As YEC settles into the New Year, our focus continues to be on delivering safe, reliable and affordable electric service. Our alliance with Touchstone Energy ensures that we remain loyal to the values of community commitment, integrity, accountability and innovation that you, our members, have ascribed to us. These four values are the basis for all that we do as we continue looking out for you.
YEC is proud of its accomplishments during 2012, and we are building on those successes in 2013.
2012 accomplishments
AMI
YEC expanded its Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) efforts to the Gold Hill Road area in Fort Mill. This technology improves outage notification and the restoration process and provides additional metering data to better assist members with billing and service questions. It also gives YEC the capability to provide members with valuable usage information such as consumption patterns, outage history and voltage information.
Power Saver Rewards
Power Saver Rewards (load management) is now available to 75 percent of YEC’s membership. Participating members allow YEC to install a device on their air conditioner/heat pump to reduce the co-op’s electric load at peak times. By doing so, they receive savings on their power bill. This system helps YEC reduce the cost of power, and it helps keep all members’ bills lower.
Co-op Connections
YEC’s Co-op Connections program saved members even more money! The card that offers discounts at 110 local merchants, and has saved YEC’s members over half a million dollars on prescriptions, began offering members significant savings on lab and imaging services, chiropractic, dental, vision and hearing care.
Community service
Thanks to members who participate in the Operation Round Up program, a lot of good things happened in our community. Approximately $127,000 was given to 70 families facing emergency situations and 15 local nonprofit charities. Members who support Operation Round Up have donated more than $1.7 million since 2000.
Economic development
YEC continued its economic development efforts as two new industries, Shutterfly and Keller USA, moved to YEC’s service area in Fort Mill in addition to new commercial members such as Publix grocery store. Serving large commercial and industrial members helps YEC hold down the cost of service for all co-op members.
Safety
YEC earned honors for successfully completing the Rural Electric Safety Achievement Program (RESAP). RESAP helps co-ops reduce injuries by emphasizing leadership engagement and continuous safety improvement. The emphasis on safety directly benefits members in quicker outage restoration and cost savings.
Improved service reliability
YEC worked with Duke Energy representatives to have an old transmission line, owned by Duke, rebuilt in the Bethany area. Work on a major section of this 44,000- volt (44KV) transmission line began in March 2012. It serves several substations in northern and western York County. Work continued in the fall with the same improvements being made on an additional section of this line between the Clover and Bethany communities. This project improved the service reliability for approximately 4,700 YEC members.
Website and social media
YEC launched a newly redesigned website at yorkelectric.net. Featuring expanded content and improved navigation, the site reflects the co-op’s focus on using the latest technologies to improve service and add convenience. YEC also employed social media and quickly obtained more than 1,750 “Likes” on Facebook.
In 2012, YEC added approximately 650 new members for a total of 45,122 active accounts. In every way, every day, our dedicated employees take pride in their commitment to provide our membership with excellent service. We are always looking out for you! Photo: Joyce Baker
2013 goals
AMI
Expand Automated Meter Infrastructure (AMI) technology in two more substation areas of our system.
Communication
Improve member engagement by offering new avenues to encourage members to give feedback to YEC’s Board of Trustees and management staff.
Co-op Connections
YEC will continue to grow the Co-op Connections discount card program.
Duke deal
In January, a long-term goal came to fruition as S.C. co-op members began saving $1.5 billion in costs associated with building power plants due to an agreement Central Electric Power Cooperative signed in 2009 with Duke Energy. This agreement allows all of the S.C. co-ops, together, to purchase up to 1,100 megawatts of power. The co-ops will buy a portion of power from Duke Energy every year, increasing annually up to 25 percent by 2019. The remainder will come from state-owned utility Santee Cooper for a 75/25 split. This partnership allows all utilities involved to meet growing demand on the best possible financial terms.
Cost
YEC’s controllable cost per meter has not risen. It’s actually less than it was 10 years ago. However, because of costs beyond our control—mainly those for wholesale power—members’ kilowatt-hour costs are higher.
Mobile apps
YEC will offer a mobile app which will allow you to see your account information, pay your bill or sign up for alerts on your mobile device and more. It will also enable us to possibly provide you with reports about outages.
Safety
Keep our employees and the public safe as we maintain our electrical system.
Save energy
Evaluate the benefits to our membership of various programs such as heat pump and energy-efficiency loans as well as electric vehicle charging rates.
Scholarships
YEC will award more scholarships. Ten $1,000 Touchstone Energy Scholarships will be given to high school seniors and two $500 scholarships to students attending York Technical College.
Service
Each member services representative has been extensively cross trained in all of our departments to be able to answer your questions promptly and efficiently.
YEC will improve service by increasing system maintenance efforts to reduce blinks. Pole inspections will continue and necessary repairs and replacements will be made in the southern part of our service area. Upgrades to our phone and outage collection systems will be completed to improve the level of service during outages.
And, we will strive to maintain our goal of a 60-minute response time to the scene of an outage except during system-wide outages.
Today we have the opportunity to influence where we will be tomorrow, and YEC’s directors are determined to continue to support policies and actions that will result in the delivery of quality service to you as we embrace the opportunities and confront the challenges that lie ahead.