The Clay Electric Cooperative, Inc.
February 2016Power Line
Clay makes it easy to choose your own method of payment!
You have a variety of ways to make your electric bill payment. Although you can
always pay your bill by mail or by visiting one of the co-op’s district offices, there are several other convenient options as well. Electronic Payments You can make an electronic payment on the co-op’s website or by calling your local district office. If you prefer to handle the transaction over the phone, call your district office and use the interactive voice answer-ing system. You do not have to talk with a customer service representative to make an electronic payment. You will need your Clay Electric account number, your bank account number and the routing number of your bank.Credit/Debit Card Payments All debit and credit card payments are processed through Western Union Speed-Pay, an independent service provider. A processing fee of $2.95 will be charged by Western Union SpeedPay. Clay Electric does not receive any portion of this fee. To make a credit or debit card payment, call Western Union SpeedPay at 1-888-822-0545 or visit the Co-op website to pay online.Automatic Deduction from your Account If you’d like your payment to be automati-cally deducted monthly on your due date by bank draft from your checking or savings account, the Automatic Monthly Payment Plan should be your choice. You can sign up online or call/drop by your local district office.Payment stations in the community Fidelity Express provides payment sta-tions for paying your electric bill at various businesses, such as convenience stores, in the co-op’s service area. Fidelity Express charges $1.50 for each transaction. A list of payment locations is available at your local district office and online.
These photovoltaic panels generate electricity for a member served by Clay Electric Co-op.
Notify Clay Electric if you receive power from analternative energy source The State of Florida requires that Clay
Electric keep track of the amount of electricity received via customer-owned alternative energy sources. At present, the co-op has more than 275 members who own renewable (solar) systems that generate electricity for their homes. These systems generate electricity for home use and excess power is returned to Clay’s distribution system. Using a special meter, the co-op records the amount of electricity returned to the co-op’s system. If you own or plan to have one of these systems installed, please make sure you’ve signed an Interconnection Agreement with Clay Electric. If you plan to increase the size of your existing system, you must also let Clay Electric know. The State of Florida requires that all customers who have systems that are or will be connected to the electrical grid have an Interconnect Agreement signed with the receiving util-ity. It is the member’s responsibility to notify Clay that they’re operating or plan to operate an alternative energy system. This is important for safety reasons and for billing purposes, and to ensure the member receives proper credit for putting power back into the co-op’s distribution system. Call the co-op’s Energy Services Divi-sion at 352-473-8000 ext. 8366 for more information.
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Our rate is changing One of the many benefits of being a mem-ber of a not-for-profit electric cooperative is receiving power at cost. During November and December, mem-bers of Clay Electric saw the cost of power for 1,000 kWh decrease to $113.30. This lower cost of power was due to an ef-fort by the co-op to return savings from lower wholesale power costs that occurred earlier in 2015. The funds were returned to members via lowered energy charges. Beginning last month, the co-op’s cost of power for 1,000 kWh returned to $117.90, which remains very competitively priced, and is $1.55 lower than the average cost for 1,000 kWh in 2015. A recent rate study indicated the coopera-tive should increase its Customer Charge to approximately $28 a month, to recoup more of the fixed costs associated with building and maintaining a distribution system. It was decided to increase the Customer Charge by only $3 a month. The new month-ly Customer Charge will be $20, beginning this month. To help offset the impact of a higher Cus-tomer Charge, the co-op will offer a slightly lower energy charge. The higher Customer Charge and lower energy charge will be revenue neutral for the co-op. Since there has been some confusion among members about what a Customer Charge represents, it has been renamed as an Access Charge.
News Brief
MEMBER SERVICES
Power Line is an informational publication of Clay Electric Cooperative, Inc. It is distributed monthly with members’ bill-ing statements. If you have questions or comments about the Power Line publication, contact Editor Kathy Richardson at P. O. Box 308, Keystone Heights, FL 32656; email: [emailprotected]. Clay Electric also publishes the Kilowatt six times a year (January, March, May, July, September and November). The Kilowatt is the official voice of Clay Electric and has been published continuously since 1948 as an informational and educational service for co-op members. Clayelectric.com offers online services such as payments, and information about the co-op’s programs and services. Members can also write their own ads online to be published on the website’s Trading Post. To enter your ad on the Trading Post, you must use your Clay Electric customer number which is printed on your electric bill statement. Clay Electric’s Board of Trustees will meet on Feb. 25 begin-ning at 12:30 p.m. in Keystone Heights.
Clay Electric will offer at least 25 scholar-ships this year. Applications are due by
April 1. The scholarship program is limited to any public, private or homeschooled high school senior whose primary residence is served by Clay Electric and who will be graduating from high school at the end of the current school year (2015-2016). The senior must be planning to attend an accredited college this fall. The one-time schol-arship amount is $1,000. An application is avail-able on ClayElectric.com, at each of the co-op’s six district offices and at area high schools. Scholastic records, activities, employment, community service and recommendations are the primary considerations.
Scholarships available this year
ONLINE ACCOUNT INFORMATIONVisit clayelectric.com to access your account information: - View your bill statement/ account history - Sign up for Average Billing Plan - Make a one-time payment online - View current charges & account balance - View account balance - View estimated meter reading dates - Request emailed bill statements (Clay eBill) - Sign up for automatic monthly payment plan - Report your power outage: https://outagereport.clayelectric.comPROJECT SHARE - Help others by designating a tax-deductible amount to be added to your electric bill or make a one-time donation.REMOTE METER READING (RMR) - Enables a co-op meter reader to obtain the meter reading without entering the homeowner’s property. The monthly charge is $1.95.ENERGY SMART REBATE PROGRAM - Of-fers rebates for members who install additional insulation in their homes, or who install a high efficiency heat pump or solar water heating system.ENERGY EFFICIENCY LOANS - Available for the purpose of installing certain energy efficiency measures, including metal roofing and solar water heaters.SURGEBLASTER - High quality surge protec-tion equipment at a low monthly lease.PAYMENT STATIONS - Clay has contracted with Fidelity Express to offer payment stations for paying your electric bill at various businesses in the co-op’s service area. Fidelity Express charges $1.50 for each transaction. A list of pay-ment locations is available at clayelectric.com and at your local district office.CO-OP CONNECTIONS CARD - A national discount card program. It offers 10-60 percent discounts on prescription drugs at participat-ing pharmacies, as well as special discounts and deals from local and national businesses!
I would like to encourage our members to attend the three trustee district meetings scheduled for
later this month and early next month. Each year, three trustee district meetings are held to nominate one or two candidates to serve on the cooperative’s board of trustees. Members who live Districts 1, 8 and 9 are in-vited to attend the meetings for their trustees. Carl Hagglund of Keystone Heights is the incumbent trustee for District 1, which includes parts of Clay and Putnam counties. The District 1 meeting will be held at the First Baptist Church in Keystone Heights on Thursday, March 3. Jo Ann Smith holds the trustee seat for District 8. District 8 covers portions of Levy, Marion and Lake counties. The District 8 meeting will be held at the Wacahoota United Methodist Church, NE State Road 121, Williston, on Monday, Feb. 29.
Karen Hastings is the incumbent trustee for District 9, which includes all of Flagler and Volu-sia counties and portions of Putnam and Marion counties. The District 9 meeting will be held at the Marston Lodge, 11351 E Highway 316, Fort McCoy on Tuesday, March 1. All of the meetings begin at 7 p.m. Registration begins at 6 p.m. One of the benefits of being served by a not-for-profit, democratically organized electric coopera-tive is the fact that our member-owners select their fellow members to represent them on the board of trustees. We are fortunate to have trustees who are knowledgeable and dedicated to serving the mem-bers. The board meets monthly to discuss impor-tant issues, review financial budgets and activity reports and establish overall policies. The trustees ensure your cooperative is oper-ated using sound and established business prin-ciples, and that the cooperative’s strategic goals of providing excellent service and competitively priced power while maintaining financial stability are met annually. As always, we appreciate the opportunity to be your electricity provider!
Report fromthe manager
Ricky DavisGeneral Manager/CEO
District trustee meetings set for lateFebruary, early March
