Electric Cooperative

News May/June 2016

Project GreenTouch - page 3 Cultivating safety in agricultural practices - page 6 Powering up after a storm - page 9

Since the annual meeting Charles Riesen

Manager PKM Electric Cooperative

I

f you missed the annual meeting, you probably don’t know that the members elected two new directors. Jerod Hanson (Kittson County, director) declined to seek reelection and Mark Hatton was nominated by the committee and elected at the meeting. Longtime director, and at the time president of the board, Ron Reitmeier was nominated and intended to stand for election; however, following complications from a hospitalization he determined that the member-owners of PKM deserved more attention than he could dedicate to the position and he resigned (more on that later). The PKM News was already mailed and the deadline for petitions had passed. The PKM board had two options 1) it could appoint a director and have them stand for election at the meeting or 2) since the bylaws provide for nominations from the floor of the annual meeting, it could leave the position open and see what happened.

Electrical Inspectors Marshall County & Kittson County Scott Stenvik 16409 State Hwy 1 N.W. Thief River Falls, MN 56701 218-689-5406 Polk County Bryan Holmes 218-686-1413

On the cover More than 70 volunteers came out to help with Project GreenTouch at Lake Bronson and Old Mill state parks. 2  PKM News • May/June 2016

The board chose the latter option. Since Vice President Tom Woinarowicz conducted the meeting and was also up for reelection, he called on PKM counsel Brian Rokke to conduct the election. Two members were nominated from the floor for the director position in Polk County, Tim Kozel and Paul Aakre. Following the election Aakre is the new director from Polk County. Congratulations to both gentlemen and I look forward to working with them. RON REITMEIER was first elected to the PKM board in 1986 and served as president since 2004. Cooperatives and community service have a long history in the Reitmeier family. His father, Ed, was a PKM board member and president when I was hired. Both Ed and Ron served on the board of American Crystal and their ability to work with diverse views and personalities served them well. Selfishly several directors and I told Ron that the rest could hold things together while he was on the mend, but Ron would hear nothing of it. The PKM board has thanked Ron for his service by resolution that it will present, and I would like to extend my appreciation for the opportunity to work with such a fine cooperative person. At the end of 2015 I said a few words about BOB KLINER as his retirement was coming up. His last day at work was Christmas Eve, and typically we close the doors at noon. I told Bob since it was his last day, I expected him to stay until 4:30. He was cleaning out

his desk and about 2:30 I saw he was gone, so I figured I’d take off as well. I was uptown and he texted me to ask where I was. I said I saw you were gone so I took off. We texted back and forth for a while about his 35 years and our appreciation for all he did and reminding him of our agreement. Bob was going to do contract safety work for PKM in his retirement. Bob took on the lead role in developing our safety culture at PKM. It was through his efforts, although Bob would be the first to remind us that “safety” is everyone’s business, that PKM was able to regain safety accreditation, but Bob did most of the paperwork. I texted him once in retirement just saying that I hoped he was wintering well and that we all missed him, and that actually I missed Viki’s bean soup. I told him to stay safe and send the recipe. He replied they were doing well, it was quite an adjustment and he was into his second day of becoming a certified scuba diver and he was glad he wasn’t older. We received notice of his death April 24. I gathered all employees the next day and by then everyone had heard. Counseling and time off were available, but none took it. I contacted Red Lake Electric Cooperative to run trouble for us because I didn’t want our line crew on the line after this loss, but our guys soldiered on. We received calls and emails from all over the state. Bob was well known and liked. The PKM family is small and the passage of time may heal the hurt, but Bob’s contribution and his memory will be everlasting.

May/June 2016 The PKM News (USPS 417060) Vol. 70, No. 3 is published six times a year, February, April, June, August, October and December by PKM Electric Cooperative, Inc., 406 N. Minnesota, Warren, MN 56762. Periodicals postage paid at Warren, MN. Subscription 25¢/year for members $2.50/year for non-members. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PKM Electric Cooperative, Inc.,P.O. Box 108, Warren, MN 56762-0108.

Office hours:

Officers and Directors

8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday 218-745-4711 or 800-552-7366

President.......................................................... Tom Woinarowicz

Electrical after-hours emergencies

Secretary-Treasurer........................................ Gordon Bernstrom

218-745-4711 or 800-552-7366 e-mail: [email protected] website: www.pkmcoop.com

Next Board Meeting:

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Vice President....................................................Michael Beaudry Directors................. Paul Aakre, Jeffrey Folland, Steve Goodwin, Mark Hatton, Wayne Malm and Blake Owens Manager................................................................Charles Riesen Editors...............................Deb Copp, Jeff Rustad, Chelsy Davey

Project

GreenTouch Project has another successful year PKM Electric Cooperative would like to thank everyone who came out to support PKM with Project GreenTouch at Lake Bronson and Old Mill state parks May 7. We especially want to thank those who brought out personal equipment to help speed up the cleanup process. Between the two parks we had 71 volunteers and each family received a free park sticker for participating that day. Across the state of Minnesota 11 cooperatives participated in projects at the state parks. In total 432 volunteers worked a combined 1,545 hours. Over the past 17 years, nearly 8,975 people have worked more than 32,180 hours.

PKM Electric Cooperative Political Leaders Federal legislators President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20500 www.whitehouse.gov [email protected] 202-456-1111 Senator Al Franken 320 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 www.alfranken.com

202-224-5641 Fax: 202-224-0044 Senator Amy Klobuchar 302 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 www.klobuchar.senate.gov 202-224-3244 1-888-224-9043 (Minnesota office) Fax: 202-228-2186 Congressman Collin Peterson 2109 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515

www.collinpeterson.house.gov 202-225-2165 Fax: 202-225-1593

State of Minnesota legislators Governor Mark Dayton 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Capitol Building, Room 130 St. Paul, MN 55155-1606 800-657-3717 [email protected]

Senator LeRoy Stumpf 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Capitol Building, Room 122 St. Paul, MN 55155-1606 651-296-8660 Email: Use mail form Representative Dan Fabian 307 State Office Building 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55155 651-296-9635

888-727-0979 [email protected] Representative Deb Kiel 337 State Office Building 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55155 651-296-5091 800-339-9041 [email protected]

PKM News • May/June 2016  3

PKM

scholarship recipients PKM Electric scholarships are made possible by funding from Operation Round Up. Since the beginning of this program in 1998, we have awarded 352 scholarships valued at $1,000 each.

Oslo Warren-Alvarado-Oslo High School

Sarah Durand

Warren Bemidji State University

Megan Hanson

Noah Jubie

Philomena Kazmierczak

Karissa Kraulik Kennedy Stephen-Argyle High School

Jalyn Larson

Drayton Drayton High School

Samantha Larson

Benjamin Lieberg

Brice Miller

Madison Muir

Warren Warren-Alvarado-Oslo High School

Euclid Crookston High School

Louisa Bergman

Stephen Stephen-Argyle High School

Greenbush Greenbush-Middle River High School

Warren Warren-Alvarado-Oslo High School

Hallock Kittson Central High School

Hallock Kittson Central High School

Taylor Rux

Strandquist Tri-County High School

PHOTO NOT AVAILABLE Sierra Swenson

Lake Bronson Tri-County High School 4  PKM News • May/June 2016

Bobby Tiedemann Euclid Crookston High School

Tyler Vonasek East Grand Forks East Grand Forks High School

2016 PowerSavers Residential Incentives for Members PowerSavers incentives, criteria and guidelines for resident and business members can be found at www. pkmcoop.com or by calling 218-745-4711 or 800-552-7366.

Equipment

Specifications

Rebate

CFL bulb

Replace incandescent bulb with CFL. ENERGY STAR®-recommended.

$2/bulb

LED Screw-In Bulb

40-60W equivalent incandescent. ENERGY STAR-recommended.

$4/bulb

LED Screw-In Bulb

65W or greater equivalent incandescent. ENERGY STAR-recommended.

$8/bulb

LED Fixture

Complete fixture or replacement kit. ENERGY STAR-recommended.

$8/install

LED Outdoor Fixture

LED Outdoor Fixture Wattage of 40 Watts. Dusk to dawn operation required. DesignLights™ Consortium or ENERGY STAR-recommended.

$40/fixture

Clothes Washer

Must be ENERGY STAR-approved.

$50/unit

Clothes Dryer

Must be ENERGY STAR-approved.

$50/unit

Refrigerator or Freezer

Must be ENERGY STAR-approved.

$25/unit

Remove & Recycle Old Refrigerator or Freezer

Recycling receipt required. Form online in Residential Incentives Application.

$25/unit

Engine Block Heater Timer Electric Water Heater

$10/unit Minimum 80-gallon total capacity, EF >0.91. Must be controlled under the utility’s load management program.

Programmable Thermostat

$150/unit $25/unit

Tune-Up for Central AC

Not valid on window AC units. Checklist on form must be completed with application.

$25/unit

Tune-Up for Air-Source Heat Pump or Mini-Split Ductless Air-Source Heat Pump

Checklist on form must be completed with application.

$25/unit

Supplemental Heating Source Air-Source Heat Pump

Must modulate to allow ENERGY STAR-rated Air-Source Heat Pump to operate down to 5º F and be on load control.

$500/unit

Air-Source Heat Pump

14 SEER, 8.2 HSPF

$400/unit

Air-Source Heat Pump

15 SEER, 8.5 HSPF

$500/unit

Furnace (Air Handler) with ECM Blower

Furnace with an ECM Blower

$100/unit

Mini-Split/Ductless Air-Source Heat Pump

15 SEER

$500/unit

Ground-Source Heat Pump Open Loop