York Electric Cooperative, Inc.

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Register for the 2019 Teddy Bear Trot!

Together with York County Department of Social Services, York Electric will host the third annual Teddy Bear Trot on Saturday, March 30, 2019, benefiting the Children’s Attention Home of York County. Scan the QR code below to take advantage of the early bird pricing from now through March 8 for our certified and timed 5k race and mile-long fun run/walk!

Race prices from now until March 8 will be $30 for participants 13 years of age and older. The cost for children 12 years of age and younger will be $15. After March 8, prices will increase to $40 per person. Participants who register before March 8 will be guaranteed a race shirt. All race participants will be entered to win various door prizes and will be given a snow cone from Pelican’s SnoBalls of York.

Can’t come but still want to support the cause? Register as a Couch Cuddlier for $15 and still receive a shirt! All shirts must be picked up at York Electric’s main office no later than Friday, April 5.

Help us create awareness for Child Abuse Month in April by wearing blue to the race! Last year, with the help of our generous sponsors and community members, we were able to raise $4,000 for the Children’s Attention Home. This shelter provides a safe and nurturing home for abused and neglected children and teens. Photo: Joyce Baker

 

Teddy Bear Trot QR Code

Details & Registrationhttps://runsignup.com/Race/SC/York/TeddyBearTrot

 

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Home, sweet home

Your service often comes from local people who are York Electric members. Here, Purchasing Agent Phil Leake plays with his children (from left) Mason, Harper and Sayla in the aftermath of Winter Storm Diego. “Working hard ahead of time, planning and gathering the materials needed to make repairs after a storm gets the lights back quickly for our members—my family included,” Leake says. Photo: Brittany Leake

There is something special about being at home, feeling safe, and taking it easy. Home is a sanctuary where families come together, and the American dream comes true. Your cooperative helps make your house a home by keeping your lights on and toes warm and by dedicating ourselves to serving you and our communities. That’s the value of your membership.

You may remember last year we focused on providing you with a frictionless service experience. This year, we are starting a member comfort initiative that will bring that same comfort of home to you in each aspect of service. The feelings you get from being in the comfort of your own home, the ease of access to make your day-to-day lives easier and the family atmosphere are the essence of the cooperative difference. Your Cooperative’s value goes beyond reliable service–it’s community-minded, locally owned and operated, and provides peace of mind that we are looking out for you.

This year, we will continue focusing on communication, keeping you up-to-date on cooperative news, improvements to your service and new tools to increase your awareness of your energy use. Look for “Member Comfort” news briefs in the magazine and on social media, along with tutorials on electrical safety, service reliability and saving energy. For example, we are working to continue improving outage notifications to include estimated times of restoration and improved online experiences so that you can take care of your account from the convenience of your phone.

We look forward to serving you and are excited for the additional service perks that will become part of your valued membership. Sit back, enjoy the ride and look for a comfortable 2019.

 

YEC CEO, Paul Basha

Paul Basha

Paul Basha
President and Chief Executive Officer

2019 York Events

Save the date for local co-op events!

  • Saturday, March 30, YEC will be hosting our third annual Teddy Bear Trot benefitting the Children’s Attention Home of York County.
  • Come see YEC for an Earth Day Celebration at the Anne Springs Close Greenway on Saturday, April 27.
  • Your 78th Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, May 11. We hope to see you there!

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A little sawing makes the biggest difference

YEC’s newest lineman, Trevor Underwood, helps his crew prepare during Winter Storm Diego. “Making sure we have sharpened saws and the appropriate safety gear ready to go on the trucks helps when outages occur,” says Underwood. Photo: Porter Gable

In a storm, rights of way around overhead power lines and sharpened chainsaws make the difference. In the past four months, York Electric has seen three major storms that tested our system. Because of our diligent and proactive trimming schedule, crews were able to get the power back on when it mattered most.

Lineman Zack Smith says, “During an outage, it is our goal to be on the scene within an hour. We work hard, in all types of conditions, to restore power safely and as efficiently as possible. By keeping rights of way clear and accessible, we can do our job easier and get the lights back on quicker.”

As part of our 2019 Member Comfort Initiative, our team will continue dedicating time and resources to maintaining a clear right of way around our overhead lines the proven method to help prevent outages. Find the latest right-of-way schedule and download the map.

 

Right of Way Maintenance FAQ

What is right of way (ROW)?

A: ROW refers to the corridor or pathway an electric line follows, whether it’s along the road or through the woods. ROW provides utility crews with access to lines for improvements, maintenance and repairs. It also provides an operational safety zone between the electric lines and trees, buildings, etc. On the majority of its lines, York Electric holds easements that give it the right to clear land 15 feet from either side of the wire.

Why is a clear ROW important?

A clear ROW minimizes outages, improves power quality, reliability and safety.

What happens when trees and vegetation remain in the ROW?

  1. Causes power outages
  2. Causes lights to blink
  3. Obstructs visual inspections, making repairs difficult and costly
  4. Blocks access for maintenance and repairs, causing delays
  5. Wastes electricity by drawing it to the ground
  6. Becomes a fire hazard
  7. Becomes a safety hazard for utility workers and members

Children and adults should never climb, trim or touch trees that contact power lines!

How is the ROW cleared?

The ROW is cleared by cutting, trimming, mowing and where permissible, applying herbicides. In most cases, all shrubs, brush and trees are removed under primary (main), overhead power lines. They are also removed, as and around secondary, low-voltage power lines that bring power from the transformer to your meter. Cutting and trimming are done by trained, professional utility tree trimmers using specific and proven standards typical to the industry.

Does ROW maintenance affect the environment?

York Electric’s ROW maintenance program balances the preservation of natural habitats against the service reliability needs of our members and the safety needs to the general public. In fact, it can actually benefit the ecosystem and other natural environments. ROW maintenance efforts create open areas that encourage the growth of wildflowers, ferns, grasses, flowers, berries and other low-growing shrubs.

Related Links:

Right of Way Maintenance »
Trade a Tree Program »

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No friction, no problem

Our motto here at YEC is looking out for our members. Looking out for you goes beyond providing reliable service, it means making your life easier and your relationship with your cooperative effortless–frictionless. When the rubber meets the road, or rather when your lights go out, you contact our office, or when you receive your bill, we want you to have the best possible experience. No muss, no fuss–just good, frictionless service.

From our point of view, providing frictionless service means going a step beyond providing affordable, reliable, safe energy by anticipating and preventing problems. We want to save you time, prevent your call, and stay ahead of the curve. To accomplish our goal this year we have invested in our distribution system to decrease the number of outages by replacing old poles and wire, adding snake fencing to our substations, adding animal guards to our system, and inspecting twice as many poles and underground facilities. We rebuilt three substations to improve reliability and increased the frequency of our right of way cycle to keep the area clear around lines. Not to mention, technology is on our side. We are using more data analytics to spot outage and brief service interruption trends before they become a nuisance to you.

We also think clear communication to our members helps to improve your frictionless service experience. Therefore in 2018, we have worked to increase communication to our members by adding more social media awareness, redesigning our website, placing proactive calls to members whose usage looks higher than normal and calling before planned outages occur.

But what about you? How you feel about your service experience from your cooperative is most important, which is why we are focused on hearing your opinion. As a start, this year we called five members each week for random surveys on their service experiences and asked for feedback from online surveys. To take it a step further, we would like to invite you to take this opportunity to participate in our ACSI survey. Tell us how we are doing and, more importantly, how we can improve for you. Members who participate from now until December 31, 2018, will be entered in a drawing for a $100 power bill credit. Mail it back to us at the address provided, drop off your thoughts at one of our office locations, scan and email the survey to ten.c1547693403irtce1547693403lekro1547693403y@sec1547693403ivres1547693403rebme1547693403m1547693403, or give us a call to share your views at (803) 684-4248.

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[PDF] 2018 ACSI Survey

Download was expired on December 31, 2018 05:00 PM
795 KB

 

Paul Basha, CEO, York Electric CooperativeWe want to hear from you and are dedicated to being the best for our members. Thank you for helping us make 2018 successful. As a token of our appreciation and as a special Christmas surprise, please check here. We look forward to learning from you, improving from your advice and continuing to serve you. Wishing you a safe, happy and healthy Christmas season.

Paul Basha

Paul Basha
President and Chief Executive Officer

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