityofbecoming a cowboyon a cattle ranch in northeastern Oklahoma caused a young BillLoring to leavehis Cincinnati, Ohio home in 1971. The young man with the me-chanical nature loveda chal-lenge, still does. "It's been great to work at GRDA;it has givenme lots of challenges," he said softly. The opportunityto make Oklahomahis permenent home came with a newcoal firedcom- Bill Loring Roger Williams began his career at the Coal Fired Complex in the spring of 1989 as a diesel mechanic. Growing up in Owasso, Roger actually made the commute to the CFC for sev-eral years while working for another company. After working steady at the CFC during the fall and win-ter of 1988, Roger applied for the plant's diesel mechanic position. "It's a great place to work, I have enjoyed it," he said. "But, most of all I have en-joyed the people." Having worked in public power for so long, Roger is a firm believer. "Public power is very impor-tant for our state. If it wasn't for public power the prices plexbeingbuilt near Chouteau. "I worked as a certified high pressure welder on Unit 1 and was hired at GRDAin the summer of 1981 as a pipe fitter welder,"he said. Spending his career in public power,Billbelievesin the ben-efits public power and GRDA bring to Oklahoma. "Iknow we hold the cost of electricitydown for northeast-ern, for all Oklahoma. Other utilities have to stay competitive with us;' he said. Fora man that can createjust about anything with his hands, Billis neverin need ofa project and he believesthat retirement willprovidehim the time to com-pletea fewand start a fewmore. "Ilovedworking at GRDA,but will loveworking at home even more;' he said. He plans on working his would be outrageous," he said. To say Roger is looking for-ward to retirement would be a bit of an understatement. He and his wife Dona plan to pack up their 5th wheel and set out to see America. The couple, who have raised three sons, John, David and Kevin, recently celebrated their 45th anni-versary on May 8. They plan to add to the treasure of traveling memo-ries they created with their children, although topping one particular trip to Cali-fornia may prove difficult. "Alaska could come close," laughed Roger, a lifelong out-doorsman and avid hunter and fisherman. "But, we really enjoy the history of the places and the beauty." own schedule, for the most part, but he has been given one deadline. A grandson, born in April, will have a hand made rocking horse wrapped under the tree this Christmas. Bill admits he will miss the guys and the challenge of the work but he is look-ing forward to his projects, a new garden and he is hoping to fill the freezers with crap-pie, sand bass and venison. Retirement also means that Billand Brenda will be able to travel together once again on their GoldWingmotorcycle. Pulling a camper, with only a general destination in mind, the pair has toured the coasts of California and Oregon.A6,400 mile trip into Canada was so enjoyablethat they are planning an Alaskan ride in the summer. Roger Williams When not on the open road, Roger will be found in his garage. There is a 1938 Ford Coupe wait-ing for him. The coupe is in need of some TLC and a new paint job- a 1958 Chevy Midnight Blue Me-tallic paint job to be exact. "It was my first car. I bought it when I was 16. I drove it while dating Dona," he said. Charlie Odle decided he wanted to be a lineman when he was a small boy even though he knew there would be risks in following in his father Ed's footsteps. "I lived knowing the risks. It made me more aware, but somehow it gets into your blood" he said. He began his career climb-ing poles for a distribu-tion contractor and spent several years working for NEOEC before coming to GRDA as a Powerline Main-tenance Technician in 1981. Charlie was always con-scious of the fact that some-one needed the electricity. "When the power is down, you know someone is depend-ing on you to get it back on and keep it going," he said. Charlie consistently vol- Walter Jackson For the past 42 years Walter Jackson has reported to work each morning at a power plant and forthe last 29 ofthose years, he reported to GRDA's CFC. Though from Oklahoma, Walter didn't find his career here; it was in Nevada, at Si-erra Pacific Power that he be-came a power plant operator. While there Walter's superin-tendent was Jack Marcy. Later, MarcywouldmoveontoOklaho-unteered his time III any emergencies such as Ice storms and hurricanes. Looking back over his 28 years with GRDA, he is grateful for those that have been a part of it. "Thurman Arnold, Ralph Birkenfeld and Kenny Star-ling were really good role models for me. After I stepped into a supervisory role I modeled myself after them." Spending his career in pub-lic power, Charlie under-stands the benefits first hand. "Without public power, we would not be able to afford the rates. GRDA is the rea-son the electricity rates stay as low as they are," he said. Charlie is looking forward to retirement and is hopeful that there will be more time to en-joy the little things in lifewith ma himself to help GRDAbuild the CFC. Marcy called Walter and offered his old employee a newjob back in his home state. "Hecalled and said they were building a plant," he said. It has been 29 years since Walter made the decision and during that time he transi-tioned from plant operations to plant safety, a perfect fit for the kind and patient man who has a talent for teaching. Retiring as the Occupational Safety and Health Superin-tendent, Walter has enjoyed being a part of Team GRDA. "GRDAis the best place to work in Oklahoma, best place anywhere. There is a lot ofvari-ety which keeps it interesting." "I like the sense of being a part of it all, knowing that while I was there I contrib-his wife Paula and family and he would love to see Montana and Wyomingfrom the saddle. As long as trail riding doesn't interfere with his fishing Charlie may do both, having the option is excit-ing for the self professed tinkerer and nature lover. "I am proud my work," he said. "I believe in what I have been a part of and am proud that I have." Charlie Odle uted to something," he said. Another part of his job satis-faction came from the relation-ships that were created during his career and those hewillmiss. "I willmiss the camaraderie," he said. "I like to talk about the job, about what's going on, sharing with each other and working out problems." Walterbelieveswholeheartedly in public powerand its purpose. "It's good for the whole coun-try. Public power helps regulate prices. Byjust being there, pub-lic power helps stabilize elec-tricity and the price," he said. He and his wife Karen will celebrate their 47th wedding anniversary this fall. The couple, who has raised three children, plans on traveling around visiting family that is scattered about the country. Rate Increase Continued from p. 1 we may see that a roll back is possible before 2014," added Easley. "Our requirements are based on costs to provide service and costs to cover base rates willtranslate into an overallincrease ofapproximately 10percent, sinceonlythe firsttwo componentsare impacted by a base rate increase." debt. When this increase is not required, we will roll it back." "Our cost-of-service rates still help us to maintain the reputation as one of Oklahoma's lowest-cost Doughertyalso noted that, whilethe increase is nearly 12percent,the overallcost to the averageGRDA customerwilllikelybe lower. GRDAhas three majorcompo-nents to their rates: capacityand energycharges,and a powercost acljustment(PCA). ''That means this 11.95percent increase in electricity suppliers" "Much of our costs have been shifted to this in-crease and away from our PCA. Purchased power costs that previously automati-cally flowed through the PCA twice a year were replaced Operating Margin Interest & Debt~ 5% ~ Costs ~ 15% Depreciation 14% with debt costs on additional generation, and have to be recovered through the base capacity and energy rates," she said. Meanwhile despite the over-all rate increase, GRDArates remains among the lowest in the region, added Easley. "Noone likes a rate in-crease, but we do believe this is necessary to keep GRDA on secure financial footing for the next few years," he said, "and even with the increase in place, our cost-of-service rates still help us maintain the reputation as one of Okla-homa's lowest-cost electricity suppliers." Fuel & Purchased Power 41% ~ Labor Related O&M 11% Rate requirements 000 Ever wonder what factors into the rates GRDA charges for elec-tricity. This chart, prepared by C.H. Guernsey as part of a recent GRDA rate study, illus-trates everything that must be factored in to GRDA's rate requirements. The biggest slice of the pie goes for fuel (coal) and purchased power expenses (41 percent); after that, inter-est and debt comprise 15 percent. Smaller percentages then go towards deprecation, op-erating & maintenance and operating margin. However, because GRDA is a public power, cost-of-service utility, you will find no "profit margin" piece of the rate pie. Retirement is... Retirement is being able to help out with a big family event. . This past August we sold our home in Tulsa and moved to a much larger one in Verdigris. The new home has an "open floor plan" where the kitchen meets the dining and living areas. Since we have such a large family, this open area will accom-modate family gatherings much better than our old place. That being said ... It won't be Hal-loween for another week yet and we're seriously plan-ning Thanksgiving which will come for us on Satur-day, November 21st this year. You see our Grandson Christopher Joe (otherwise known as Bubba) will be going to the Navy Recruiter's office on Sunday the 22nd to board a shuttle at Noon bound for Oklahoma City. Once there, he will go through another physical and by Monday the 23rd he will be in Great Lakes Naval Training Base. Yes, after a consider-able amount of thought, our oldest Grandson has decided to follow the tra-dition of his Father and Grandfather to serve our country in the Navy. Thanksgiving Dinner has reached about 65 and will probably grow. We have plans to clear out our three car garage, test all of our heaters, round up tables and chairs for the pot luck gath-ering. I will bake his favorite Snickerdoodles among many other things. More importantly of all, we will all give ••-----------========:=:;:;w thanks for the life of a young man who will board a shuttle bus bound for the experience of a lifetime with a Bible in hand knowing full well that the next time we see him, we will be getting a man in his place. Wewill think of all of the other families who have also let go of their young men and women to pursue their dream of doing the right thing by defending their nation. Grandparenting is indeed a blessing. Wewill be burst-ing with pride as we give thanks for our Bubba. The kid we'd like to stran-gle on occasion, fill his tank with gas, got engaged to a girl far too young and then broke up with, was a general pain in the butt on more than one occasion and float-ed around life with no ap-parent direction, made a life altering decision on his own. In some ways we took it Johnnie and Jennifer pose for photo with grandson Christopher, who fol-lowed in his father's and grandfa-ther's footsteps when he enlisted in the US Navy. with shock and in other ways we weren't surprised at all. He was also the one who borrowed money to get by with and actually paid us back, played on a state championship football team, was the man of the house when his Mom needed him to be, and always showed up for work to do his job and do it right. So far the guest list for -Johnnie and Jennifer Hargrove Interested in receiving more GRDA information? We'll gladly add you to our email distribution list for news releases, Currents, other updates and our ReConnect;ons. Just send your email to scook@grda.com. As always visit us online at www.grda.com Gi~DA Grand River Dam Authority 226 W Dwain Willis Ave PO Box 409 Vinita, OK 74301-0409 918-256-5545 www.grda.com Be watching for more from Johnnie, and Jennifer. Getting ready for a trip? Want to take Plugsbee along? Let us know. What is your definition of retirement? Have a favorite GRDA memory? We want to hear your thoughts. PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT # 409 VINITAOK 74301
Object Description
Okla State Agency |
Grand River Dam Authority, Oklahoma |
Okla Agency Code | '980' |
Title | Grand River Dam Authority's reconnections |
Alternative title | ReConnections |
Authors | Grand River Dam Authority. |
Publisher | Grand River Dam Authority |
Publication Date | 2010 |
Publication type | Newsletter |
Serial holdings | Electronic holdings: 2010 |
Subject | Grand River Dam Authority--Periodicals. |
Purpose | an informal supplement to GRDA Currents, especially for GRDA retirees |
OkDocs Class# | G2100.6 R311 |
Digital Format | PDF, Adobe Reader required |
ODL electronic copy | Deposited by agency in print; scanned by Oklahoma Department of Libraries 7/2011 |
Rights and Permissions | This Oklahoma state government publication is provided for educational purposes under U.S. copyright law. Other usage requires permission of copyright holders. |
Language | English |
Date created | 2011-07-14 |
Date modified | 2012-10-18 |
OCLC number | 815521164 |
Description
Title | Reconnections Winter 2010 |
OkDocs Class# | G2100.6 R311 Winter 2010 |
Digital Format | PDF, Adobe Reader required |
ODL electronic copy | Deposited by agency in print; scanned by Oklahoma Department of Libraries 7/2011 |
Rights and Permissions | This Oklahoma state government publication is provided for educational purposes under U.S. copyright law. Other usage requires permission of copyright holders. |
Language | English |
Full text | Grand River Dam Authority's- : ReConnections····j 4- Q) www.grda.com Winter 2010 ~. n informal supplement to GRDA Currents, especially for GRDA retirees o o~ N <.!:l 3RDA Rate Increase set to begin in 2010 While it plans to roll out an 11.95 percent base rate increase on January 1, 2010, the Grand River Dam Author-ity remains optimistic the in-crease can also be rolled back in the future. "It is possible this can be adjusted down in the future," said GRDA Chief Financial Officer Carolyn Dougherty. "Based on our ongoing fi-nancial condition and rate requirements, things could certainly change." The GRDA Board of Directors approved the increase during its October 14 meeting, after reviewing the findings of recent rate analysis conducted by C.H. Guernsey and Company. Those findings pointed to 2010 as the year when the rate adjustment would be most needed. However, because the older GRDA debt is scheduled to be paid off in 2014, the increase is considered temporary, and would not last beyond May 2014. "We are going to be in a belt- With Retiree Walt Jackson ... Plugsbee reports in from the road nemucca, Nevada, My Bride and Eric's wife got to talking and before we knew it, we had reservations When we moved from Ne-vada to Oklahoma and were exposed to the beauty of the leaves turning, we started dream-ing about a trip to see the leaves in New England. There was always something else to do, so we never went. A couple months ago we we visiting our son, Eric, in Win-to spend a week at a condo in Lincoln, New Hampshire .... There were no rea-sons nor excuses not to go. So, here we are. We drove from Pryor and met their Continued on Page 2 tightening period for the next few years," said GRDA Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley. "Like many other organizations, we are seeing the results of a slowing economy, where growth projections did not materialize. However, the future remains very bright for GRDA past 2013." Because GRDA is cost-of-service utility, it does not have to build in a profit component into its rate structure, and "as we continue to analyze our rate requirements each month Continued on Page 6 In this issue ... News and views p. 2,3 Special retiree section p. 4, 5 Traveling Up North P.7 A stronger voice for Oklahoma public power ... GRDA CEO Kevin Easley Appointed to APPA Grand River Dam Author-ity Chief Executive Officer Kevin Easley is calling his new appointment to a na-tional electric utility com-mittee a great opportunity to represent Oklahoma public John Kerr had the right answer to last month's puzzle: The German. power communities. In June, during the American Public Power Association (APPA) National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, he was se-lected to serve on the APPA Executive Committee. Headquartered in Washing-ton, D.C.,APPAis the na-tional organization for pub-licly owned electric utilities. A nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, APPAhelps is members in areas of govern-ment relations, engineer-ing and operations, energy research and development, public information and other key utility areas. Nationwide, From the Road ... plane at the Manchester, New Hampshire airport. Then Eric drove on up to Lincoln. An-other item checked off our "bucket list". We have seen amazing leaves, eaten New England sea food, sampled maple products of every type but we won't see any moose until tonight on a "moose tour". We have eaten out very little, APPAhas over 2,000 mem-ber utilities, which combine to serve roughly 43 million people. Of those 2,000 utili-ties, GRDAis the 20th larg-est in terms of generation, according to the latest APPA statistics. "I look forward to being part of the executive com-mittee," said Easley, who began serving a six-year term on the APPAgeneral board in August 2005. "I think it further enhances the opportunity to insure Oklahoma public power can have a strong voice at the policy-making table." mostly cooked in the condo or built a fire and roasted hot dogs. Eric is fixing Mexican Chicken right now... we Left New rtIAVvt:psV1~re for IA c\lAtJ tr~-p r V 9 u Nort We got off the toll road and drove 300 miles through Vermont and New H1mpshire. We saw many colorful valleys and hillsides. We went through several small towns, if the road hadn't been paved, it looked like it could have been 150 years ago. We stopped just outside Manchester in Bedford, NH. What a convenient name ... Walt & Karen The possibilityofbecoming a cowboyon a cattle ranch in northeastern Oklahoma caused a young BillLoring to leavehis Cincinnati, Ohio home in 1971. The young man with the me-chanical nature loveda chal-lenge, still does. "It's been great to work at GRDA;it has givenme lots of challenges," he said softly. The opportunityto make Oklahomahis permenent home came with a newcoal firedcom- Bill Loring Roger Williams began his career at the Coal Fired Complex in the spring of 1989 as a diesel mechanic. Growing up in Owasso, Roger actually made the commute to the CFC for sev-eral years while working for another company. After working steady at the CFC during the fall and win-ter of 1988, Roger applied for the plant's diesel mechanic position. "It's a great place to work, I have enjoyed it," he said. "But, most of all I have en-joyed the people." Having worked in public power for so long, Roger is a firm believer. "Public power is very impor-tant for our state. If it wasn't for public power the prices plexbeingbuilt near Chouteau. "I worked as a certified high pressure welder on Unit 1 and was hired at GRDAin the summer of 1981 as a pipe fitter welder,"he said. Spending his career in public power,Billbelievesin the ben-efits public power and GRDA bring to Oklahoma. "Iknow we hold the cost of electricitydown for northeast-ern, for all Oklahoma. Other utilities have to stay competitive with us;' he said. Fora man that can createjust about anything with his hands, Billis neverin need ofa project and he believesthat retirement willprovidehim the time to com-pletea fewand start a fewmore. "Ilovedworking at GRDA,but will loveworking at home even more;' he said. He plans on working his would be outrageous," he said. To say Roger is looking for-ward to retirement would be a bit of an understatement. He and his wife Dona plan to pack up their 5th wheel and set out to see America. The couple, who have raised three sons, John, David and Kevin, recently celebrated their 45th anni-versary on May 8. They plan to add to the treasure of traveling memo-ries they created with their children, although topping one particular trip to Cali-fornia may prove difficult. "Alaska could come close," laughed Roger, a lifelong out-doorsman and avid hunter and fisherman. "But, we really enjoy the history of the places and the beauty." own schedule, for the most part, but he has been given one deadline. A grandson, born in April, will have a hand made rocking horse wrapped under the tree this Christmas. Bill admits he will miss the guys and the challenge of the work but he is look-ing forward to his projects, a new garden and he is hoping to fill the freezers with crap-pie, sand bass and venison. Retirement also means that Billand Brenda will be able to travel together once again on their GoldWingmotorcycle. Pulling a camper, with only a general destination in mind, the pair has toured the coasts of California and Oregon.A6,400 mile trip into Canada was so enjoyablethat they are planning an Alaskan ride in the summer. Roger Williams When not on the open road, Roger will be found in his garage. There is a 1938 Ford Coupe wait-ing for him. The coupe is in need of some TLC and a new paint job- a 1958 Chevy Midnight Blue Me-tallic paint job to be exact. "It was my first car. I bought it when I was 16. I drove it while dating Dona," he said. Charlie Odle decided he wanted to be a lineman when he was a small boy even though he knew there would be risks in following in his father Ed's footsteps. "I lived knowing the risks. It made me more aware, but somehow it gets into your blood" he said. He began his career climb-ing poles for a distribu-tion contractor and spent several years working for NEOEC before coming to GRDA as a Powerline Main-tenance Technician in 1981. Charlie was always con-scious of the fact that some-one needed the electricity. "When the power is down, you know someone is depend-ing on you to get it back on and keep it going," he said. Charlie consistently vol- Walter Jackson For the past 42 years Walter Jackson has reported to work each morning at a power plant and forthe last 29 ofthose years, he reported to GRDA's CFC. Though from Oklahoma, Walter didn't find his career here; it was in Nevada, at Si-erra Pacific Power that he be-came a power plant operator. While there Walter's superin-tendent was Jack Marcy. Later, MarcywouldmoveontoOklaho-unteered his time III any emergencies such as Ice storms and hurricanes. Looking back over his 28 years with GRDA, he is grateful for those that have been a part of it. "Thurman Arnold, Ralph Birkenfeld and Kenny Star-ling were really good role models for me. After I stepped into a supervisory role I modeled myself after them." Spending his career in pub-lic power, Charlie under-stands the benefits first hand. "Without public power, we would not be able to afford the rates. GRDA is the rea-son the electricity rates stay as low as they are," he said. Charlie is looking forward to retirement and is hopeful that there will be more time to en-joy the little things in lifewith ma himself to help GRDAbuild the CFC. Marcy called Walter and offered his old employee a newjob back in his home state. "Hecalled and said they were building a plant," he said. It has been 29 years since Walter made the decision and during that time he transi-tioned from plant operations to plant safety, a perfect fit for the kind and patient man who has a talent for teaching. Retiring as the Occupational Safety and Health Superin-tendent, Walter has enjoyed being a part of Team GRDA. "GRDAis the best place to work in Oklahoma, best place anywhere. There is a lot ofvari-ety which keeps it interesting." "I like the sense of being a part of it all, knowing that while I was there I contrib-his wife Paula and family and he would love to see Montana and Wyomingfrom the saddle. As long as trail riding doesn't interfere with his fishing Charlie may do both, having the option is excit-ing for the self professed tinkerer and nature lover. "I am proud my work," he said. "I believe in what I have been a part of and am proud that I have." Charlie Odle uted to something," he said. Another part of his job satis-faction came from the relation-ships that were created during his career and those hewillmiss. "I willmiss the camaraderie," he said. "I like to talk about the job, about what's going on, sharing with each other and working out problems." Walterbelieveswholeheartedly in public powerand its purpose. "It's good for the whole coun-try. Public power helps regulate prices. Byjust being there, pub-lic power helps stabilize elec-tricity and the price," he said. He and his wife Karen will celebrate their 47th wedding anniversary this fall. The couple, who has raised three children, plans on traveling around visiting family that is scattered about the country. Rate Increase Continued from p. 1 we may see that a roll back is possible before 2014," added Easley. "Our requirements are based on costs to provide service and costs to cover base rates willtranslate into an overallincrease ofapproximately 10percent, sinceonlythe firsttwo componentsare impacted by a base rate increase." debt. When this increase is not required, we will roll it back." "Our cost-of-service rates still help us to maintain the reputation as one of Oklahoma's lowest-cost Doughertyalso noted that, whilethe increase is nearly 12percent,the overallcost to the averageGRDA customerwilllikelybe lower. GRDAhas three majorcompo-nents to their rates: capacityand energycharges,and a powercost acljustment(PCA). ''That means this 11.95percent increase in electricity suppliers" "Much of our costs have been shifted to this in-crease and away from our PCA. Purchased power costs that previously automati-cally flowed through the PCA twice a year were replaced Operating Margin Interest & Debt~ 5% ~ Costs ~ 15% Depreciation 14% with debt costs on additional generation, and have to be recovered through the base capacity and energy rates," she said. Meanwhile despite the over-all rate increase, GRDArates remains among the lowest in the region, added Easley. "Noone likes a rate in-crease, but we do believe this is necessary to keep GRDA on secure financial footing for the next few years," he said, "and even with the increase in place, our cost-of-service rates still help us maintain the reputation as one of Okla-homa's lowest-cost electricity suppliers." Fuel & Purchased Power 41% ~ Labor Related O&M 11% Rate requirements 000 Ever wonder what factors into the rates GRDA charges for elec-tricity. This chart, prepared by C.H. Guernsey as part of a recent GRDA rate study, illus-trates everything that must be factored in to GRDA's rate requirements. The biggest slice of the pie goes for fuel (coal) and purchased power expenses (41 percent); after that, inter-est and debt comprise 15 percent. Smaller percentages then go towards deprecation, op-erating & maintenance and operating margin. However, because GRDA is a public power, cost-of-service utility, you will find no "profit margin" piece of the rate pie. Retirement is... Retirement is being able to help out with a big family event. . This past August we sold our home in Tulsa and moved to a much larger one in Verdigris. The new home has an "open floor plan" where the kitchen meets the dining and living areas. Since we have such a large family, this open area will accom-modate family gatherings much better than our old place. That being said ... It won't be Hal-loween for another week yet and we're seriously plan-ning Thanksgiving which will come for us on Satur-day, November 21st this year. You see our Grandson Christopher Joe (otherwise known as Bubba) will be going to the Navy Recruiter's office on Sunday the 22nd to board a shuttle at Noon bound for Oklahoma City. Once there, he will go through another physical and by Monday the 23rd he will be in Great Lakes Naval Training Base. Yes, after a consider-able amount of thought, our oldest Grandson has decided to follow the tra-dition of his Father and Grandfather to serve our country in the Navy. Thanksgiving Dinner has reached about 65 and will probably grow. We have plans to clear out our three car garage, test all of our heaters, round up tables and chairs for the pot luck gath-ering. I will bake his favorite Snickerdoodles among many other things. More importantly of all, we will all give ••-----------========:=:;:;w thanks for the life of a young man who will board a shuttle bus bound for the experience of a lifetime with a Bible in hand knowing full well that the next time we see him, we will be getting a man in his place. Wewill think of all of the other families who have also let go of their young men and women to pursue their dream of doing the right thing by defending their nation. Grandparenting is indeed a blessing. Wewill be burst-ing with pride as we give thanks for our Bubba. The kid we'd like to stran-gle on occasion, fill his tank with gas, got engaged to a girl far too young and then broke up with, was a general pain in the butt on more than one occasion and float-ed around life with no ap-parent direction, made a life altering decision on his own. In some ways we took it Johnnie and Jennifer pose for photo with grandson Christopher, who fol-lowed in his father's and grandfa-ther's footsteps when he enlisted in the US Navy. with shock and in other ways we weren't surprised at all. He was also the one who borrowed money to get by with and actually paid us back, played on a state championship football team, was the man of the house when his Mom needed him to be, and always showed up for work to do his job and do it right. So far the guest list for -Johnnie and Jennifer Hargrove Interested in receiving more GRDA information? We'll gladly add you to our email distribution list for news releases, Currents, other updates and our ReConnect;ons. Just send your email to scook@grda.com. As always visit us online at www.grda.com Gi~DA Grand River Dam Authority 226 W Dwain Willis Ave PO Box 409 Vinita, OK 74301-0409 918-256-5545 www.grda.com Be watching for more from Johnnie, and Jennifer. Getting ready for a trip? Want to take Plugsbee along? Let us know. What is your definition of retirement? Have a favorite GRDA memory? We want to hear your thoughts. PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT # 409 VINITAOK 74301 |
Date created | 2011-07-14 |
Date modified | 2011-10-28 |