In this month’s message I would like to discuss kW demand and energy. I covered this topic in previous newsletters, but now you should be seeing graphs on your bill statements showing monthly usage and kW demand, so I wanted to review these topics. Energy and demand are two separate things. Energy is the amount of power you consume; it is the amount of electricity used over a period of time and you would see it on your bill as a kWh or kilowatt- hour. Demand measures the maximum amount of electrical power consumed at a given time. How is dem…

Last month we reviewed demand of the peak at your home and on our system. We covered how the base load that we reviewed in September makes the peak possible. Now we are going to look to see what produces CO2 and how we either avoid it or sequester for the climate. Nuclear gives off zero CO2 emissions while generating power and energy. Did you know that all nuclear waste in this country can fit in an area less than the size of one football field? The new methods of nuclear power generation are using small modular reactors that are much safer a…

In the September magazine I spoke about how renewables help the grid, but are not an answer as a replacement to hydro/coal/natural gas or nuclear provided base load that is needed to ensure 24/7/365 coverage of your power needs. The base load is necessary for reliable and sustained power and energy that is there when we all need it, not just a percentage of the time when renewables are producing power and energy. California is a prime example of what happens when you remove the above listed base load power and energy generation methods. Calif…

Fall is a busy time and October is a particularly eventful month with school, community, and sports activities in full swing. October is also when cooperatives everywhere celebrate National Co-op Month. When I say Hill County Electric Cooperative (HCE) celebrates Co-op Month, it really means we are celebrating you! After all, our co-op wouldn’t exist without you, our members. Our core business purpose is to serve as your electricity provider, but the larger mission of the co-op is to help make our corner of the world a better place. “Concern…

This month’s note is going to be a little different for me. What a crazy weather year! It seems that we started in a drought, moved to some wet weather, but not enough to take us out of the drought and now we are back to grasshopper weather; hot and covered in grasshoppers. This is the second year in a row where the grasshoppers outnumber everything else. I hope that you all are staying cool in your homes and are winning the battle against the grasshoppers. I am staying cool in the house, but losing the battle against the grasshoppers. To sta…