December 2024
by Drew Francisco
Hello again everyone! Hope all of you are doing great and are enjoying the remainder of the fall season.
I was able to spend some time in the deer stand these last few weeks harvesting a nice buck; been 7 years since I was able to get one so I’m thankful! My focus can now switch from the woods to the frozen lakes and snowmobile trails!
Over the last month I’ve been busy with all aspects of the load management program here at North Itasca Electric: new service start-ups, home evaluations, load control device audits and everything in between. I’ve found in my travels, that some members who have purchased new homes with load management programs already in place, don’t necessarily understand how they work. So, if you have a program in place and feel like a little education on the equipment you have would help you, please let me know! More than happy to stop out and do my best to help members understand how the systems you may have operate and provide you with the most efficient energy usage.
I’ve recently been introduced to the Northland Progressive group in Northome and surrounding area. Meeting the individuals who are looking to improve and create longevity in this community is important to my role here at North Itasca Electric. Sitting at the table, hearing what some potential needs and projects are, helps me find avenues to offer ways to obtain some of these goals. I’m excited to learn more and get to work on possible solutions!
The Bigfork and Surrounding Area Business Revitalization Grant is close to opening. In a prior article, I briefly explained what this could look like, but I’d like to elaborate. The idea of this grant is to assist businesses in northern Itasca County get their building’s interior or exterior revitalized. New signage, building improvements or even more energy efficient equipment are covered.
The grant will go in two stages, spring and fall; similar to the Operation Round Up grant process. I’m hoping to have all the material available by December on our website. So, if you are looking to learn more, please reach out to me and I’ll get you the information! I also plan to stop at businesses in my travels to share more on this opportunity.
The remainder of the month is jam-packed with site visits for membership, education on new equipment and programs coming in 2025. If you have any questions or would like to schedule some time to meet to chat about your home or business’s efficiency, please let me know! Always happy to help the great members of North Itasca Electric.
Until next time,
Drew Francisco
November 2024
by Drew Francisco
Hello again everyone! Fall is here, and I’m loving it. A close friend of mine always used to say, suffering through the cold winter and summer humidity mosquito fest, is all voided by the month of October; so far, he would have been spot on!
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been able to continue my journey of helping membership obtain many different energy related goals. Sometimes it seems a little contradictory to be finding ways to reduce energy usage when our primary business is to provide it. But I’m learning that’s one of the benefits of being a part of a cooperative like North Itasca. Providing energy safely and offering solutions/education to utilize that energy in the most efficient ways possible. A lot of my time has been spent learning of potential programs coming in the last few months of 2024 and 2025. These programs could be utilized by North Itasca, to extend more opportunities to the membership in obtaining home weatherization and high efficiency equipment upgrades. If you’re a nerd like me, this is exciting!
As I have stated in prior articles, I have been working with Itasca Economic Development Group to educate myself on ways to impact not only the members specifically, but all the wonderful communities we are a part of. On the 16th I attended to Energy Transition town hall In Bigfork. I felt great conversations were had, and a lot of good ideas were presented. When people think of energy transition, I feel it’s received as just shutting down the coal plants and plugging in the renewables. I wish it was that simple, but it isn’t. Unfortunately, there is more of an impact then we realize. When a generating facility is “hypothetically” taken offline, it creates a ripple effect of changes that I feel are currently not priority when they should be. Infrastructure/ Transmission upgrades, increased energy costs, increased taxes and job loss. All these layers of ripples roll across the shoreline of the end users. The small schools, businesses, healthcare facilities and communities that house all of us will be affected. I’m not saying the effort to clean up emissions is a bad idea, but if it’s done without adequate solutions, we will be stuck in an even worse situation. Getting to these meetings and learning about the potential impact of energy transition is the best way to create your own opinions and provide input on solutions. For meeting information please be sure to check our website and Facebook page.
Another exciting project I have been working on with the IEDC is a business revitalization grant. The thought process behind this idea is to help businesses in Bigfork and surrounding communities secure some funding to upgrade their business’s exterior. Roofing, windows, signage and potentially high efficiency equipment. Members of the IEDC, North Itasca Electric, Bigfork Valley, Bigfork High School, Bigfork Improvement Group and the City of Bigfork are meeting monthly to discuss grant process and the potential to increase grant funding amounts. I’m hoping to see this grant have a positive impact and future sustainability for continued funding. Helping small businesses complete some of the tasks they may not have the budget for is vital on keeping them around.
With the cooler months ahead, just a friendly reminder to get some preventative maintenance items done. Change those furnace filters, check your smoke and carbon monoxide detector batteries and get ready for another winter here in the northland. I’m available for home evaluations or any other items related to your home’s efficiency at any time. Please feel free to stop in or reach out with any questions you may have. As always, I hope the remainder of your October is pleasant and the weather continues to be beautiful.
Until next time,
Drew Francisco
October 2024
by Drew Francisco
Hello again to the great membership of North Itasca! Every time I sit down to write an article, I feel like I just got done writing one for the prior month; unbelievable how fast time seems to slip by! In my free time outside of work, I’ve been able to do some fishing with my family. When I say fishing, I mean driving the boat around so my wife and kids can catch all the fish for me.
In my travels over the last month, I’ve been able to continue my mission of finding ways to help our membership with their home’s efficiency and keeping their energy bills in check. I’m not only on the consumer side of things, but also auditing North Itasca Electric’s equipment out in the field to make sure proper tracking and control periods are performing accordingly. So, if you see a random dude poking around your meter, or load control equipment, it’s probably me.
If you as a member are in need of a home evaluation or just want some of your questions answered, please feel free to reach out to me; I can schedule a time to meet with you in the office or at your home to help as best as I can!
While we are working on helping the individual members, there are some other exciting projects on my radar that are on a bit of a larger scale. I’ve recently met with members of the Itasca Economic Development Corporation to understand and identify the needs/goals of local communities using Business Revitalization grants, Energy Transition town halls and hopefully some type of workforce housing project. IEDC is looking for community input on ways we can all help to better our small communities’ operations and future sustainability.
It’s no secret that small town communities are in need; in need of jobs, childcare, affordable housing and much more. I’ve been fortunate enough to volunteer my time on the Bigfork Fire Department for several years and also served as a city council member in Bigfork. What I’ve come to realize is a lot of people are busy wearing multiple “hats” in their communities. Coaching youth, sitting on boards of various establishments, first responding, participating in Parent Teacher Associations, organizing city events and fundraisers; all while balancing full time professional careers and family needs. To add another meeting to the list of your already busy schedules sounds exhausting; but it could be vital in helping secure the future of our small towns.
Come share your ideas, concerns or possible business plans with IEDC. They are not only excited to talk about these topics but have access to resources to help achieve some of these things that are discussed. Not only in Itasca County, but all around the northwest region we all call home! Make sure to keep an eye on our website and Facebook to see upcoming meeting dates, times and locations. Little bit of a tangent there, but I feel it’s important.
Over the next month, I plan to continue my adventure of previously listed goals and projects. But I’m always open to discussing how North Itasca can help its membership, local contractors and business owners.
I hope all of you have a great month and look forward to hopefully working with you!
Until next time,
Drew Francisco
September 2024
by Drew Francisco
Hello again everyone!
Summer is fading way too fast. I hope all of you have gotten out and enjoyed the amazing weather we have had. I have spent a lot of frustrating time on the golf course in my free time; not improving and can’t wait to play again!
Over the last month I have been around the great areas North Itasca Electric serves, meeting and trying my best to help membership by providing insight on potential energy saving measures and preventative maintenance homeowners can add to the honey do list.
I thought it’d be a good idea to share some of the things I would be looking for if I were to come do an evaluation. In a perfectworld, purchasing and installing high efficiency equipment would be great! But it’s not always possible with personal budget constraints or other aspects taking priority. Your home’s energy efficiency can improve by doing some low to no cost maintenance.
The first place I look is up. What are the lighting sources? Are there LED lights installed in your home? What about the porch light you leave on like most of us do; is that LED?
For example, my porch light bulb was a 60-watt incandescent bulb left on for 24 hours a day because I’m forgetful. 60-watts in a 24-hour period is equal to 1.44 kilowatt-hours. If I leave my porch light on 24 hours a day for 7 days, my energy usage would go up by 10.08 kilowatt-hours. 10.08 multiplied by your energy rate (0.13) is equal to $1.31. If I change that to a 7-watt LED bulb, in the same scenario I’d be spending $0.15. Doesn’t seem like much, but add 15 bulbs to that and your usage starts to climb without realizing it. Some of the newer bulbs are expensive, but we do offer rebates on bulbs when you change them out!
Another thing I am looking for is the condition of the furnace. It may be an older unit that runs great, but a few things can make your furnace run longer to meet your desired set point.
How often do you change your furnace filter? Is one time a year enough? Bigger homes with more air flow may need to be changed more frequently; add some pets to the mix and the filter gets dirty more often.
Another thing to look at is visible connections. There could be air loss around the duct work
needing some attention. Add some vent tape to keep air flow moving to the conditioned areas of the home. The outdoor condenser is often forgotten about but heavily relied on with the humid summer days. Keeping the coils clean, providing proper air flow, will keep the unit running more efficiently.
Refrigerator coils should also be cleaned. Grab a vacuum and get all the dust bunnies out of there; You might even find some hidden gems under there that your kids “lost.”
We all want our homes to smell good. But have you ever thought about the usage your “fall colors” wax warmer is costing you to run? Most of the units have a 20-to-25-watt bulb inside to melt the wax; little amounts of usage add up!
As I’ve mentioned before, I am here to help. If you as members have any questions or want some input on anything related to energy efficiency, please reach out! I’m more than happy to help in any way possible.
I hope the next month brings more good weather and all of you get to enjoy it.
Until next time!
Drew Francisco
August 2024
Hello again everyone!
Hope you all are enjoying these summer days that seem to be absolutely flying by! I have been able to get out and visit a lot of wonderful areas of our membership over the last 3 weeks. In doing so, I’m reminded how much our local communities have to offer.
While meeting with members regarding load control, home / business evaluations or other various programs we have to offer here at North Itasca Electric, I get to see opportunities that I feel are too good not to share! This got me thinking of ways to communicate all the cool things I have been seeing to other members who (like me) had no idea what is available just a few miles down the road. If you are a business owner in North Itasca’s service territory and want to share what you have to offer, feel free to reach out to me so we can help educate all parts of our membership.
It seems a lot of people I’ve been working with thus far have made great strides in becoming more energy efficient, which is great! Not only is it going to help you as the consumer save money on your energy bills, but also help the co-op lower its costs during high demand periods; ultimately helping the membership in its entirety. If you have plans to update or upgrade your home’s equipment, giving us a call beforehand may be beneficial in multiple ways. You may be able to utilize one of the programs we have to offer here like dual fuel or storage heating/water to lower your kWh charges. Another thing to consider is the co-op’s equipment that may already be installed on your property. If you’re going to utilize load management that is great! If not, it would be better for us to get this equipment off the site so we can utilize it in other areas.
Also, we have rebates! All our rebates are listed on our website, but if you have any questions regarding the forms or type of equipment that qualifies, I can guide you through it.
With that said, I’m here to help you the member in any way I can. If you have a project coming up that you’d like some input on or need help identifying ways to save on energy usage, let me know! I may not have all the answers, but I do have access to great local contractors and information that could benefit you.
Hope you all enjoy the remainder of July, until next time!
Drew Francisco
July 2024
Hello again Everyone!
Time seems to be flying by as we cruise into the summer months of 2024. I’ve been busy meeting with members of
North Itasca Electric and I have to say, living in the area my entire life I didn’t realize how much is left to discover!
Over the last month I’ve tried to get out into the field helping membership understand what is available to them, including load management programs, emergency backup generators, electrical heating solutions, home evaluations and mini split air source heat pumps (which I’ll get into here in a second). I have to say it’s been a great experience thus far meeting people I wouldn’t have necessarily run into unless I was in this position – all with great stories and work histories varying between different fields: psychologists, local business owners, fellow firefighters, antique collectors, teachers and many more. Pretty amazing to see our area houses so many unique individuals.
As I said before, North Itasca Electric is now able to offer mini split solutions for your homes, summer cabins,
workspaces or wherever you see fit. The Cooper & Hunter brand offers an arctic unit which not only cools the area but is able to heat the same space down to a balmy -22 degrees Fahrenheit. Air source is very efficient, and when paired with the correct alternative heating source for our area, energy savings is very easily obtainable. These units come ready to install for the people who can manage it on their own, but we also have contractors lined up and ready to assist our members get their homes conditioned!
There will be some information on the units available in the WATTS News, but if you’re interested in learning more,
please reach out to me so I can get you more information or schedule some time to go over the process!
I’m looking forward to opportunity, change and continued research of ways to support our membership and local
communities. Be sure to follow our Facebook page to see upcoming sales discounts or events that may be happening
throughout our service area. I hope all of you have a fantastic month and I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish!
Until next time, Drew
Drew Francisco
