Member Handbook · Co-op. The meeting gives members the opportunity to elect the Board of Directors...

Member HandbookAn informational guide to Four County Electric’s business practices, programs and services.

About This Handbook ...Similar to the book of instruction you receive when you purchase a new car or electrical appliance, this service guide is designed to answer questions you might have concerning the electric service from your Co-operative.

It tells you how to get the most from Four County Electric Membership Corporation because you, as a member and owner of the Cooperative, have a personal stake in the continuing success of this enterprise. The more you know about your rights and responsibilities, the more you can do to promote effective and efficient operation.

We suggest you keep this booklet in an easily accessible place so that you may refer to it for more information.

It would be impossible for a publication of this type to answer all ques-tions that might arise, so if you have specific questions, call us or drop in and talk with one of our staff members.

Welcome to Four County EMC! We look forward to serving your energy needs!

Please write your account number and meter number below for easy reference:

ACCOUNT NUMBER: ______________________

METER NUMBER: _________________________

Four County Electric | Member Handbook 1

2 Four County Electric | Member Handbook

A Little About Four County

EMC

Four County Electric Membership Corporation welcomes you as a new member of our Co-op family! We hope that you will help us build a stronger cooperative, and will benefit from our association.

It is the objective of Four County EMC to provide all members with a reliable source of electricity and high quality service at the lowest possible cost.

Four County was organized and char-tered in 1937 under the Electric Mem-bership Corporation Act of North Carolina to distribute electricity to the rural areas of Pender, Bladen, Duplin and Sampson counties.

By 1938, an initial loan of $145,000 had been obtained from the Rural Electrification Administration, and in 1939, the first 175 miles of line serving 432 members were energized.

Today, there are thousands of active accounts served. Since its beginning, Four County has grown to over 5,000 miles of distribution lines and has nu-merous substations.

As a Cooperative, Four County oper-ates on a not-for-profit basis, with the Co-op members as its owners. Through a member-elected Board of Directors, each person is given a voice in how the Co-op is operated. This Board of Direc-tors is elected in staggered three-year terms at the annual meeting, with each member having one vote.

Four County is a member of the North Carolina Electric Membership Cor-poration which serves as the Co-op’s wholesale power supplier. Together with 25 other cooperatives in the state, Four County owns part of the generat-ing capacity of Duke Power Company’s Catawba Plant.

In addition, the Southeastern Power Administration provides a small per-centage of the Co-op’s total wholesale power needs.

At Four County Electric, the employees are here to work for and with you. Four County is an equal opportunity em-ployer with nondiscriminatory hiring practices. The nondiscriminatory poli-cy is also in effect in providing reliable service to you, the member.

The original Four County office was located in Kerr, NC.


Member Meetings Held Annually

You Vote For Your Directors

An annual meeting is held for the members of the Co-op. The meeting gives members the opportunity to elect the Board of Directors and to become bet-ter acquainted with the progress of the Cooperative during the year.

If you do not come to the meeting and vote for the persons you think will best represent your inter-ests on the Board, you are giving up a chance to have a say in how your electric cooperative is run.

Notices will be printed in the Four County monthly newsletter and local newspa-pers announcing the date and site for the annual membership meeting. According to the cooperative’s bylaws, the meeting is to be held on the first Monday in Oc-tober; or, the Board of Directors may fix a date not more than 30 days prior to or subsequent to the regular meeting date.

Four County’s operations are carried out under policies set by its Board of Directors. Each Director of the Board is a member of the Cooperative, just as you are.

You and the other member-owners of Four County EMC determine who the Directors will be. They are elected, on a rotating basis, to three-year terms at the annual meeting. Each member has only one vote in the election of Directors, re-gardless of the size of his/her account.

Four County’s service territory is divid-ed into eight directorate districts: East Bladen, West Bladen, East Duplin, West Duplin, East Pender, West Pender, East Sampson and West Sampson. One di-rector is elected from each district, as well as two “at-large” directors.

There are two ways a member can be nominated for election to a directorship:• A member may be nominated by the

Cooperative’s Nominating Committee; or

• Any 50 or more members may make additional nominations by filing a petition containing their signatures at any Four County EMC office at least 30 days prior to the annual meeting.

At least 10 days prior to the annual meeting, a statement of nominees for each Directorate district will be mailed to all members.

Each member has only one vote in the election of directors, regardless of the

size of his/her account.

Capital Credits:You Share Your Cooperative’s MarginsAs a member of the Cooperative, you have an advantage over members of investor-owned utilities – you share in the money that is left over after all the operating expenses have been paid. These returns are known as “Capital Credits.”

Each member of Four County EMC is credited on his/her account according to how much he/she has paid into the Co-op during a given year. That way, everyone is given a fair and equitable share of capital credits.

The amount of the share is determined by the total yearly amount of his/her electric bill. If, for example, a member’s total bill for a given year was $1,000, and the percentage of money taken in by Four County for that year was three percent over the actual operating costs, the member would have $30.00 in margins credited to his/her account for the year.

Capital credits are not paid at the end of a given year, nor can a member request that his amount be credited against a current bill. Generally, this money is reinvested in improving Four County’s facilities to avoid having to pay current market interest rates on loans for im-provements.

However, capital credits are paid to the estates of deceased members on a dis-counted basis as requested. And, cap-ital credits are being paid to members on an approximate 20-year revolving basis.

The Cooperative may also elect to re-turn a percentage of the previous year’s capital credit assignments along with the retirement of “first earned” capital credits.

Four County will continue to pay cap-ital credits each year as long as it is economically sound business to do so. Should you move away from the Four County service area, it would be a good idea to keep the Cooperative informed of a current mailing address to ensure that you receive your capital credits as they are paid.

Four County will continue to pay capital credits each year as long as it is econom-ically sound business to do so.


How Your Co-op IsOrganized To Serve You


Member-Owners(you and your neighbors)

Board of Directors(made up of Co-op Member-Owners)

Chief Executive Officer

Operations

Engineering

Human Resources

Information Technology

Finance & Accounting

Customer Services

elect

who serve without salary and employ the

who is chief administrator of the Cooperative and also the general overseer of

Bill Payment Explained

Deposits And Payments

Bills are prepared monthly, reflecting an average of 30 days’ electrical use. They are due and payable upon receipt.

Payment may be made by mail, phone, bank draft, online, e-checks, FCEMC app, credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Dis-cover), in person at any of the Cooper-ative’s offices or at one of our local ki-osk pay stations. Return envelopes are provided with the bill for your conve-nience. You may also text “PAY” to short code 352667 to make a payment. Do not send cash through the mail!

If you have a question about your bill that you want answered in person rather than by phone, member service representatives are available during normal business hours to address your concerns and discuss services and programs that can save you time and money.

Security Deposits: Deposits are based on a person’s credit history. A security deposit may be waived by a satisfac-tory credit letter from another electric utility.

Delinquency Date: Members whose accounts remain unpaid after a final notice will be subject to disconnection without further notice and could result in additional fees for reconnection.

Night and weekend deposit boxes are located at each of the offices for af-ter-hour payments. Be sure to enclose the bill stub when using the night de-posit box or sending payments by mail. You can safely and securely pay, man-age and review your electric bill by us-ing one of the Cooperative’s online ser-vices listed on Four County’s website, www.fourcty.org. Click “Manage Your Account” at the top of the page to view billing options.

Bills are delinquent if not paid by the “past due” date appearing on the bill and are subject to a late payment charge.

If you do not receive a bill when it’s ex-pected, contact your local Four Coun-ty office and a duplicate bill will be mailed to you.

Member Service Charges: When a serviceman has to go to a member’s premises to disconnect or reconnect a service for any reason, including to collect for overdue accounts or bad checks, service charges will be added to the member’s bill. Charges vary de-pending on the service performed. A list of charges is available on request at your local Four County Electric office.


What To Do If An Outage OccursWhile outages do not happen very often, you should be aware of the correct pro-cedures for reporting an electrical outage to Four County EMC.

Before calling to report a power outage, check the breakers in your home or business to make sure the problem is not related to internal causes. If there is no noticeable problem, check to see if your neighbors are without power. This will give line workers some idea of the extent of the outage. Report your outage to:

Toll Free 1-888-368-7289

Give the dispatcher your account number, meter number or phone number, this will help line workers identify and answer your “trouble” call faster. If you have any pertinent information about the cause of the outage (i.e., a tree on the line, pole down, etc.) please relay this to the dispatcher. It will help speed the restoration of your service.

A dispatcher is on duty 24/7 to answer your calls. In the event of a major power outage affecting large numbers of members, more employees will be added to an-swer phones as quickly as possible. Under no circumstances will phones be left unattended or off the hook.

You can report an outage through our View Outage Map at www.fourcty.org. With this tool, you may report your outage 24/7 and receive real-time power out-age information including a detailed map.

Also, you may enroll in outage text messaging so the co-op can communicate directly with you in the event of a power outage. To sign up for this service, sim-

ply call 1-888-368-7289 or sign up at www.fourcty.org. From here, you will go to manage my account and then click on alerts to activate the outage alerts. You may also activate outage alerts through the Four County EMC mobile app. Text “OUTAGE” to short code 352667 to report an outage.

Always assume downed power lines are energized. Stay away and report downed power lines to Four County EMC or 911 immediately and warn others to stay away.

Servicemen are on call 24 hours a day. If a major outage occurs due to severe weather conditions, all available employ-ees may be called out to help.

The meter number here is a 8-digit number on the face of the meter - 20016175.


Power Theft Punishable

Service Interruptions

It is against the law in North Carolina to steal, or to attempt to steal, electric-ity by tampering with metering or load management equipment. The penalty for breaking this law is a fine of not more than $500, or imprisonment for not more than two years, or both.

It is every member’s responsibility to report anyone suspected of meter tam-pering and/or theft of electric power. It

Four County Electric does its best to provide reliable electric service; howev-er, there are events such as storms and accidents that can cause an interruption of service. Four County Electric cannot guarantee continued and uninterrupt-ed service. The Cooperative will not be liable for loss or damage to any mem-ber’s equipment or production which is caused by failure to supply electric-ity, or by an interruption or reversal of the supply of electricity due to any cause beyond reasonable control of the Cooperative.

Although most of Four County’s line maintenance and repair work is done with the lines energized, there are cer-tain situations which require outages. When these situations happen, the

is also to your benefit to help eliminate power theft because honest members are the ones who ultimately have to pay for the stolen electricity in the form of higher rates.

If you suspect another member of pow-er theft, please contact your local Four County Electric office. Your name will be kept in strict confidence.

work will be done, as fast as practical, at a time that will cause the least incon-venience to the majority of members. When possible, members to be affected by such interruptions will be notified in advance.

Four County cannot guarantee uninter-rupted electric service during storms and other accidents.


View Outage Map View Outage Map tool is available 24/7 to gain access to real-time power out-age information. Our outage map and service area display provides informa-tion on power outages in Four County EMC’s service area. Members may re-port an outage as well as view real-time outage number updates. You can link to our Facebook page and download our mobile app from this page as well. The outage map can also be accessed using a smartphone or tablet. You can be any-where and report or check the status of

Record Chart Year ________

Month Meter Reading

KWH Used

Amount of Bill

Date Paid

Use ChartThis record chart

is providedfor your

convenience.Keep a record of

your monthlymeter readings,electrical use,

and bill paymentinformation.

JanuaryFebruary

MarchAprilMayJuneJuly

AugustSeptember

OctoberNovemberDecember


your power outage. The “View Out-age Map” is located under the “Energy Services” section at www.fourcty.org.

How To Read Your Electric Bill


Note: Current Rate Schedules are available on request from your local Four County Electric Office. Any changes in rates will appear in the monthly newsletter (The Connection) within Carolina Country magazine as they occur.

Make Bill Paying Easy...These services make paying your monthly bill easy: Levelized, E-Bill, Auto Pay, Online Bill Pay, Mobile App and Prepay Advantage. There are no fees for these services.

Levelized Billing • With levelized, you pay about the

same amount on your electric bill each month. Four County will av-erage your bill by dividing the total of your previous 12 months’ bills, including the current one, by 12. Your meter will be read on the same schedule as in the past.

• Taxes and other miscellaneous charges, if any, will be added to the “levelized” amount each month.

• With Levelized, you’ll never have a catch-up month because you are billed on a constantly rolling average.

• Your actual usage and dollar amount for the month will appear on each bill, followed by your balance, which is being averaged into your levelized bill. The bottom line is your payment for the month.

• By smoothing out the “hills and val-leys” of your electric bill, you won’t have to deal with higher bills during the air conditioning season, the heat-ing season, or during holidays and vacations when your other expenses may be much higher.

• Failure to make a payment by the “due date” on levelized bills will au-tomatically drop the account from the program. This program is only available on residential accounts.

E-Bill Your electric bill can be electronically formatted and sent to you via email. To sign up to have your bill emailed to you each month call our office at 1-888-368-7289 to sign up today.

The online services are designed to meet the demands of your busy schedule.

Four County EMC Payment Kiosk SitesYou can pay your Four County EMC payment at one of our payment kiosk locations. It’s easy to use and payments are posted automatically and imme-diately to your account! Check out www.PaysiteKioskLocator.com for locations, directions and hours of op-eration.• Immediate payment

posting• Easy-to-use

payment system• Convenient

locations• FREE cash/

check/card• Leave with

receipt


Auto Pay• Four County can draft your checking

or credit card account for the amount of your bill. You may choose your own date, either a specific date each month or by due date. Call our office at 1-888-368-7289 to sign up.

• We notify the bank of the amount of your bill, and it is paid by the bank from your account before the bill be-comes past due. The bank lists this amount on your monthly statement so you can keep your checking ac-count records in order. If your bank returns checks to you with the state-ment, your payment draft will be there too.

• Before setting up Auto Pay, make sure your current bill has been paid. This will give us all the information needed to notify your bank of your authorization.

• Call our office at 1-888-368-7289 to sign up. A Member Services Repre-sentative can set up a draft from your checking account, credit or debit card for payment to Four County each month.

Online Bill Pay Four County has established an online service center to make managing your account simpler. You can safely and se-curely pay your electric bill by credit card or e-check for free. All you have to do is call 1-888-368-7289 for instruc-tions to set up your account.

All sensitive information is protect-ed and cannot be viewed by the gen-eral public. You can make a payment by Visa, MasterCard, Discover Card or e-check. If you pay by e-check, the system will prompt you to enter your checking account and routing num-bers, both of which can be found on the bottom of your personal checks.

Save a stamp, and pay online!


Continued on next page


Make Bill Paying Easy...(continued)Alerts and RemindersAlerts and reminders are a fast and easy way to contact our members with payment information, account profile changes, energy usage information and more. This service gives our members a greater degree of security and account management. Go to www.fourcty.org and click “Manage Your Account” to sign up for alerts and reminders.

Mobile App The FCEMC app allows fast and secure account access so you can easily man-age your account details anywhere you go. Our app is designed to be installed on the iPhone, iPad, or the Android phone or tablet. You can easily access your account details, view your bill and account balance, make payments sign up for alerts and reminders, receive push notifications, report an outage and stay connected with us via Face-book and Twitter with our Mobile App and Mobile Web App.

The app can be found in the App Store or the Android Market. All you have to do is search FCEMC. Login to the app requires your member number and a password. Once those are entered, you can manage all of your Four County ac-counts. Download our app today and take Four County with you!

Prepay Advantage

You are in con-trol with the Prepay Advan-tage program; you purchase the electricity before you use it, just like putting gas in your car. Prepay Advantage is a “pay before use” program and an alternative to traditional monthly billing that allows participants to determine how much and how often they pay. Prepay works best for people who want to take control of their electric accounts and energy usage. By monitor-ing your usage on a daily basis, you will begin to see patterns in your day-to-day usage. Monitoring and controlling daily usage can help keep electrical cost down.

As energy is used, the account credit is reduced until either the credit is exhaust-ed or additional payments are made to the account.

Participants are free to pay as much or as often as they wish provided the account maintains a credit balance.

Payments may be made in any amount by cash, check, money order or debit/credit card. You may also pay with Four County’s mobile app, by e-check, over the phone at 1-888-368-7289, online at www.fourcty.org, at a payment kiosk site or by texting “PAY” to short code 352667.

Prepay Advantage is entirely optional. New or existing members may choose to participate in the prepay service. For additional information and/or questions about the Prepay Advantage program, please contact any of our three offices at 888-368-7289.

Outdoor Light

PowerGuard Surge Protection

Four County offers light-emitting diode (LED) lighting for a monthly charge. The cost of all materials, installation, replacement of lamps and electricity used is included in this monthly cost. If a wooden pole is required in addition to the existing distribution pole, a small monthly charge per extra pole will be made.

Four County’s PowerGuard surge pro-tection equipment protects your home electronics from surges due to bad weather, animals coming in contact with your power lines and the normal on/off cycling of large appliances.

Surge suppressors are made to protect your electronic equipment by divert-ing surges away from sensitive electric circuits.

PowerGuard offers six times more pro-tection than retail surge suppressors provide. Electronics are changing so

quickly and are sensitive to even small voltage changes that are harmful to the longevity of the equipment. Pow-erGuard devices have a higher energy rating than others in their class, which means you’re getting the best protec-tion available.

Interested in Protecting Your Home?Contact your local Four County EMC office at 1-888-368-7289 for more information and pricing. Leasing and financing options are available.


Street, flood, subdivision, commercial parking and other types of lighting are available for purchase.

Call 1-888-368-7289 for more details.


Comfort Loans Help HomeownersA Comfort Loan is a 4%-6% loan to Four County EMC members to install electric heat pumps and/or central air conditioning units. Comfort loans can also be used to make energy improve-ments in homes. Variable low interest rates are available and will be deter-mined depending on the Seasonal En-ergy Efficient Rating (SEER) of the unit.

What items can be financed through the comfort loan program?• Insulation and doors• Replacement of existing heating and/

or cooling system(s) with all-electric high-efficiency heat pump or central air conditioning unit

The maximum amount for an all- electric high-efficiency heat pump or central air conditioning unit is $6,500.

To qualify for a loan:• The property must be the member’s

primary residence• Property on which the improvements

are to be made must be titled in the member’s name

• Residence must be on a solid founda-tion

• Good credit standing with credit bureau

These requirements must be met by the applicant for loan approval:• All Four County EMC accounts must

be current and have no actual dis-connections of service

• Credit report shows (1) no unsatis-fied judgments against the customer; (2) no bankruptcy filed in the past seven (7) years

• Must have an active FCEMC account for last 12 months

All Four County EMC loans are unsecured signature loans based upon your credit standing and have no fees associated with it.

You will have up to 60 months to repay the loan. Minimum monthly payment - $25.00

How Do I Apply for a Comfort Loan?• Contact your local Four County

Office and tell them you’re interested in a Comfort Loan.

• A Marketing Representative will give you details or visit your home to discuss information required and improvements that may be needed.

A Comfort Loan is a four to six percent (4-6%) loan to Four County EMC members

to install electric heat

pumps and/or central air conditioning units.

Call 1-888-368-7289 or visit www.fourcty.org for detailed

information.

Carolina Country and The ConnectionEvery month a copy of Carolina Country, the statewide association of Cooperative’s magazine, will be mailed to each Four County member. It is also available in each of the Cooperative’s business offices. The magazine includes feature stories about electric Cooperatives throughout North Carolina as well as interesting stories about the Tar Heel state. Included within Caro-lina Country is the Four County Connection, our co-op’s monthly newsletter. The Connection serves as a medium to communicate with our members on what’s happening within our co-op on a monthly basis. We provide information on promotions of products, cooperative news,

and feature stories about members in our communities. The recipe section of the newsletter is also very popular. Please let us know what you would like to see in future issues of The Connection.

Energy Related Programs & SpeakersNeed a speaker for your club or civic organization? If so, Four County Electric may have just what you need!

We have experienced speakers available for making presentations on a variety of energy-related topics, as well as videos and slide programs.

If you would like to schedule a speaker or a program for your club, classroom or civic organization, please contact your local Marketing Representative at least three weeks prior to the meeting date.

We will be happy to speak to students, church groups, non-profit organizations and other groups who request this service.

Speakers are available to talk with civic organizations and other groups.



Operation Round Up® Provides a Helping Hand

Operation Round Up is a voluntary program through which members allow the Cooperative to “round up” their bills to

the next dollar. The additional money goes into a separate account which is earmarked for funding worthwhile community projects and helping individual members who are in unexpected crisis situations after all other sources of revenue have been exhausted.

A separate Board of Directors oversees the distribution of funds only after investigat-ing all applications. These Board members take very seriously their responsibility to investigate all requests for funding and make awards to individuals who have the most serious needs and organizations who provide services and support for Four County communities.

Organizations may submit a request annually, but no sooner than a 12 month period, regardless of whether funding was awarded. An individual may only apply once within a six year period and are eligible to receive funding twice in a lifetime.

The program is completely voluntary. Those who have more than one account may de-cide to have all their accounts rounded up. The maximum amount that can be rounded up from an individual electric bill is $11.88 per year. You can change a lot of lives with such a small contribution!

Small Change Changes

Lives!


Economic DevelopmentPlays Important Role For CommunitiesFour County Electric has been actively involved in promoting economic devel-opment and industrial development of this area. There are many good reasons for our interest:

Benefits to the Community

The economic well-being of our area benefits everyone. By attracting addi-tional business and industry, we can help in the creation of jobs, not only for the present work force, but for our young people in years to come.

When there is low unemployment, the standard of living is higher. For the Co-operative, it can mean that our mem-bers are doing better financially.

And of course, Four County EMC is al-ways happy to sell more electricity!

Evens Out Peaks

Large businesses and industrial mem-bers typically have a fairly stable need for power, which means there would be fewer peaks and valleys in their use over a day, month or even a year.

We Can Provide Assistance

We also hope to assist in preparing aid for communities to ready themselves for the new development. Our person-nel are available to supplement existing government agencies in securing grants for improved water and sewer systems, fire departments and rescue squads, and others.

With an improved economy, we expect to sell more electricity. If the popula-tion is growing, the result will be more members per mile of line. This makes it more economical to serve any given mile of line.

These effects may be gradual; but, growth and prosperity are beneficial to everyone in the long run.

Four County grants money for economic development opportunities that will ben-efit our area.

Four County EMC provides funding for shell buildings which attract new or expanding businesses to our area.


Educational and Youth Programs OfferedThe Youth Leadership Weekend

The Youth Leadership Weekend is an annual weekend camp involving 20 high school juniors from East Bladen High School, West Bladen High School, Pender High School, Heide Trask High School, Topsail High School, Union High School, Wallace-Rose Hill High School, James Kenan High School, Har-rells Christian Academy and Pend-er Early College. The purpose of the event is to provide leadership training for local young people. The weekend includes leadership training, exposure to cooperatives and positive impact sessions.

Selection of students is left up to the local schools (either through the counselors’ offices and/or through the junior class teachers).

The students also participate in a day-long C.O.P.E. (Challenging Outdoor Per-sonal Experience) course designed by counselors at Camp Kirkwood in Pender County. The seven C.O.P.E. goals are teamwork, communication, trust, leader-ship, decision-making, problem solving and self-esteem.

At the end of the weekend, the students are encouraged to write an essay about their experiences during the weekend. A selection committee judges the entries and two winners each receive a $1,000 scholarship to be given once the students are enrolled in college. Also, two students are selected by their peers, students they consider to be the best leaders of the weekend. Four County EMC sponsors both to represent the co-op at Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. in June.

Electric Safety Demonstrations

Safety demos are available to schools and civic organizations by calling Four County at 888-368-7289.

Four County sponsors 20 high school juniors each year to attend the Youth Leadership Week-end at Camp Kirkwood in Pender County.


Bright Ideas Grants

Four County is always looking for ways to help improve the communi-ties we serve. That’s why we partici-pate in NC Bright Ideas. This grant awarding program is a unique opportunity for local teachers to receive up to $2,000 for innovative teaching ideas.

Co-sponsored by the N.C. Association of Electric Cooperatives, the grants are available to teachers in area schools for projects that traditional school money does not cover. All of North Carolina’s 26 electric Cooperatives participate in the pro-gram and to date more than $12.2 million has been awarded to teachers through-out the state.

All certified elementary, middle and high school teachers in the Four County EMC service area are eligible to apply. Simply fill out an application available on our website, www.fourcty.org, detailing your unique teaching project and how it will affect students.

E-mail Gay Johnson at [email protected] for more information.

Basketball Camp Scholarships

North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives sponsor a week-long overnight basketball camp for middle school students during the summer. Each year Four County EMC sponsors one rising 6th-8th grade female student to attend the Wolfpack Women’s Basketball Camp at NC State University and one rising 6th-8th grade male student to attend the Roy Williams Basketball Camp at the Univer-sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. All expens-es for the camps will be paid for by Four County EMC. Not only does the program allow North Carolina middle school students to spend time on a college campus, it also gives them the opportuni-ty to receive individual and group instruction from two successful coaches to enhance their basketball skills and lessons in teamwork.


Right-of-Way TrimmingKeeping the power lines clear of trees and foliage undergrowth is a year-round job at your electric cooperative. It is accomplished through a variety of integrated control methods, from me-chanical to chemical herbicide applica-tion. Herbicide applications are applied between the months of May through September. All herbicides used in this process are EPA approved. Mechani-cal control methods are utilized year round.

Four County’s right-of-way mainte-nance program is set up on a revolving basis with total circuit trimming every five years, application of herbicides ev-ery three to four years, mowing of areas not yet controlled by herbicide applica-tion every three years.

Maintaining power line right-of-ways is essential in providing safe and reliable electric service. However, it is also cost-ly and is a factor in determining our best rate schedules.

Some of the cost of maintaining right-of-ways could be greatly reduced, if members would allow Four County to remove high maintenance residential (yard) trees, which grow beneath our high voltage primary power lines. Not only would this reduce maintenance costs, it would also decrease outages caused by interference of branches on the power lines, and reduce line repair costs. We encourage all FCEMC mem-bers to not plant trees under our pow-er lines which result in future mainte-nance and safety issues.

Sell-a-Tree Program

If you have a tree growing under the high voltage primary power lines in your yard, it may qualify for the Coop-erative’s “Sell-A-Tree” program.

When FCEMC right-of-way contract maintenance crews see a tree that could be removed, they will contact you in person or leave a note for you.

If there are any trees growing direct-ly beneath the high voltage lines and are subject to be trimmed, the crews will be asking our member(s) for per-mission to remove the tree(s). If a tree qualifies for removal, a Visa gift card valued at one hundred dollars ($100) will be issued at a later date. A mem-ber may be reimbursed a maximum of three (3) trees per cutting cycle.

Allowing Four County EMC to remove trees growing directly beneath high voltage power lines in your yard will help keep the cost of electric power down by eliminating the ongoing tree trimming expenses for all Cooperative members. It will also decrease safety hazards as well as service interruptions in your area.

Again, only trees growing directly be-neath the power line will qualify for removal and members will be asked for their permission before the tree is removed.


Statement of Nondiscrimination

Three Business Offices

Four County Electric Membership Corporation is the recipient of Federal financial assistance from the U.S. De-partment of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disabil-ity, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individu-al’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audio-tape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TAR-GET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).

To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civ-

Four County’s corporate office is located on Highway 53, one mile

west of Burgaw, with two additional business offices in Elizabeth-

town and Rose Hill. All offices are open Monday-Friday between 8

a.m. and 5 p.m.

Routine and regular service work is performed from each local of-

fice during normal business hours. Service personnel are on call

seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

The number to call to report an outage

or to inquire about your bill is:

1-888-368-7289

il Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call toll free (866) 632-9992 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (relay voice users). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The person responsible for the coor-dination of this organization’s nondis-crimination compliance efforts is the Vice President of Human Resources of the Cooperative.


Use Electricity WiselyFollowing certain conservation mea-sures can help cut energy costs. You can save nickels and dimes by turning off lights in your home, but you can save dollars by conserving the “big three”–heating, cooling and water heating. These energy users account for about two-thirds of the average residential power bill. These are only a few of the things you can do to get the most from your energy dollar. • Adequately insulate ceilings, floors

and walls; weatherstrip around doors; caulk around windows and wall crevices; close fireplace damper when not in use.

• Locate the water heater near the spot of greatest hot water use. State regu-lations call for the thermostat to be set no higher than 120 degrees. Insu-late the water heater and long runs of pipe leading to it.

• Wash only full loads of clothes, using cold or warm water when possible. Take short showers instead of tub baths.

• Repair leaking hot water faucets immediately. One drop per second wastes about 200 gallons of hot wa-ter per month – water you’ve already paid to heat.

• Do not over dry clothes; it is waste-ful and sets wrinkles which have to be ironed. Clean the lint filter on the dryer after each use. Dry clothes ac-cording to fabric content and weight.

• In the kitchen, use flat-bottomed pans with tight-fitting lids that are the size of the cooking element on your range. Cut off surface units a few minutes before the food is fully cooked – the stored heat will finish the job.

• Use small cooking appliances when possible, as they use much less elec-tricity than a range. And, they may also double as serving dishes.

• Replace any light bulb, especially ones that burn more than one hour per day, with a light emitting diode (LED) bulb. LEDs can help make your home more energy efficient and save you money.

• Change system filters monthly. • Set thermostat at 78 or higher in

summer, 68 or lower in winter. Pro-grammable thermostats save energy.

P.O. Box 2000 • 1822 NC Hwy 53 WestBurgaw, NC 28425

Telephone: (888) 368-7289Fax: (910) 259-1860

www.fourcty.org

LOCAL OFFICES:Burgaw Elizabethtown Rose Hill910-259-2361 910-862-3551 910-289-4534

Rev 7/19

Member Handbook · Co-op. The meeting gives members the opportunity to elect the Board of Directors...

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Transcript of Member Handbook · Co-op. The meeting gives members the opportunity to elect the Board of Directors...