Grand River Dam Authority's reconnections

              Grand River Dam Authority's- :
ReConnections····j
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www.grda.com Winter 2010
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n informal supplement to GRDA Currents, especially for GRDA retirees
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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