COMPILED BY VICTORIA SCHARF DECASTRO

Safety first

Amicalola Electric Membership Corp. (EMC) recently hosted a series of live line safety demonstrations attended by firefighters, police officers, paramedics and the general public at its headquarters in Jasper.

Pike Electric Corp. employees performed the demonstrations, which were originally designed for the safety training of power linemen. In a controlled environment, they showed the dangers that emergency rescue teams face when live power lines are downed during automobile accidents. 

The demonstrations also illustrated how people can protect themselves from downed power lines during a storm. Attendees also learned the dangers that occur when a kite, ladder or tree touches a power line and the proper way to avoid such situations.

EMCs, other utilities share poles

By sharing space on poles, Georgia’s electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) and other utilities minimize the number of poles on rights of way and reduce conflicts between overhead lines. This sharing is known in the utility industry as “joint use.”

Each company has its assigned space on each pole to install and maintain its facilities. A “joint use agreement” governs the relationship between the parties on each pole.

The technical requirements and model contract for joint use were developed in the 1920s by the Edison Electric Institute and AT&T for their respective industries. The electric cooperatives implemented similar joint use procedures shortly after World War II. The first joint use contracts between Georgia’s EMCs and telephone companies were signed in the early 1950s. 

Georgia’s EMCs and local telephone companies have shared poles for more than half a century, with the last major contract update occurring between BellSouth and Georgia EMC in 2004. Presently, the EMCs and Cable Television of Georgia are working to develop a statewide contract for cable television attachments to EMC poles.

Helping hands make homes

Flint Energies in Reynolds has formed its first team for Rebuilding Together, a national organization that rebuilds housing for the low-income elderly, disabled, families with children and veterans.

After being a financial sponsor of the organization for several years, Flint’s team refurbished a home in the Warner Robins area by painting and making eletrical, siding and structural repairs.

New record for electricity

A statewide network of high-voltage power lines and substations that transmit power to 39 electric cooperatives was up to the test again this year when a new peak electricity record of 9,296 megawatts (MW) was set in August, according to officials at Georgia Transmission Corp. in Tucker.

Georgia Transmission builds and maintains high-voltage power lines and substations for 39 of the state’s 42 EMCs, which serve more than 4 million Georgians in 157 of the state’s 159 counties.

“Population growth, rising per-capita energy demand and high temperatures all contribute to record-setting electric demand,” says Mike Smith, Georgia Transmission CEO. EMCs use separate networks of distribution power lines to serve homes, businesses and other customers. The company builds an average of 70 miles of transmission lines and 20 substations each year to keep pace with rising population growth and per-capita use. 

“As one of the fastest-growing states, our cities and towns would be at greater risk of brownouts and blackouts if we did not build the new lines and substations needed to meet rising demand,” Smith says. “These days should remind us that we’re all connected by a single grid of transmission lines, and we all benefit from new power lines that keep our grid strong.”

For more information, visit www.gatrans.com.

The Seven Cooperative Principles

The principles have evolved over the years, but no matter the industry, today all cooperative businesses adhere to seven guiding principles. Below is the third in a series of seven to appear in Currents each month.

3) Members’ Economic Participation: Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of the cooperative. The economic benefits of a cooperative operation are returned to the members, reinvested in the co-op or used to provide member services.