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Mark your calendars! Annual Member Appreciation Shred Day

Members shred documents at our annual event
Just like in years past, our YEC team will be there to help members shred their important documents easily and efficiently. Save the date for this year’s event—Saturday, Oct. 7, 9 a.m. until noon!

Once again this year, your co-op is celebrating your membership in October by hosting our Annual Member Appreciation Shred Event. We are partnering with locally owned, veteran-operated Carolina Shred to safely and securely shred your sensitive documents.

  • Who is invited? All York Electric Cooperative members.
  • When? Saturday, Oct. 7, 9 a.m. until noon.
  • Where? YEC’s main office at 1385 E. Alexander Highway, York. Carolina Shred’s office (new location) at 3356 SC-51, Fort Mill.
  • What should you do? Gather any documents you need to safely dispose of and bring them to one of our two locations. Documents will be securely shredded on site. Please remove any trash and debris, especially batteries and electronics from your shredding material.

Do you know a young, creative mind?

Madeleine Benner holding her first place award
York Electric is proud to have had two of the statewide winners for the Children’s Book Competition. Madeleine Benner won with her book, Angel the Solar Bird, in 2021.

Students can become published authors through Children’s Book Challenge

Do you know any creative writers or artists in the fourth or fifth grade?

If so, encourage them to enter York Electric’s Children’s Book Challenge. They could become published authors by next summer!

A smiling Carolyn Zheng wearing a festive hat and big smile with her award.
Carolyn Zheng won with her book When Wind Meets Windmill in 2020. Will you be our next local, famous author?

Sponsored by South Carolina’s electric cooperatives, the EnlightenSC Children’s Book Challenge gives fourth and fifth grade students the opportunity to write and illustrate a book while learning about energy, their environment and community. It’s also a great opportunity for classrooms to meet multiple state education standards in art, science, language arts, and social studies.

In addition, students and their teachers can win cash prizes, have their book distributed to schools across the state and be recognized at the South Carolina Statehouse. Winners are selected and awarded prize money at the local level. All local winners are automatically entered for a chance to win the statewide prize of $500. Statewide winning books are printed and shared with elementary school libraries in South Carolina.

Getting started is simple. Go to enlightensc.org/book to learn more about the program and to register. The deadline for teachers to register their students is Nov. 1.

It’s electric! New services, tools now electric

If you listen carefully, you can hear a quiet transformation occurring. Electric appliances and equipment are becoming more popular than ever. Perhaps the biggest difference is they create less noise. At least that was my experience when I recently drove the newest electric vehicle (EV) in the co-op fleet.

Original equipment manufacturers have announced this technology is coming. As your trusted energy advisor, it is our job to be armed with the facts and first- hand knowledge of how this life-changing technology works, so we added two EVs to our fleet.

Driving Sally, what we named the EV, I learned I suffer from range anxiety, the acceleration was mind-blowing and the ride was great. It was easy to operate and drove like a fancy sports car, without a sports car price tag or gas prices. And did I mention that it was quiet?

Tools such as ChooseEV, and a variety of apps like Optiwatt, are ways you can learn more about electric vehicles and if they are the right choice for you. They also help you get over your range anxiety, allowing you to properly plan your next charge.

EVs are just the tip of the iceberg. Nearly 83 years after bringing electricity to our rural communities, your co-op is still powering your life with tools and technologies that make things simpler and service more reliable.

You may think this is counterintuitive from the message delivered by our Vice President of Engineering Craig Spencer about the need for more electric generation. Yes, it is true that these new technologies take electricity to run. However, it is also true that these devices can help save you money, manage your time and reduce your energy use. Learn more about what Craig says in the second part of our three-month discussion on electric generation on page 20B.

Remember we’re looking out for you, no matter what you choose to drive, if you plug in your lawn tools or fill them with gas, and we are proud to continue providing affordable, safe and reliable service.

Paul Basha

Sincerely,

Signature

 

 

Paul Basha
President and Chief Executive Officer

 

What’s the difference? Bank Draft vs. AutoPay

York Electric cashiers show off payment option paperwork
As part of YEC’s cashiers team, Member Services Representatives Susan Singer (left) and Caitlin Anders are ready to help you pay your bill. Either in our drive- thru or by processing online payments, our team is ready to serve you. Sign into our member portal at yorkelectric.net to choose one of our two most convenient options: Bank Draft or AutoPay. Photo by Erin Powell

Paying your bill is easy at your co-op. We have many options to help our members save time, a trip to the office and the worry of making on-time payments each month.

Two of our most popular options are our Bank Draft and AutoPay programs. But what’s the difference? Let’s take a look, so you know which one is right for you.

Bank Draft

  • One-time member sign up
  • Secure with no future hassles for monthly bill payments
  • Member’s account balance must be zero
  • Ensured on-time monthly payments initiated by your co-op on the same day each month
  • Deducted each month right from the checking or savings account of your choosing
  • Notifications and reminders can help you remember this has been paid each month
  • Bonus! Earn a $1 credit each month by also signing up to Go Green and receive your statement by email

AutoPay

  • One-time member sign up
  • Members have the option to select the date of their bill payment date, as long as it is on or before their due date
  • Members can set a maximum amount to be paid from their checking or savings account to ensure they do not receive any additional fees from their banking institution
  • Payment is run each time by the co-op
  • Members must save the profile to ensure monthly payments occur
  • Members are in control and can update their profile at anytime

Log on to our secure member portal to view which payment option you currently use and to make any changes to your account.

Unsure how to set up a payment profile? Stay tuned for next month’s South Carolina Living issue for a detailed how-to guide. In the meantime, please give us a call at (803) 684-4248 for any questions about your account.

It took a village

The VP of engiineering poses for the camera
Craig Spencer
Vice President of Engineering

Part two of series: Working together to find a solution

Electric cooperatives pride themselves on exemplifying what it means to work as a team. This village of people banded together to electrify rural America, and changed the way we live, work, learn and play each day. This village made their own way when there wasn’t another option.

This village is my village, and one I’m proud to share with you. I grew up here and my wife and I have raised a family on co-op lines. I’ve borne witness to the impact this community has had on me and what we can accomplish when we band together.

In last month’s article, we talked about ways our members can help offset the growing need for more electric generation. Our goal was to explain how critical this is to you and to be transparent in the challenges we face. Just as we always have, working as a team can pay dividends to ensure service reliability. That is true as your co-op partners with other co-ops in South Carolina; as South Carolina cooperatives work with cooperatives across the country; and as our members stand together to make a difference.

What is your co-op doing?

We are working with other cooperatives in South Carolina to invest in future generation that is financially wise and provides less exposure to risk for our members. To do this, we have been pushed to think outside the box and diversify our energy portfolio. Next month, we will talk about our future energy mix. Our updated integrated resource plan will be available on our website for you to read about in detail by the end of this year.

Additionally, we are considering innovative ways to engage with and educate our members on energy use, demand and how your actions can influence the affordability and reliability of your service.

What can you do?

Our CEO described appliances and tools that are now electric, including his experience with an electric car. If you look around, the option to electrify your life is at nearly every turn. Reading about options to use more electricity each day right after reading about the need for more generation might be contradictory. It is possible and, really, it is all about your timing.

Programming your appliances and tools to run or charge at a time that is convenient for you— and when electricity is not in high demand– helps your co-op keep rates affordable and offsets the need for more generation. Managing your use of electricity by updating appliances, relying on technology and becoming more efficient helps your co-op better prepare for the future and saves you money. Information shared with your co-op better equips us to keep your lights on.

Additionally, creating awareness of when and how you use energy and the impact it has on your pocketbook, the co-op’s rates and the ability for other utilities to generate enough power to supply reliable service to everyone is the first step. Our hope is that this awareness grows into action where our members are consciously using less of the product we are selling.

You might wonder why you matter in this equation. Just like it took a village to get your co-op started, it still takes a village to make a difference. Small changes, like shifting your energy use away from early mornings and evening times add up to a big difference. Especially if we’re all doing it together.

Local students participate in Cooperative Youth Summit

Youth tour participants pose in front of the state capital
Cooperative Youth Tour student-delegates Roman Phillips, Heather Greenwald and Simon Sir-Elliott Cherry.

By Josh P. Crotzer

They may not be old enough to vote, but it’s never too early for high school students to learn about political advocacy and their civic duties.

Three local teens sponsored by York Electric Cooperative did just that at Cooperative Youth Summit, a four-day tour of the state capital and surrounding area.

Simon Sir-Elliot Cherry of Indian Land High School, Roman Phillips of Fort Mill High School and Heather Greenwald of Indian Land High School were among 45 South Carolina student-delegates that toured the State House, met Gov. Henry McMaster and learned about their government and their cooperatives. Cooperative Youth Summit students also heard from two state legislators—Rep. Micah Caskey and Rep. Russell Ott.

“That really opened my eyes,” says Sir- Elliott Cherry. “We can have a big impact on our future by the choices we make. We have the best form of government in the history of mankind, and we have to protect it.”

The student-delegates also participated in a mock healthcare legislation exercise. With three different proposals, each side tried to sway votes toward a two-thirds majority vote to pass the faux legislation. Cooperative Youth Summit students also teamed up to produce their own podcasts, interviewing legislators and leaders in their community on what makes South Carolina a great place to live and ways it can improve.

The students traveled to Newberry Electric Cooperative, a visit highlighted by a lift high in the air in one of the NEC’s bucket trucks, which are typically used in maintenance and restoration work on utility poles. They also saw the cooperative’s community solar farm and learned about how the cooperative has made high-speed broadband available to its entire membership.

Student-delegates also participated in the Soda Pop Co-op, which sold snacks and beverages. Some students served as the cooperative’s board members. Others were a part of the management team. All students received cash back as their share of the end of the trip margins. The exercise allowed the students to learn first-hand how the not-for-profit co-op business model works.