3AUGUST 2016

VIGILANTE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC.VIGILANTE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

P.O. Box 1049, Dillon, MT 59725-1049(406) 683-2327 or (800) 221-8271

Web site: www.vec.coopE-mail: contact@vec.coopOWNED BY THOSE WE SERVE

By Dan Snellman

Iwas born and raised on aranch in Medicine Lake,Montana. While growing

up, Mom and Dad taught uskids that with a lot of hardwork you can achieve justabout anything, and that hasheld true in my career. Mydad was a lineman forSheridan Electric for 30years, working his way to theforeman position. By watch-ing my Dad and listening tohim tell stories about whatlinemen do, I decided thatwas what I wanted to do. When I got out of high

school, I decided to go tolineman school in Bismarck,North Dakota. That turnedout to be a really good deci-sion because that is where Imet my wife of 42 years,Jane. I knew from the begin-ning I wanted to work at fora co-op, so while going toschool I started sending let-

ters to a few co-ops inMontana, and got an offerwith Big Flat Electric inMalta. Two weeks before Iwas supposed to start, theirmanager called me and saidthey had a huge ice stormand about half their systemwas laying on the ground. Soin May 1974 I headed toMalta to start my 42-year

career.I learned a lot in a

short period of timefrom Smock Mann, JaySouthwich and BillHenderson while tryingto get the system backup. We worked 16hours a day, 7 days aweek for as long as wecould take it. What away to start. Even backthen I knew I hadmade the right decisiongoing to work for a co-op. I made $4/hour andJane worked as a LPNat the hospital for$2/hour. That was a lot

of money back in those days.I got laid off in February

of 1976, and got a job atLower Yellowstone RuralElectric Cooperative inSidney in March, when theoil boom was in full swing.However, we made a fewtrips out to Missoula to visitan uncle of mine and fell inlove with the mountains. Wedecided we wanted to liveout west, so in May 1978 Iapplied for a lineman job atthe Townsend outpost forVigilante ElectricCooperative. Within a weekGeneral Manager WilburAnderson called and offeredme the job. Boy was I surprised when I

got to Townsend by how oldand outdated the equipmentwas compared to the othertwo co-ops I had worked for.We had no bucket trucks andjust some old highway diggertrucks. We finally got ourfirst bucket truck forTownsend in 1985, whenForeman Dick Evans retired.Bob Curtis and I asked DaveAlberi, the engineer at thetime, if we could get a buckettruck instead of hiring anoth-er lineman. Dave agreed, soBob and I took care of theTownsend area until we hiredJohn Moos.I really enjoyed being a

lineman, but in the back ofmy mind I always wanted tobe the line superintendent. In1993, when HeineRichardson decided to retire,I applied for the job. Thatwas a tough decision. We had

Reflection on a Wonderful Journey

Dan Snellman

OutageNotificationNumbers

M-F 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.683-2327 or

(800) 221-8271

DillonAfter Hours Mon. - Thurs.

Justin Bair ..........925-1540Gary Ferris ..........683-6321Cody Tarter..........925-3326

Weekends683-2327 or

(800) 221-8271

WhitehallAfter Hours and Weekends

Marty Simons ......287-3950Chuck Romerio ....491-5466Zach Maershbecker ...701-290-9265

TownsendAfter Hours and Weekends

John Moos ..........266-3605Chase White ........459-3892Marty Simons ......287-3950

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Your dedication and loyalty to this organizationclearly is a benchmark for all of us to follow.It has been a pleasure

working with you, Dan! Yourleadership and integrity inleading the operations staffwill be missed. A new chapteris starting at VigilanteElectric and in your life, andwe wish you and Jane all thebest in your retirement.

– Rollie Miller, VEC Manager

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“

The amount of resourcesand money that isbeing committed to the

reduction of energy usagethrough efficiency is quiteremarkable. Three years ago,I used these pages to educateour members with small busi-nesses about high-efficiencyfluorescent light, and theincentives available to helpwith upgrades. Today we aredoing the same thing; howev-er the incentives areimproved and the technologyis LED (light-emittingdiode).LED is an electronic

device that emits light whenan electrical current is passedthrough it. The energy-efficient nature of LEDsallows them to producebrighter light than other typesof bulbs while using lessenergy. The LED is one oftoday’s most energy-efficientand rapidly developing light-ing technologies. QualityLED light bulbs last longer,are more durable, and offercomparable or better lightquality than other types oflighting. Currently, there is an effort

being put forth to encouragethe adoption of LED technol-ogy in the commercial sector.Working in conjunction withBonneville PowerAdministration (BPA), ourSmall Business LED promo-tion will pay 100 percent ofinstalled costs up to 23 centsper kilowatt hour of the esti-mated first-year savings onqualified projects. If you are a small business

owner, you probably do notgive much thought to yourlighting. However, thinkabout why your lights are on,how long they are on andwhat the effect is on yourelectric bill. Lighting is anessential part of your busi-

ness that it is costing youmore than you think, and alot more than necessary.According to the Small

Business Administration,lighting could be 20 percentto 50 percent of your annualbill. It is estimated that withupgrades and good lightingdesign, energy consumed bylighting could be cut in half,while maintaining or improv-ing lighting quality. Properlighting also supports thebuildings’ occupants. Studiesindicate that a building’slighting directly affects thecomfort, mood, productivity,

health and safety of its occu-pants.To illustrate, let’s start with

some terminology and thenprovide a simple example.Many businesses have linearfluorescent lighting. Youmight have heard the term“T8 with electronic ballasts.”T8 indicates the lamp diame-ter, measured in eighths of aninch (a T8 measures oneinch). The ballast is the com-ponent that controls the start-ing and operational voltageof the fixture.Say your business has 10

T8 light fixtures. Each fixture

has four 32-watt lamps thatare four feet long. For thisexample, the fixture wattage(ballast and lamps) is 118watts. The business is openseven days a week for 10hours a day, making the elec-trical consumption for thelights 11.8 kilowatt hours perday or 354 kilowatt hoursover a 30-day billing cycle.If we replace these with

15-watt LED T8 replacementlamps, the fixture wattagecomes down to 60 watts perfixture. Under these condi-tions, the monthly kilowatthour usage would be 180kilowatt hours, a 49 percentreduction. To qualify, your business

must be served by VigilanteElectric and be less than20,000 square feet. A reviewof the project specificationsand business site is requiredprior to any work being done.Only prequalified LED lightsare eligible, and this incen-tive ends March 15, 2017.For questions regarding thisprogram, or to have a freelighting audit of your busi-ness call our Dillon office at683-2327 or (800) 221-8271.

Women and Cooperatives

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Looking at Lighting (Again)Small Business LED Promotion

By Adam Schwartz

In honor of Women’sEquality Day on August26, let’s take a look at the

roles women play in cooper-atives across the globe. Eventhough women in the U.S.and U.K. were not allowedto vote until the early 1900s,women were granted equalvoting rights in the firstmodern era cooperative, TheRochdale Pioneers EquitableSociety. Established in 1844in Rochdale, England, the

co-op’s founders agreed thatwomen should have equalvoting rights. So you see,treating women equally hasbeen baked into our coopera-tive DNA right from thestart. And the cooperativebusiness model continues tochampion women’s equalityacross the globe.According to a 2015 glob-

al study conducted by theCommittee for thePromotion and Advancementof Cooperatives, co-ops havean increasingly positive

impact on women and theirinclusion in the labor force,and enhance women’s abilityto achieve positions ofauthority (both within andoutside of the co-op).In developing countries ––

where women have long suf-fered due to biased culturalnorms, government policyand lack of opportunities ––the role cooperatives play inthe lives of women, as wellas the role women play incooperatives, is now more

In the foreground is a fixture with new LED lamps, the background has fixture standard T8 fluorescent lamps.

Continued on page 6

Allen, Dan W./Lisa S. Eugene OR

American Gen FinanceHelena MT

Anderson, LizDillon MT

Andrews, TinaN Las Vegas NV

Armenta-Day, AntoniaStockton KS

Arrigoni, JenniferDillon MT

Austin, Bill/Grace, SherieFargo ND

Avila, DianeHanford CA

Baker, JoshHelena MT

Baldock, CarolWhitehall MT

Ball, ClaudiaManhattan MT

Barth, GregDillon MT

Bartle, SteveThree Forks MT

Bauman, Jack/Mooney, RobynGreat Falls MT

Becky, RobertButte MT

three boys in school, we hada lot of really good friendsand Bob and I had becomebest of friends. As it turnedout it was a great decision.When I came over to

Dillon I was overwhelmed onhow big the area was andhow much I had to learn.Heine was really helpful inshowing me the area and heknew everyone and the histo-ry of the area. Dave taughtme a lot about surveyinglines and other engineering. Dave and I worked togeth-

er for many years and had a

great working relationshipand became very goodfriends. I was fortunate tohave area foremen BillHugulet in Whitehall andBob Curtis in Townsend, andwhen they retired, MartySimons and John Moos tookover those areas respectivelyand have done a great job.There have been a lot of

changes over the last 38years at Vigilante. We havegrown in size as an organiza-tion, we have newer and bet-ter equipment, and the linecrews are great. In fact, wehave almost the same numberof employees as we did 30years ago. It is amazing howmuch hot work our linemen

do now, how good theyare at it and how safelythey do it. We havereally improved on oursafety program andwork every day onmaking it better.The technology has

also changed, fromhandwritten stakingsheets and mapping tocomputerized sheetsand maps; from physi-cally reading meters tonew automatic readingmeters, and frommechanical oil circuitreclosers to electronic.We have always had a

great office staff, a reallygood Board of Trustees andgood managers. Rollie Millerand I have worked welltogether, and he will keepVEC moving in the rightdirection. VEC has a verylow turnover rate, which is atestament to how great acompany we have. LindaMeine and I have workedtogether for more than 38years, and she’s still going. I think she will have morethan 40 years when sheretires.I would also like to thank

all of the linemen’s wives,my wife included, for all theafter-hour phone calls theytake during power outages —day and night. Great job gals!

Over the years I’ve gotten towork with a lot of great co-workers, suppliers and con-tractors, and have mademany new friends from otherco-ops around the states.Looking back over the

years I can’t think of any-thing I would do different.For the most part I lookedforward to going to workevery day. I’m sure I willmiss going to work a littlebit, but it’s time to do sometraveling, fishing, hunting,golfing and especially seeingour kids and grandkids more.I wish Justin Bair and hisfamily the best of luck intheir new journey, and amconfident he will do a greatjob.

AUGUST 2016

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JourneyContinued from page 3

I have worked with Dan for his entire career atVigilante Electric. Dan is the perfect example of a ‘company’ man, or in our casea ‘cooperative’ man. He hasalways put the interest of themembers first. His work ethicis exemplary, the likes ofwhich will be hard to equal. I wish him the best as hejourneys into this new phaseof his life. See you on the golf course, my friend.

– Linda Meine, VEC staff assistant

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New Line Superintendent Justin Bair, Dan Snellman andGeneral Manager Rollie Miller.

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Vigilante Electric Cooperative is currently trying to locate the following individuals for payment of CapitalCredits. If you have any information regarding names on this list please contact us.Vigilante Electric Coop., Inc. • PO Box 1049 ·Dillon MT 59725 • MT Toll Free 800-221-8271 or 683-2327

Capital Credits

meaningful than ever.In Paraguay, a South

American country borderedby Brazil and Argentina,gender equality has trans-formed the ManduviraSugarcane Cooperative.This fair-trade sugar co-op

has seen a dramatic increasein the participation of femalemembers and leaders.Manduvira is a multi-serviceco-op with two types ofoperations: organic, fair-trade sugar production, andsavings and credit. In bothof its operations, Manduvirahas seen a significantincrease in its success aswomen’s participation

grows. According to several

co-op leaders in Manduvira,female members are generally more likely toapply what they learn intrainings and adopt newfarming techniques com-pared to their male counter-parts. Because women aremore likely to adopt newtechnologies and the co-ophas seen a higher percentageof women in leadershiproles, the co-op has becomestronger and more stable.This is just an example

from one cooperative. InSouth Africa, women makeup 60 percent of co-op mem-bers from nearly all sectors.In Japan, women make up95 percent of co-op mem-bers in consumer coopera-

tives and hold key gover-nance positions. And globally, more women joinsavings and credit coopera-tives, giving them increasedaccess to financial resources. Right here at Vigilante

Electric Cooperative, twowomen serve on our board(Cheyenne Garrison andSharon Lasich), one servesin a leadership position(Raquel Reno-Morast) andfive work hard to help makethe co-op run smoothly (JoyBritton, Jackie Clark, BarbDelano, Emily May andLinda Meine). Treatingeveryone equally and ensur-ing folks have fair opportu-nities is the cooperative wayof doing business.

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PrescriptionDiscount Tracker

Vigilante Electric

Cooperative, Inc.

Total Paid Claims YTD ........509Total Savings YTD ..$16,983.88Total Savings Percentage ................39.62%

June Paid Claims ....................5June Savings................$686.21June Savings Percentage ................78.24%

Beebe, Brent c/o Daryl BrassfieldTownsend MT

Benales, MickLima MT

Big Iron Equipc/o Dave MoodyWhitehall MT

Billmayer, DeanTownsend MT

Blake, ShawnHelena MT

Blaskovic, BrankoTownsend MT

Bomar, WilliamBuffalo WY

Bousquet, JessicaSeeley Lake MT

Boyce, MargannFlasher ND

Boyles, DebraBoise ID

Braesch-Robinson, VictoriaPrairie City OR

Brant, StevenBoise ID

Brower, BevDillon MT

Brown, Gary/KelliGrand Rapids MN

Brown, MickyKalispell MT

Brundage, KevinDillon MT

Bryant, SharonSt Joseph MO

Bunyard, WarrenButte MT

Carroll, Douglas/CarolDillon MT

Carson, Joe / GuinDillon MT

Carte, GraceEnnis MT

Cassero, TimaBelgrade MT

Chevalier, MelissaRangely CO

Chichester, IsrealClearfield UT

Christensen, JohnnyCheyenne WY

Christiaens, TassieConrad MT

Clark, CodyDillon MT

Clark, Nathaniel / JoySeeley Lake MT

Clay, LorettaFields OR

Clos, TamaraHelena MT

Coburn, TamiMissoula MT

Cole, Michael/JudyThree Forks MT

Collins, SteveButte MT

Colucci, VinceMissoula MT

Comeau, ElaineLivingston MT

Conrad, RaymondTownsend MT

Cooper, La DaleDillon MT

Cox, BrandiSouthern Pines NC

Cox, Kenneth/KarenLas Vegas NV

Crowe, DaleBozeman MT

Day, Cory M.Hood River OR

Deborde, IncHelena MT

Delaney, RickFruita CO

Denny, Terri/Winstead, CharlesDillon MT

Detner, KevinChoteau MT

WomenContinued from page 4

Capital CreditsContinued from page 5

CAPITAL CREDITS

Continued next month