Happy Spring NIECI!
At least I hope so by the time you read this. Yet again Mother Nature and Ol’ Man Winter are planning another visit. We are expecting another 6-12” here in Bigfork as I write this.
I’m ready for open water season. I’m ready for our friends and neighbors to come back to their cabins and summer homes. Let the sunshine and warm weather loose please.
At least this should be a good mushroom season for those of you that know what to look for. Bring on the morel mushrooms and asparagus!
With spring in the air and building season right around the corner, are you considering a project? North Itasca Electric Cooperative would love to help. Maybe it’s time to build that dream garage or addition? What do you require for electrical service? Often it is well worth your time to give us a call about your plans sooner than later. We are still dealing with material shortages from several of our suppliers. When we know about projects, we can assure you we are prepared and do not hold your project up. Talking to our operations department early will get your project on the schedule of work to be completed. Our crews have experience with system design to help save you money and design to be sure you’ll have the outcome desired.
Jerry has been taking several classes this spring to better understand what is allowed in the current rebate programs. There are rebates through Great River Energy and North Itasca Electric; there are also ways to save through the Department of Revenue. Jerry will be a great contact for all that information.
Additionally, Jerry is very helpful to understand the benefits of different heating/cooling systems along with generator questions. If you are considering projects that require some sort of heating system, I would encourage you to call or stop by to talk with Mr. Loney.
I am very pleased to report we have finished our audit for 2022. Matt with Brady Martz will be here on Apr 27 to present the report to our Board of Directors. Once again, thank you to our Office Professionals. The hard work of preparing and presenting information to our auditors has resulted in a complete and positive audit report. The auditor will present a clean audit to our board next Thursday. I will use that information to report to you in the WATTS June edition. These audited financials are the source of the graphs and reports used for the Annual Meeting.
The Annual Meeting of North Itasca Electric will be in Northome on June 15, 2023. The format will be very similar to the past couple of years. We will provide a bill credit for attending the meeting in person. There will be door prizes of flowers and bill credits.
I heard loud and clear last year; we need a treat of some sort. I will be sure to work with our friends at the Shining Light Café to have something good to go with coffee or water. I’m very excited to work with our friends at Lake Country Power, we will have the safety demo trailer at the meeting. If you haven’t seen this in the past, it is a very powerful demonstration!
With safety demonstrations in mind, I will remind you once again to always think about safety when dealing with power lines. If you find a downed line, don’t touch it. Don’t even go near it. Please call the office, we will send someone out ASAP to safely correct the issue. If you have a leaning or trouble tree that can potentially hit the power line, give us a call. We would be happy to work with you to safely deal with that dangerous situation.
We will soon be in summer storm season. If you have a generator at your location, now is a good time to make sure it’s in good condition. Do you need to change the oil or plugs? Is the gas fresh? Do you have a proper disconnect switch to make sure you’re not backfeeding onto the lines? Wired incorrectly, a very small generator can energize our lines to 7200 volts. This could be a deadly situation for anyone near the lines, including our linemen. Please be careful!
By your side! Miigwech
Brad
