SECO Energy is taking steps to embrace renewable sources as they become more cost effective. Nearly 4,000 SECO members responded to the online solar survey based on a utility-scale solar project that our generation and transmission provider, Seminole Electric Cooperative, is planning. Candidly, the results were mixed. 58 percent of respondents said that it was important that some or all of your electricity comes from renewable resources like solar.

43 percent of surveyed members said they would be willing to pay $5 more for a 100 kilowatt-hour block of energy. This means that 15 percent of those who said it was very important aren’t willing to pay for it. That’s a disparity SECO must carefully consider.

53 percent of respondents felt that those who wished to invest in renewable energy shouldn’t be subsidized by those who don’t. SECO leadership supports that position. Investments in solar by those who can afford it shouldn’t be forced on the backs of those who can’t.

The survey asked members what percentage of their monthly electric bill they’d be willing to allocate to a solar-based rate. Nearly 39 percent of respondents said zero. 42 percent of those surveyed said they’d allocate between 5 and 20 percent of the bill to a solar rate and nearly 20 percent of those surveyed said they’d be willing to assign greater than 20 percent of their bill to a solar rate. 991001

SECO recently shared its survey results with Seminole and they’ll be adding our responses to those of our fellow distribution co-ops across the state. It is our understanding that Seminole is moving forward with the solar project. It’s also good news that SECO and Seminole are in the preliminary stage of a large-scale

solar project at the Coleman Federal Prison. We encourage you to stay abreast by reading upcoming editions of SECO News, visiting www.secoenergy.com and joining our conversations on Facebook and Twitter.

As a side note to the survey, 43 percent of members said they were interested in investing in low-cost energy effi ciency improvements to reduce energy use and save money rather than investing in renewables. SECO employs a team of energy services specialists dedicated to helping members save money on their bills. Call or email us at customerservice@secoenergy.com to request a specialist to conduct a free energy audit on your home or business.

What percentage of your monthly electric usage would you be willing to assign to a solar-based rate?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

20 percent 12.31%12.31%

10 percent 15.18%15.18%

5 percent 14.42%14.42%

Zero, I’munwilling to... 38.52%38.52%

More than 20percent 19.56%19.56%

SolarSurvey

Says

As a thank you for responding to the solar survey, SECO conducted a draw-ing for ten $50 gift cards. Winners were drawn randomly from all respondents who provided the last six digits of their account number and an email address. They were notifi ed the third week of March.

The winners are:

1 Joe, The Villages2 Taylor, Clermont

3 J.E., Ocala4 Joseph, The Villages5 Thomas, Lady Lake6 Sandy, Ocala7 Bob, Clermont8 David, The Villages9 Eugene, Ocala10 Carl, The Villages

2057

01

April 2015

Your Money-Saving ConnectionsCo-op Connections business promotions:SECO’s Co-op Con-nections card is a

money-saving tool and the card con-nects you with a variety of discounts. Here’s a couple:

Mustang Moon Equine Solutions in Ocala is of-fering a 10-20% discount, depending on the services provided. They offer a variety of equine activities, in-cluding riding lessons, birthday party rides, training and much more.

Sunbusters Solar Screens in Clermont is offering

20% off products for windows, screen porches, screen cages, and screened Florida rooms. Block the heat, not the view!

For local a listing of other participating businesses and for the national deals, go to www.connections.coop and sign in using your zip code.

If you are a local business owner and interested in participating in the Co-op Connections program, please give us a call at (352) 793-3801 and an energy services specialist will help get you started.

Win an iPad® mini!SECO Energy members who are registered online as SmartHub users by May 15th will be entered in a drawing for a free iPad mini. Sign up for SmartHub today to manage your SECO Energy account(s) using a computer, smartphone or tablet. Visit www.secoenergy.com and click on the SmartHub banner.

Convenient features:• Sign up for ebillxpress

• Access billing history

• Set energy usage markers

• View social media news feeds

• View monthly energy costs and usage

• Subscribe to receive text or email alerts

• Pay your bill and schedule recurring payments

• Plot high, low and average temps against energy use

• Explore side-by-side yearly/monthly usage comparisons

• Record energy-saving events (appliance purchases, filter changes)

Get the app! The SmartHub app is available on most mobile devices. Just look for “SmartHub” in the App StoreSM for iOS or in the Google PlayTM store for AndroidTM. 912902

w.secoenergy.com

y use

parisons

es filter changes)

. nt(s)

m and

Google Play

Store

AppleApp

Store

Visit www.smarthubapp.comfor a guided tour.

Don’t forget to look for the last six digits of your account number in this month’s SECO News. You can email us at customerservice@secoenergy.com (or call) if your number appears. Six winners will be drawn at random from all submissions.

901010

NATURE’S reflectionsThe Florida Scrub-JayA beautiful, yet endangered bird found only in FloridaThe Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) is a me-dium-sized songbird about twelve inches long. It is blue with a gray body. It has a blue bib of feathers separating the throat from the gray chest, blue wings and a long blue tail.

The Florida Scrub-Jay’s very specifi c scrub habitat require-ment is the most endangered habitat in peninsular Flor-ida. That is, thick, oak scrub areas with patches of bare sand, palmetto and low-growing vegetation which needs to be burned often enough to maintain a low tree height of no more than three-to-ten feet. They actively avoid oth-er types of forests, wetlands, even large, open areas such those used for agriculture. In fact, their surviv-al success in developed areas is generally poor.

Florida Scrub-Jays are omnivorous and eat a wide variety of seeds, insects, tree frogs, lizards and small snakes. However, acorns are con-sidered their staple food source. Since acorns are not available year round, the birds harvest acorns from scrub oaks and bury them in open patches of sand during the fall. They somehow remember where they buried them and return to eat them throughout the year. It is said that a single Florida Scrub-Jay can hide more than six thousand acorns in a single year.

Mature males and females look alike. Mating occurs between two-to-four years of age. Florida Scrub-Jays mate for life. Beginning in March and as late as June, a mating pair will build an all new nest of twigs lined with palmetto fi bers three-to-ten feet off the ground in a shrub-by oak. Here two-to-fi ve eggs are incubated for seventeen days and the young fl edge in another seventeen days. While on the nest, other family members bring food for the female and help feed the young too.

Florida Scrub-Jays live in what is referred to as a coopera-tive family group made up of one breeding pair, offspring from prior years plus an occasional adopted bird from an-other family. Nonbreeding males stay with their parents as helpers for several years before leaving to establish a new territory or join another family. These family helpers as-sist with feeding the young, gather and store food, serve on sentinel duty and help defend the family territory from predators such as hawks or snakes. If a threat is spotted, an alarm call gives family members time to fi nd cover. �− photos and column by Sandi Staton – sandi.staton@gmail.com

tips & quips about our

environment and its

inhabitants

id S b

Visit www.secoenergy.com to browse our newly re-leased 2014 Annual Re-port that showcases a year of operational ex-cellence and outstand-ing financial stability.

You will find the auditor’s report, and a full set of financials.

SECO Energy grew steadily and employees ran a tight ship, conserving costs while maintaining stellar reliability and service. Operating revenue topped $363 million, an increase of more than $2 million over our budget. Purchased power cost was $254 million, an increase of about $553 thousand dollars – representing almost 70 percent of total revenue.

The differential between revenue and power costs produced gross margins of about $110 million. Total expenses of $99.5 million were $2.5 million less than budgeted, showcasing our employees’ cost-conscious dedication. The combination of improved gross margins and reduced expenses created a total margin of $18 million, an increase of $4.3 million over budget. 216101

Because SECO is a not-for-profit electric co-op, margins on the sale of energy are allocated annually to each member’s capital credit accounts. In November, SECO retired $4.2 million in capital credits back to members in the form of bill credits. Since 1998, SECO has returned $32 million in capital credits back to its members.

Rate RestructureEffective November 1, 2014, SECO’s residential rate restructuring produced rate decreases for about 75 percent of residential members. This charge was revenue neutral to SECO, but was necessary to properly align our rates with our costs. A line item on the bill, called the “customer charge,” increased. The customer charge represents the fixed cost of de-livering power to a member’s home or business. It’s meant to cover costs of meters, lines, poles, trans-formers and other electric infrastructure. Though this line item increased to more accurately reflect fixed costs, the energy portion of the rate and the PCA decreased significantly – providing a rate re-duction to the vast majority of residential members.

Comparatively, SECO’s rates stack up pretty well among our industry peers in this area. Our average residential rate is lower than the average Florida cooperative, lower than the average Florida municipal utility, and lower than most investor-owned utilities as well. Read more about low rates and high reliability in the 2014 Annual Report at www.secoenergy.com.

Vistoleasportyearcelleing f

report

Annual Report

I wanted to send praise to all your great employees I have dealt with over the years. From the customer service people to the lineman, all are top notch, professional and polite!

On Tuesday night March 4th, I had a service line issue. The CSR was very nice on the phone and dispatched a service tech right away. The service technician Kent Sprague arrived quickly. He understood my concerns and went right to work after explaining how the repair was going to be done. He was informative, polite and in my opinion, went above and beyond to make the repair perfect and to my satisfaction. Thanks Kent!

JT, SECO Member

Marion County, FL

Ray F. VickPresident • District 5

Jerry D. Hatfi eldVice President • District 9

James D. HoltzSecretary-Treasurer • District 4

Scott D. BoyattDistrict 1

Dillard B. BoyattDistrict 2

Richard J. BellesDistrict 3

Earl MuffettDistrict 6

Rob HenionDistrict 7 Bill JamesDistrict 8

Jim DuncanCEO & General Manager

SECO’s Board of Trustees will meet on Monday,

April 27th at 2:30 p.m. in the Corporate Offi ces located at 330 South US Highway 301

in Sumterville. A Trustees’ meeting will also

be held on May 18, 2015.

SECO 24/7 Job Hotline(855) 483-2673

SECO Outage Hotline(800) 732-6141

SECO TRUSTEES

SECO residential members are paying an average of $121 for 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy. Comparatively, our neighbors served by the City of Bushnell are paying $142 for 1,000 kilowatt-hours of energy.*

That’s why it’s important to protect the 527 SECO members who live within the Bushnell city limits from being acquired by the city — which charges the highest average residential rates of

any municipal utility in Florida. You may have noticed SECO’s campaign to “Stop the Bushnell Power Grab” on a few local news stations and in local newspapers. We hope you understand SECO’s determination to do the right thing on this local issue: to protect our members who do not want to be served by the city’s electric service. SECO simply wants to maintain its current territory and the city maintain theirs — status quo.

The city’s unnecessary and costly territory expansion plan will harm the local economy —deterring new businesses and home buyers from moving to this community. If you live in the Bushnell area, please go online towww.bushnellpowergrab.com. Sign the petition to send a message to the city that you stand with SECO in saying no to high electric rates and no to the power grab.

*Dec 2014

Here’s a chance to express yourself

SECO Energy’s Corporate Com-munications

PO Box 301 Sumterville, Florida

33585-0301

webmaster@secoenergy.com979611

( ))