MOUNTAIN PARKS ELECTRIC, INC.

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MMountain Parks Electric was notified by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association of a wholesale power rate increase effective Janu-ary 1, 2017. Tri-State’s wholesale rate includes: 1) a kilowatt demand rate for generation, 2) a kilowatt demand rate for transmission and 3) a kilowatt-hour energy rate. Tri-State will increase wholesale power rates as follows:

2016 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Wholesale Power Rate kW Demand Rate (Generation) $9.95/kW kW Demand Rate (Transmission) $8.81/kW kWh Rate (Energy) $0.04034/kWh

2017 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Wholesale Power Rate kW Demand Rate (Generation) $10.25/kW kW Demand Rate (Transmission) $9.09/kW kWh Rate (Energy) $0.04204/kWh

Tri-State estimates that this rate change will result in a 4.33 percent increase for the 43 utilities to which it sells power.

MPE projects that its cost impact will be lower than that. When applying the new rate to wholesale power purchases during the past 12 months, MPE’s total power cost would increase approximately $804,000 a year (an increase of 3.71 percent), assum-ing that usage remains the same.

This increase is still significant. Cost of wholesale power represents more than 60 percent of MPE’s an-nual operating expense. As such, MPE is unable to avoid increasing retail electric rates in 2017. (Jeffrey Tichota – Centennial – Acct. #1015742)

MPE management staff is now preparing next year’s operating budget accordingly. The MPE Board of Directors will set 2017 retail electric rates at the November 10 board meeting. Notification of any subsequent rate change will then be published in the local newspa-pers and in Colorado Country Life magazine’s December issue.

2017 Electric Rate IncreaseBY TOM SIFERS || GENERAL MANAGER || TSIFERS@MPEI.COM

Tom Sifers

Manager’s Column

Thanksgiving ClosureThe offices of Mountain Parks Electric will be closed on Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25

in celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday. May you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving with your families and friends.

WARM UP FOR WINTER STORMSMaintaining warmth is a priority during a winter storm. Loss of body heat or hypo-thermia can be life threatening.

• Stay inside and dress warmly in layered clothing.• Close off unneeded rooms.• When using an alternate heat source, follow operating instructions, use fire safeguards

and be sure to properly ventilate.• Stuff towels and rags underneath doors to keep the heat in.• Cover windows at night.• Keep a close eye on the temperature in your home. Infants and people over the age of 65

are more susceptible to the cold. You may want to stay with friends or relatives or go to a shelter if you cannot keep your home warm.

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MWHAT CAN MEMBERS DO TO HELP CONTROL ELECTRICITY COSTS? Mountain Parks Electric members often ask what they can do to control their electricity costs. The answer: Probably more than you imagine. Perhaps the simplest thing that you can do is to limit your power use between the hours of noon and 10 p.m.. That’s when electricity from the grid costs more for MPE to purchase and deliver to you. As a simple reminder of this, MPE will soon be giving away the free refrigerator magnets pictured on the right at its Granby and Walden offices.

Here are a few more measures that you can adopt to conserve energy, in-crease efficiency and save money on your electric bill as winter approaches:• Take advantage of MPE’s rebates for LED lightbulbs, electric water heaters and

Energy Star electric washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers and dryers. Call 970-887-3378 for more details or visit the website at mpei.com/content/energy-efficiency-rebates.

• Lower your heating system’s thermostat settings when you leave your home for work, when you go to bed at night or go on vacation.

• Let your dishes air dry instead of using your dishwasher’s drying cycle.• Weather-strip exterior doors properly. If you can see daylight around the door,

that means that your heating system is cycling more frequently than it should, increasing your energy costs.

• Caulk windows. (Tiffany Coven – Kremmling - Acct. #1011771)• Install insulated window coverings (not plastic or wood). This slows down your

home’s heat loss, causing your heaters to cycle less frequently.

For more energy-saving tips, connect with Mountain Parks Electric on Facebook and Twitter. (Deborah Plaice – Granby – Acct. #1007748)

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JMISSION TO NEPALIN THE PAST, WE TOLD STORIES ABOUT EMPLOYEES’ AFTER-HOUR ACTIVITIES AND HOBBIES THAT ARE WORTHY OF SHARING WITH OUR READERS — HERE IS ANOTHER OF THOSE STORIES.

Jean Johnston, MPE’s right-of-way special-ist, recently went to Nepal, and her story is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. As her story unfolds, we can give thanks for all that we are blessed to have, while others who are less fortunate adapt to their surroundings, no matter how poor the conditions.

She begins her story: We were greeted by the local villagers. Most of the village was related somehow and, if not, they all knew our hostess since she was their schoolteacher. At first there was some dif-ficulty in communicating as I don't speak Nepali, but our hostess was wonderful and spoke enough English to convince her family to take us a few miles up a hill to tour the earthquake-ravaged town where she grew up.

The locals made some progress in re-storing their village; however, the destruc-tion was obvious in the piles of bricks and clay and severely cracked buildings. She walked us to where she first went to school and shared the happy memories of a 5- to 7-year-old. Her father was not fit to raise children and her mother took the family to Kathmandu to be raised. Our hostess met her husband in Kathmandu. He also had roots in the area we were touring. They married and when their first baby was only 9 days old on April 25, 2015, the first major earthquake shook Nepal.

The graciousness of the village was amazing. They made us feel at home with our morning and evening tea, enormous

meals and evening stories. During the day, our mission was to build a two-toilet, one-bath building made of cinder blocks and concrete. The mornings were beautiful and a perfect temperature. We found ourselves digging a trench for the footers and a 5-foot diam-eter by 6- to 8-foot deep hole for the holding tank. After the trench was dug, the local skilled rock workers laid the rock footer skillfully, making the round stones square on the sides.

Cement, sand and water were hauled to the site on the backs of the workers and mixed with shovels on a sheet of tin. Con-crete blocks were then set on the founda-tion and the walls started to take shape.

The Americans were in charge of dig-ging the hole for the holding tank, which seemed easy enough until the afternoon sun was on us and the humidity became too much. The deeper we went in the hard, red clay, the better a 6-foot deep hole sounded than an 8-foot hole. The other job for the Americans was to haul the blocks from their delivered location to the job site about 100 feet away, assisting in breaking the monotony of digging the hole. Lunch was a welcomed event. We were sweaty and in need of rest, shade and water. There was some activity in the afternoon; however, there came a point when we all just had to stop for the day.

The evenings, after it cooled down, were spent in conversa-

tion. Three people spoke both Nepali and English so everyone could keep up with what was being said. We collapsed into our tents, hiding from the mosquitoes, and slept. One night, deep in sleep I heard something. But what was it? It was loud and it was getting louder. Oh my! The earth was shaking. The street was filled with chatter as the locals all gathered, making sure everyone was accounted for. This earthquake lasted less than a minute, but it terrified the Nepalis.

In the morning, the schoolteacher tried to explain to us the fear they all still undergo. Their buildings, even though still standing, all have stress cracks, and the thought of being trapped or buried in the rubble is unbearable. Being a mother of an infant, born just days before the big earthquake, she screamed, grabbed the baby and ran outside to safety. Get-ting back to sleep afterward is difficult because the people are all too familiar with aftershocks. Since we were in Nepal for earthquake relief, it was fitting to experi-

ence this. My own perspective is

this generation of Nepalis will never recover from that earthquake disaster. They will always jump and run if they think an earthquake is hap-pening. It is just too real and too life ending. At this Thanks-giving holiday, may we be thankful that we are so blessed. Wishing all our members a happy Thanksgiving.

NOVEMBER 2016

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THE BILLING CORNERLINDSAY MCCANNBY ASSISTANT BILLING SUPERVISOR

LEAP: A Helping Hand

Colorado LEAP (Low-Income Energy Assistance Program) is a federally-funded, state-supervised, county-administered system.

• LEAP is designed to assist with the burden of winter heating costs for a home's primary heating system. The LEAP eligibility period runs from November 1 through April 30.

• LEAP cannot provide assistance for any type of temporary or portable heating source, such as portable electric heaters or any portable fuel heater.

• LEAP is not intended to pay the entire cost of home heating, only a portion. While applying for assistance, be sure to continue paying your home heating bill.

For more information on LEAP or to obtain an application, contact the following on or after November 1, 2016:

Grand County 970-725-3331 Jackson County 970-723-4750 Summit County 970-668-9160

Or go to colorado.gov/cdhs/leap.

Source: Colorado Department of Human Services

FIND US ON THE WEBMountain Parks Electric, Inc. online at mpei.com

CONNECT WITH USfacebook.com/MountainParksElectrictwitter.com/MtnParksElec

GRANBYNovember 10 Ladies Night Out, 6-8 p.m., Country Ace Hardware, 627 W. Agate Ave., Granby. Get lots of new ideas for holiday shopping with housewares, specials, prizes and vendor demonstrations. Enjoy food and beverages. Bring a dry or canned food item for Mountain Family Center and have lots of fun and a chance to visit with friends you haven’t seen in a while. Call 970-887-3395.

November 11 Annual Veterans Breakfast at Snow Mountain Ranch. Breakfast is 7:30-9 a.m. and the program is 9-11 a.m. Event is free for veterans and their families and there will be a special appearance by the Minni-singers.

November 11 Salute to Military Aviation History,Emily Warner Field Aviation Museum, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Free, family-friendly event is at 1023 CR 610, Granby, at the Granby-Grand County Airport, sponsored by Grand County Historical Association. Visit the website at grandcountyhistory.org.

November 12 & 13 Arts & Crafts Fair at Silver Creek Convention Center, Saturday, 9 a.m-4 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. See a great variety of unique crafts and artwork by local artists.

November 17 Annual Tree Lighting at Granby Dental, 5 p.m., followed by All Chamber Holiday Mixer (location TBD). For more information, contact the Chamber of Commerce at 970-887-2311.

December 12Celebrate Granby’s Birthday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at the Train Depot with a special appearance by the Grand County Characters.

GRAND LAKEDecember 25 Tree Lighting Ceremony, Grand Avenue and in front of Town Square Park. 4-6 p.m. Ring in the holiday season with cheer, cookies, hot cocoa, carols and Bruce the Moose. Bring an ornament to add to the special Christmas tree at this free event.

KREMMLINGDecember 3Tree Lighting Ceremony. Kremmling’s version of Rockefeller Center is good old-fashioned fun at Town Square.

NORTH PARK/WALDENDecember 12 Harvest Craft Festival held in the gymnasium of North Park High School, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. With unique crafts and art from local artists you can shop early for the holidays.

WINTER PARK/FRASERNovember 12Annual Charity Shopping Extravaganza, Outlets at Silverthorne, 9 a.m-5 p.m. Stores are open until 8 p.m. Tickets are just $25. All proceeds benefit local charities. This event is sponsored by Grand Foundation. There will be free prize drawings and giveaways. You could win over $25,000 in hourly giveaways. Enjoy exclusive shopping discounts; beer, wine and cordial tasting; entertainment; and dessert bar, as well as shuttle service. For more information, contact Hannah@grandfoundation.com

December 2Annual Festival of the Trees, Grand Park Recreation Center, Fraser. This free event. is 4-8 p.m. at the Fraser River Valley Lions Club and features holiday trees and wreaths decorated by local nonprofits with a silent auction format and dessert auction. (Joanna Givens – Kremmling – Acct. #700083002)

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