Manager’s Message

Dear Members:

Director Elections

In the cooperative world, we have a truism that goes, “Good cooperatives have great boards.”

This year, Districts 1, 3, and 4 are up for election: District 1 (Quincy and Sloat areas), District 3 (Blairsden, Clio, and Portola areas), and District 4 (Calpine, Sierraville, Loyalton, and Beckwourth areas). To check which district you live in, visit the Service Area page.

If you live in 1 of the aforementioned districts and are interested in running for the board, please call me for more information. The board meets once a month, usually on the 4th Wednesday. Directors must complete training to stay current on issues and become certificated as directors.

Rates

Due to increasing costs in the years to come, the board of directors has determined the cooperative cannot eliminate the wholesale power cost adjustment fee of $.03 per kilowatt-hour during 2024. As we discussed with the members at the rate meetings in 2022 and in several issues of Ruralite, we will convert this fee into a regular rate. We will discuss this at length in upcoming issues of Ruralite, and at the annual meeting in September, and in member rate meetings in October.

May is Electrical Safety Month

At Plumas-Sierra REC, we recognize Electrical Safety Month every May, but we also know the importance of practicing safety year-round. From our co-op crews to you, and the members we serve, everyone has a part to play in prioritizing safety.

Electricity is a necessity, and it powers our daily lives. But we know firsthand how dangerous electricity can be because we work with it 365 days a year. Call (530) 832-4261 or visit the Safety Tips page for additional electrical safety tips.

As we enter spring, we know members are eager to begin yard projects. Be sure to call 811 before you dig to have utility lines marked.

Tell the operator where you plan to dig and what type of work you are doing. The affected local utilities will send locators to your property, free of charge. Once utility lines are marked, you can dig safely without causing damage.

As irrigation season approaches, we remind members to look up. Whether cutting trees, working with irrigation pipes, or other long objects, make sure you avoid power lines.

Telecommunications

Plumas-Sierra Telecommunication’s new packages are up and running! These changes went into effect on April 1. If you have any questions or would like to make changes to your package, call (530) 832-4126. For members who missed the information, our “Up to” speeds for residential were increased to 500 Mbps download and 500 Mbps upload for the Basic package and a gigabit up and down for the Family package for no extra cost to you.

Johnsville and Shaw Road are now open for sale. To get on schedule and receive free installation, contact the office at (530) 832-4126. Scott Road is also open and ready for sale.

Plumas-Sierra has been engaging with the California Public Utilities Commission to provide supplemental documentation needed for the 11 grants PST applied for last year. We hope to hear news on the FFA grants in the next few months. Additionally, PST will apply for additional state broadband grants once they are released later this year by the CPUC.

Due to a late winter this year, our crews have made significant work on our South Lassen grant. If you would like to get on the wait list for this grant, call (530) 832-4126. If you are in the grant area, keep an eye out for a flyer from PST and call (530) 832-4126 to schedule your installation.

To know if you are on a waiting list for service in your area, it’s always a good idea to call and email to make sure we have your current information on file.

While AT&T looks to leave our region, PST looks to grow and fill the gaps in service in those areas.

If you are searching for service or wondering if you should make a long-term commitment with another provider, check with us first. We hear again and again that if people knew our services were about to arrive, they wouldn’t have signed a different provider’s long-term contract.

If you haven’t already, get on our interest list or sign up for service by calling (530) 832-4261 or visiting the PST website.

Sincerely,

Bob Marshall
General Manager

Dear Members:

Thank you, Congressman Kiley!

Thanks to the efforts of U.S. Representative Kevin Kiley, Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications (PST) will be the recipient of $4.2 million in Congressionally Designated Funding to bring fiber-optic to and improve service along Plumas County road A-15. This includes the homes along A-15 and improving the backbone that connects to the Gold Mountain subdivision.

Representative Kiley came to visit Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (PSREC) and PST in February 2023. He was supportive of the co-op’s efforts to expand broadband to the constituents in our region and asked how he could help. PST staff mentioned one difficult area to serve due to the lack of facilities, which includes the homes and businesses along Plumas County Road A-15 and the Valley Ranch subdivision along Highway 89 near Clio.

We appreciate the determination and followthrough that made this happen. The federal budget has been contentious, and Representative Kiley was able to keep this funding in the budget. This area is 1 of the toughest for us to service due to Liberty Utility and AT&T owning the power poles between Portola and Gold Mountain. The $4.2 million will also pay for placing a conduit in the ground in the Valley Ranch subdivision and to the homes at the intersection of A-15 and Highway 89.

The Plumas-Sierra staff and board greatly appreciate the congressman’s efforts to improve telecommunications infrastructure in our region.

Power Outages

The amount of snow and rain our region experienced in just 72 hours during the March 1 to 4 storms was astounding.

In general, outages were almost all due to green trees in wet ground that loaded up with snow outside of our right-of-way. The systemwide outage PSREC experienced on March 3rd was due to an 85-foot tree from outside of the right-of-way near Maybe (west of Portola) falling through a transmission line.

On several occasions, our crews had to pause work due to the nonstop snowfall. We had outages in Lassen County that we couldn’t get to for several hours as it would have been dangerous for our staff to keep working.

I’m especially impressed with how hard the crew worked. Liberty Utilities, which serves Portola and Loyalton, was out for approximately 3 full days. Our crews helped the Liberty crew get the lights back on Sunday night into Monday to restore power to Portola.

The cooperative has a long history of excellence with our system reliability thanks to our Operations and Maintenance Department. In an era when large investor-owned utilities are cutting back on maintenance, PSREC has expanded its efforts with new programs, such as vegetation mastication below our lines. PSREC has 2 full electric crews, one based in Milford and another in Portola. We also have our telecommunications crew based in Portola and Milford, as well as our generation plant near Leavitt, all of whom are ready to help whether our electric or telecommunications departments need help. We also have mutual aid agreements with our fellow utilities.

Lineworker Appreciation Month

April is Lineworker Appreciation Month. PSREC lineworkers are responsible for keeping power flowing day and night, regardless of holidays, vacations, birthdays, weddings, or other important family milestones.

Beyond the years of specialized training and apprenticeships, it takes internal fortitude and a mission-oriented outlook to be a good lineworker.

In PSREC’s service territory and across the country, electric co-op lineworkers’ mindset of helping others often extends beyond their commitment to their work and into their communities.

Given the dedication of PSREC’s lineworkers—both on and off the job, and especially with the onslaught of storms throughout February and March—I encourage you to take a moment to acknowledge the many contributions they make to our community.

Telecommunications

As mentioned last month, we are delighted to share with our fiber-optic customers that we are increasing our package speeds. The Basic Package is $79 (no change) and will run at speeds up to 500 Mbps symmetrical, meaning the same speeds up and down. The Family package is $99 (no change) and will run at speeds up to 1 gigabit per second symmetrical. These changes are effective April 1 and will happen automatically. If you have any questions or would like to make changes to your package, please call 530-832-4126.

The great news on the award for A-15 is detailed above. In addition, PST crews finished the construction of our Scott Road grant. If you are in the grant area, keep an eye out for a flyer from PST and call 530-832-4126 to schedule your installation.

Due to a late winter this year, our crews have been able to make significant work on our South Lassen grant. If you would like to get on the wait list for this grant, call 530-832-4126.

PST is continuing to look at all broadband deployment grant options at the state and federal levels this year. Community and member support can play an important role in grant applications, and we may need your help documenting the need for broadband deployment in your area if plan to apply for a grant.

In the coming months, we expect to hear if PST was awarded the 10 FFA grant applications we submitted last year. While AT&T looks to leave our region, PST is looking to grow and fill the gaps in service in those areas.

If you are searching for service or wondering if you should make a long-term commitment with another provider, please check with us first. We hear again and again that if people knew our services were about to arrive, they wouldn’t have signed a different provider’s long-term contract.

We continue to expand broadband coverage throughout the region. If you haven’t already done so, get on our interest list or sign up for service by calling 530-832-4126 or visiting www.pst. coop.

Fire Prevention

As the weather improves, we will begin our right-of-way work. This includes clearing poles, trimming trees, and removing trees that threaten our rights-of-way and our communities.

Your help in this crucial, ongoing project is greatly appreciated. Our members have helped identify trees that have turned color or are clearly damaged. This is a big help—sometimes trees die and turn color after we’ve inspected them for the year.

Another way to help is cooperating when we need to remove trees. We don’t cut trees unnecessarily. It is a big expense for the cooperative. But if a tree is a hazard, we are legally required to remove it. When members cooperate with us on tree removal, it reduces our costs—which helps keep rates down—and keeps us all safe. Given California’s strict liability standard, PSREC must remove all identified hazard trees off our lines.

If you have any questions or would like more information, call 530-832-4261 ext. 6076, or email me at bmarshall@psrec.coop.

Sincerely,

Bob Marshall
General Manager

Dear Members:

Telecommunications

As technology advances, more and more data is required to support all the internet devices in your home. Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications (PST) has been investing in upgrades to our system and we are delighted to share with our fiber-optic customers that we are increasing our package speeds.

The Basic Package is $79 (no change) and will run at speeds up to 500 Mbps symmetrical, meaning the same speeds up and down. The Family package is $99 (no change) and will run at speeds up to 1 gigabit per second symmetrical.

Small commercial businesses will also see a comparable increase in speeds at no cost increase.

For those of you on our coax system, we are steadily working on converting the system from coax to fiber-optic and we are applying for grants to accelerate this process.

We are also investigating and will begin testing a new technology for our wireless customers that will give many of our wireless customers speeds similar to that of fiber-optic.

When you get internet from PST, you are supporting local jobs, local customer service, and local crews to keep the system running. Your money doesn’t leave our region. Instead, the money goes into the economy and is used for system upgrades and expanding the system.

For more information, or to sign up for internet service, call (530) 832-4126 or visit the PST website.

Our Long Valley-Greenhorn Grant Was Finally Approved for Construction!

The California Public Utilities Commission approved our Long Valley/Greenhorn grant for construction. This grant means that we will start construction on the project as the weather improves. We will be building through Greenhorn and in parts of Cromberg/Sloat including Little Long Valley Creek Road.

In addition, we have applied for an additional grant to expand the fiber-optic system to all laterals in Greenhorn and we should know about that in the next 2 months. Update on Rates and Wholesale Power Cost Adjustment.

Your board of directors reviews rates at almost all board meetings. At the January meeting, we determined that we were going to keep rates flat for 2024. We are analyzing the cost of operations for 2025 and we will be holding rate meetings later in the year if we are going to convert any of our wholesale power cost adjustments into a regular rate increase.

SmartHub

At Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (PSREC), we work hard to empower our members to take charge of their energy consumption.

SmartHub just went through a re-design! This new version of SmartHub puts your usage and payment details front and center for fast, easy access and the simplified menu structure makes navigating the site a breeze.

Through our secure SmartHub app, we have tools you can use to access your historical energy usage. This data can be graphically compared to temperature data for your area. We have observed that—while there are several other variables—the heating portion of most residential electric bills increases 3% for every degree the average daily temperature drops below 50 F.

Increased awareness of energy consumption habits allows you to choose when and how to save energy and, in turn, can lower your bill.

To access this information, create your online profile SmartHub if you have not already made one. To get started, go to the PSREC website and click the “Register for Online Access” link in the green login box.

You will need your account number and other identifying information for the primary account holder to create your SmartHub profile. If you experience any difficulty, you can call PSREC at (530) 832-4261, and we will be happy to assist you.

Members should also make sure we have your current contact information. By providing your most accurate and complete contact information, PSREC can continue to provide the high level of service that you expect and deserve. Accurate contact information enables us to improve customer service and enhance communications for reporting and repairing outages.

While we always do our best to maintain service, we occasionally plan outages to update, repair or replace equipment. In these instances, PSREC can provide advance notification to affected members through automated phone messages, text messages or email if we have your updated contact information and communication preferences.

We will never share the contact information you provide the co-op with any third parties. PSREC only uses your information to send you important notices. Take a moment to confirm or update your contact information by signing into your account at the PSREC website, through the SmartHub app, or by calling PSREC at 530-832-4261.

Get Ready for Spring Safely

Spring is just around the corner, and we are starting to make plans for outdoor projects.

While you are eager to get an early start, don’t ignore safety. Check your surroundings, both high and low. Be aware of overhead power lines when trimming trees or shrubs. If you are digging holes for new fence posts or planting trees or shrubs, call 811 before you start digging.

The process is quick and easy. The 811 call center will take your information and notify PSREC and other utilities of your request. A professional is dispatched from the co-op and other utility services to locate and mark the location of underground lines where you plan to dig. Call a few days before you are ready to work to allow for processing.

Remember to look up before moving irrigation pipes, using a ladder, installing a new antenna or flagpole, or moving large trucks, trailers or heavy equipment.

For indoor projects that involve wiring and electrical fixtures, make sure you turn the power off at the breaker panel to avoid getting shocked. Remember, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” It just might save your life.

Scholarships

Attending a college or university next fall? PSREC and Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications are offering 2 $1,000 scholarships. Full details and an application can be found at the PSREC website. The deadline to apply is April 26. Visit the PSREC website for application details.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please call me at (530) 832-4261 extension 6076 or email Bob Marshall.

Sincerely,
Bob Marshall
General Manager

Dear Members:

The electric industry is going through changes with some nearby utilities drastically increasing their rates. An advantage of a consumer-owned utility, such as Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (PSREC), is that customers of PSREC are the member-owners. You elect the board of directors, which sets policies, budgets, rates, and oversight for the business.

Consumer-owned utilities such as Plumas-Sierra REC, Lassen Municipal Utility District, and Truckee-Donner PUD are still subject to most of the regulations and market conditions, but you can rest assured the governing bodies (our board) are always advocating for member-owners. Your correspondence and critiques about the cooperative are shared with the board and staff at every board meeting.

We have never been satisfied with standing still and accepting what the utility business in California has handed us.

Over the decades, we have built our own generation, integrated with the Nevada utility grid, and built our telecommunications subsidiary so it can share electric costs as well as bring needed services.

Please let us know what you think about how the cooperative is doing. We are always willing and happy to share our plans for the future. Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications (PST) is our wholly-owned subsidiary. In addition to cost-sharing with the electric utility, PST’s goals include bringing needed telecom services to our region and encouraging economic development. The twin focus of our subsidiary is to expand to as many members and customers in our area as possible while also increasing the speeds of our packages. We are always interested in feedback from our customers on the telecom side as well.

Legislative & Regulatory Actions

We are working with our fellow utilities as part of Golden State Power Cooperative (our trade association), the Northern California Power Agency, and others in the industry on regulatory and legislative responses. We will visit Sacramento and Washington, D.C., in the coming months to advocate on the state and federal level on behalf of you, our members.

Community Solar

The PSREC Community Solar Program is still offering blocks of 100 kilowatt-hours a month to members who want to use solar. PSREC gives members the choice of a monthly adder to their existing rate or a 1-time upfront fee to participate in community solar.

The program is a great option for members who may not want to make a large upfront investment in a solar power system or who rent or live in an area where a solar power system would not produce optimal energy output. Community solar is a maintenance-free, cost-effective way to participate in renewable power without solar panels on your roof. To sign up for PSREC’s Community Solar Program, call (530) 832-4261 or visit the PSREC website.

Telecommunications

Winter is here, and Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications crews continue to build our fiber network and complete as many installations as the weather will allow. Crews have made significant progress throughout the past year replacing some of our coax network with fiber optic in areas of North Portola.

Fiber service is now available in all of Loyalton proper, and customers will receive a discounted installation fee of $99 through February 2024. Call (530) 832-4126 to get on our installation schedule.

The North and South Scott Road areas will be available for service next spring. We are delighted to continue construction on the most recent grants we received from the California PUC. As we build out, we will ensure we can serve as many people as possible along the way. Once we have our routes finalized, we will post them on the PSREC website.

Our fiber optic service offers speeds of up to 1 gigabyte per second with unlimited data. For more information, or to sign up for internet service, call (530) 832-4126 or visit the PST website.

Scholarships

2 $1,000 scholarships are available. The deadline to apply is April 26. For more information, call (530) 832-4261 extension 6076, or visit the Scholarships page.

Winter Preparedness

I would like to thank our line crews who worked tirelessly at all hours of the day and night, no matter the weather, during the recent storms to restore power as quickly as possible to our members.

As this gets to you in the heart of winter, there is still the possibility of additional major storms. PSREC provides outage notifications via email, text, social media, and our website. To receive notifications, sign into SmartHub at the PSREC website and visit the “manage notifications” section to select the alerts you would like to receive. If you need assistance, call (530) 832-4261. We are here to help you, our member-owners.

For more information on outage preparedness, visit our outage tips page at the PSREC website. You can also view areas affected by outages on the power outage map page.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please call me at (530) 832-4261 extension 6076 or email Bob Marshall.

Sincerely,
Bob Marshall
General Manager

Dear Members:

Continue To Be Prepared for Outages

Winter is here, and though Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (PSREC) has invested in system improvements, removed hazardous trees and maintained the system, outages can and will happen. Being prepared can help make the best of a bad situation. Visit the PSREC website for information on outage preparedness and electrical safety.

PSREC’s outage notification system provides localized outage information to members via text and email. To view the most up-to-date outage information or to report an outage, log in to the PSREC SmartHub app on your Apple or Android device or log in to our website. All outages should be reported to PSREC — day or night—at (530) 832-4261 or through the app.

Cyber-Attack

As many of you saw, on Friday, November 3, Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications suffered a cyberattack, shutting down our internet service for parts of the weekend.

Our staff worked around the clock to restore service, and I greatly appreciate the hard work of everyone involved.

We weren’t the only local telecommunications providers affected. Another telecommunication provider near us experienced a major outage at the exact same time.

We are working with state and federal authorities on tracking down the perpetrators, but they are likely to be foreign agents.

The staff of PST is moving rapidly to upgrade key systems and to segment our systems so any future attack, if it gets through, is smaller in scope and faster to restore.

The system that was attacked contained no sensitive customer data.

We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to prevent this from happening again.

Telecommunications

Fiber service is now available in all of Loyalton proper, and customers will receive a discounted installation fee of $99 through February 2024. Call (530) 832-4126 to get on our installation schedule.

The North and South Scott Road areas will be available for service next spring.

PST applied for 11 grants in 4 counties from the Federal Funding Account, administered by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The total grant amount requested was over $60 million. PST expects to know if we will receive the grant requests next year. Additionally, PST applied for additional California Advanced Services Fund grants totaling just over $30 million.

PST will apply for additional CASF Grant funding in 2024 along with any federal grant funding opportunities to allow PST to continue bringing service to areas in our region that are harder to reach. For our members, we apply for all grants we can to keep filling in new service areas.

To sign up for text and email notifications, log in to the SmartHub app from your mobile device or from the PSREC website, and set your notification preferences. Call (530) 832-4126 for assistance. With the SmartHub app, available for Apple and Android devices, you can pay your bill, view outage information, and contact us from the convenience of your smartphone, tablet, or other devices.

Check availability for your location at the PSREC website or by calling (530) 832-4261. PST’s internet services are unlimited; you don’t have to worry about data caps. PST offers speeds up to 1 gigabyte per second on fiber-optic service. To learn more about services or get on the interest list, visit the PST website or call (530) 832-4261.

Scholarships

PSREC and PST offer scholarships to students who receive electric or internet services from PSREC or PST at their primary residence in Plumas, Sierra, Lassen and Washoe counties. Applications and more information can be found at www.psrec.coop. The deadline is April 26.

Plumas-Sierra participates in the Washington Youth Tour program. This program provides an enriching experience to local youth that helps them discover themselves and their roles as citizens. It also introduces them to the cooperative way and teaches the value of involvement and commitment to their communities.

The Washington Youth Tour application deadline is January 12. More information is available at the PSREC website or by calling the member services department at (530) 832-4261.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please call me at (530) 832-4261 extension 6076 or email Bob Marshall.

Dear Members:

The holiday season is finally here. Some call it the most wonderful season of all because we associate it with family traditions and gatherings with friends and loved ones. It’s a time of giving and spreading joy.

Giving back reminds us of the many good things we have in our community and why it is so important to spread the good as far as we can—especially to the most vulnerable in our area. We are reminded of how wonderful our community is and the impact we have when we work together.

Through the years, the cooperative’s community-focused programs have provided donations to local schools, awarded scholarships to local youth, helped families in need keep the lights on and so much more.

We hope you have a happy and safe holiday season. If you or your family are decorating for the holidays, remember not to overload outlets and circuits, and always look up for overhead lines before you install any tall features or exhibits.

Rates

The cooperative staff and board are reviewing our rates. We are watching the wholesale cost of power at year’s end and going into the new year. Read Ruralite or visit our website or social media for more information.

Telecommunications Outage

Plumas-Sierra’s Telecommunications electronic system controlling our internet service was cyber-attacked on November 3, which caused a disruption in service to our customers. We worked over the weekend to identify the problem, remedy it, and restore service. We are working with the appropriate government authorities to identify the attacker, but we cannot provide further information at this time.

Service to all residential customers has been restored. If you are still without service, try power cycling your modem and router. If, after rebooting your equipment, you are still without service, call technical support at (888) 246-0047 for fiber, wireless, and satellite services and (844) 259-1439 for coax services.

We understand the impact this outage has had on the communities we serve and do not take that lightly. We will provide more details regarding the outage as we have them. Again, thank you to our customers for your patience and to our crews who worked day and night over the weekend to restore service as quickly as possible.

Capital Credits

Each year, the cooperative allocates the margins from the previous year back to members in proportion to the revenue from each member. These allocations are the basis of your capital credits. Over time, the board of directors votes to return the margins from past years to each member. In most years, the yearly allocation is a positive number.

However, we don’t always have a positive margin — due to the high cost of power, Plumas-Sierra REC lost money in 2022. As a result, each member’s overall capital credits will be reduced based on the same allocation we use to increase it in years with a positive margin. This negative allocation is not billed to our members, and there is no impact beyond raising rates going forward to make sure we meet our required financial ratios from our lenders.

Telecommunications

Have you visited PST’s Facebook page lately?

If you are curious and want the most up-to-date information about PST, you can find us on Facebook under Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications. If you can, take a moment to review us on Google, Yelp, and Facebook.

We post systemwide outage notifications and other information, such as updates and tips. If you are not on Facebook, no worries. Visit www.pst.coop to stay informed. You can also receive outage information via text message and email.

To sign up for text and email notifications, log in to the SmartHub app from your mobile device, or from the PST website and set your notification preferences. Please call us at (530) 832-4126 for assistance.

With the SmartHub app, available for Apple and Android devices, you can pay your bill, view outage information and contact us from the convenience of your smartphone, tablet or other devices.

PST is seeing progress with the approvals for the current set of grants and is working with cooperative vendors on getting access to hard-to-find equipment so we can expand our system as fast as possible.

Check availability for your location at www.pst.coop or by calling (530) 832-4261. PST’s internet services are unlimited; you don’t have to worry about data caps. PST offers speeds up to 1 gigabyte per second on fiber-optic service. To learn more about services or get on the interest list, visit the PST website or call (530) 832-4261.

Thank you for your support of PSREC and the common needs of our community. If you have any questions, call (530) 832-6076 or email Bob Marshall.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! We hope you have a safe holiday season.

Sincerely,

Bob Marshall
General Manager

Dear Members:

As we head into winter, being prepared for an emergency and knowing what to do during an outage are vital for personal safety and quick restoration of power. During a prolonged power outage or other emergency, this means having enough food, water and supplies to last at least a few days.

Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (PSREC) is proud of its efforts to keep the lights and internet on. But sometimes, circumstances beyond our control can leave us in the dark.

I want to remind members of our community about the power of preparation. There are several practical steps you can take to keep your family safe.

Even at a modest level, preparation can help reduce stress, anxiety and lessen the impact of an emergency event. We recommend starting with the basics.

Here are the general guidelines recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Assemble a grab-and-go disaster kit. Include items like nonperishable food, water (1 gallon per person, per day), diapers, batteries, flashlights, prescription medications, first-aid kit, battery-powered radio and phone chargers. Develop a plan for communicating with family and friends–via text, social media, third party, etc. Have some extra cash available; during a power outage, electronic card readers and cash machines may not work. Store important documents–birth certificates, property deed, etc. — in a safe place away from home, such as a bank safe deposit box. Fill your car with gas.

Additionally, install surge protectors on sensitive electronics and appliances. Buy surge protectors that have a warranty for your connected load. Once we get to winter and the storms hit, if your lights start to flicker, turn off and unplug sensitive electronic equipment immediately and reduce any unnecessary load.

Caring for Vulnerable Family Members

If you have older family members or those with special needs, make sure they have enough medication and supplies for a few days. If they don’t live with you, arrange for a neighbor to check on them. If someone in your home depends on life-sustaining equipment, plan for backup power and call our office at (530) 832-4261.

Install surge protectors on sensitive electronics and appliances. Buy surge protectors that have a warranty for your connected load. Once winter arrives and the storms hit, if your lights start to flicker, turn off and unplug sensitive electronic equipment immediately and reduce any unnecessary load.

For more information on outage preparedness and safety, visit the PSREC website. To receive outage updates via text message, log in to SmartHub and set your notification preferences. If you need assistance signing up for outage communications, call 530 832-4261.

Winter Rate Assistance Program

We are accepting applications for the Winter Rate Assistance Program, which offers a discounted rate November through April to income-qualified members. WRAP provides information to help members conserve energy and offers a discounted electric rate during the heating season. For more information and a WRAP application, visit the PSREC website or call 530 832-4261.

Telecommunications

Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications continues to focus on construction of many projects in its grant areas. The Long Valley-Spring Garden grant project is in the last stages of environmental review.

The Scott Road grant project is well underway, with the main fiber line in place and final construction estimated to be completed in 2024. Construction has begun for the South Lassen grant project.

Additionally, PST is converting some of its coaxial infrastructure to fiber in Portola and will have additional areas being converted this month.

PST submitted 11 applications to the California Public Utilities Commission’s Federal Funding Account for grant funding in September. PST anticipates a response in early spring of 2024.

Our fiber optic services can go as fast as 10 Gbps download, with dedicated business services available, if needed. With these speeds, you can stream videos on multiple devices at the same time without slowing down. You could even eliminate your cable or satellite TV bill with streaming services. For more information about products, including coverage maps, visit the Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications website or call 800-221-3474.

Fort Sage Project Grant

We are pleased to announce the cooperative received a grant from the Defense Community Infrastructure Program for $8.9 million to help pay for the Fort Sage transmission line and associated substations.

The Fort Sage project is key to improving the reliability of the wholesale power supply for our region. The grant was made possible due to the support of Sierra Army Depot’s staff and commander. This grant will pay for approximately ⅓  of the total cost of the project, reducing the impact on members.

At our 2023 annual meeting, 1 of the most common electric concerns was how the electric grid will hold up if everything, including transportation, is electrified. This project will improve the transmission reliability of the electric grid beyond our control.

We have applied for additional grants and low-interest loans from the Inflation Reduction Act on the electric side, and additional telecommunication expansion funds from the California PUC.

If you have any questions, call (530) 832-6076 or email Bob Marshall.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season!

Sincerely,

Bob Marshall
General Manager

Dear Members:

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our 2023 annual member meeting. It was our 1st meeting back in person in 4 years (since 2019), and it was great to be with you all again. If you missed it, a recording of the meeting can be viewed by checking Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (PSREC) on YouTube.

It was a full house with a delicious dinner served by Paul and Sheri Roen. 1 lucky member went home with a $500 credit toward their electric bill.

Member and Energy Services Manager Emily Compton announced the winners of the 2023 PSREC Photo Contest and the scholarship and Youth Tour winners.

The American Legion Post #329 of Portola opened the meeting with the presentation of colors. Pastor Mike Preston, of the Graeagle Community Church, gave the invocation.

During the event, Aaron Whitfield, chief operating officer of Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications, highlighted plans for broadband expansion in the region. He updated the membership on the latest round of California Advanced Services Fund grants PST has received and where those grant projects are located. For more information on our broadband services, visit the Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications website.

Randy Howard, general manager of the Northern California Power Agency, and Jackie Coombs, of the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, provided updates on the electric industry during the meeting. They discussed key issues facing cooperatives and the electric utility industry, including power supply and the recent strains on the California electric grid.

Board President Fred Nelson reviewed accomplishments for the year and discussed power issues including hydropower and natural gas prices, which moderated for the 1st part of the year. The wholesale power cost adjustment was reduced by $0.01 earlier this year, and the board will continue to review rates at upcoming board meetings. Fred also discussed the settlement payment PSREC received from the Central Valley Project settlement with the Bureau of Reclamation and our continued expansion of telecommunications.

As part of the general manager’s presentation, I dove into the cooperative’s financial requirements and the importance of rebuilding the cooperative’s cash position after last year. In the meeting, I expressed my gratitude to PSREC employees for their hard work keeping the lights and internet service on for our members. The board and I could not be prouder of the employees of PSREC and PST throughout the last year.

We also had a Q&A session where I addressed a variety of member questions. Topics covered included fiber-optic service availability, net-metering solar pricing and storage.

The board of directors is the governing body for PSREC and PST. They set policy, strategic direction, rates and budgets. They attend classes and work hard to understand the complexities of the electric utility industry and the telecommunications business. We thank them all for their hard work and commitment to PSREC.

The membership elected Tom Hammond, District 6, and Nancy Miller, District 7.

WRAP Program

PSREC offers a discounted rate for qualifying members through the Winter Rate Assistance Program. The discounted rate is available for November through April electricity use to income-qualified members.

For more information and an application, visit Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative or call (530) 832-4261.

Affordable Connectivity Program

The Affordable Connectivity Program is a Federal Communications Commission benefit program that helps ensure households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, health care, and more.

The benefit provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. The Affordable Connectivity Program is limited to 1 monthly service discount and 1 device discount per household.

For more information, visit the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative website or call (530) 832-4261.

If you have any questions, you can email Bob Marshall or call (530) 832-4261, extension 6076.

Sincerely,

Bob Marshall
General Manager

Dear Members:

The 2023 annual meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 7 at the Sierra Valley Grange Hall in Vinton. The August issue of Ruralite contained voting materials for the director election. You can watch the meeting live on YouTube by visiting our website and clicking the link on the banner at the top of the page or on YouTube.

Up for election are District 6 (North Doyle, Milford, and Herlong areas) served by Tom Hammond, and District 7 (Edgemont and Levitt areas) served by Nancy Miller. You can find our YouTube channel by clicking on the link.

We hope you will join us for an informative evening with updates, election results, and a Q&A session. We encourage you to submit questions in advance via email.

Rates
As mentioned in our previous column, the cooperative has reduced our wholesale power cost adjustment by 25% or 1 cent per kilowatt-hour. We are watching power supply conditions in the Nevada and California markets before we make any other adjustments.

Wildfire Season/Public Safety Power Shutoffs

As we get into the height of fire season, we want everyone to be prepared for potential outages. In the past, when PG&E had public safety power shutoffs, we have been able to stay on due to our backup power line to Nevada. However, this feed from Nevada is also subject to power safety shutoffs. If all our feeds go down, we will be without power. We’ve been lucky in that the conditions facing western Plumas County are different enough from eastern Sierra and Nevada counties that these outages haven’t occurred at the same time.
Please be prepared for outages. We maintain our system as best as we can, but we are subject to outages caused by our transmission providers.

Telecommunications

PST crews are finishing the final construction work in the Lake Davis area. Please call our office at (530) 832-4261 to schedule your installation and see if you are eligible for free installation.

Earlier this summer, PST submitted thirteen additional grant applications to the California Advanced Services Fund in Plumas, Sierra, and Lassen Counties to continue the expansion of broadband coverage to the hardest-to-reach parts of our service area. We will not know officially if we have received these grants until February 2024. PST will apply for additional CASF grants next year.

PST will be applying later this year for federal grant funding through the Last Mile Federal Funding Account that is administered by the California Public Utilities Commission. If you haven’t already signed up for service or want to be added to our interest list, call (530) 832-4261 or visit the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative website.

WRAP Program

Income-qualifying members can receive discounted rates through our Winter Rate Assistance Program. The discounted rate is available for November through April electricity use. For more information and an application, visit the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative website or call (530) 832-4261.

Affordable Connectivity Program

The Affordable Connectivity Program is a Federal Communications Commission benefit program that helps ensure households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare, and more. The benefit provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. The Affordable Connectivity Program is limited to 1 monthly service discount and 1 device discount per household. For more information, visit the Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative website or call (530) 832-4261.

Youth Opportunities

As part of our commitment to the communities we serve, PSREC and its subsidiary offer life-changing opportunities to local youth, such as our scholarship program. Keep an eye out for the Youth Tour Scholarship application in the November edition of Ruralite. Area high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors have the chance to win an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., next summer to participate in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Electric Cooperative Youth Tour leadership program. One local winner will be among 1,500 high school students chosen from across the nation to tour Washington, D.C., in June 2024. These programs provide enriching experiences to help young people discover themselves and their roles as citizens. They also introduce them to the cooperative way, teaching the value of involvement and commitment to their communities. If you have any questions, please call (800) 555-2207 extension 6076, or email Bob Marshall.

Sincerely,
Bob Marshall
General Manager

A Letter to the Members

Dear Members:

The 2023 annual meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, September 7 at the Vinton Grange Hall. Additionally, we will broadcast the meeting via our YouTube channel. To join the meeting, visit our website and click the link in the banner at the top of the page or watch via YouTube.

If you are not attending in person, we encourage members to send questions in advance by email us or by the form included in your voting packet. We will also take questions through the chat function during the meeting. The year 2022 was a challenging but produc- tive year for Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative and Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications.

The issue impacting the cooperative the most in 2022 was the incredible increase in the cost of wholesale power and natural gas during 2022 as compared to 2021. It was a perfect storm for PSREC, as the 2021 to 2022 drought in California greatly reduced how much hydropower the cooperative received at the same time the Russian invasion of Ukraine spiked natural gas prices throughout the United States.

Natural gas prices set the cost of wholesale power in California and the West, especially in dry years. High natural gas prices also affect our operations of the High Sierra Co-Generation plant. Further compounding power supply was the overall sup- ply of power in California, with multiple months where the supply was right at the limit, which drove prices up for August, September and October.

Lastly, there was a massive spike in the price of natural gas and wholesale electricity in December 2022 and January 2023 that drove both natural gas and power prices to 1,000% or more of normal. This led to significant losses to the cooperative we have reported on in our financial statements. All this was on top of the increase in PG&E’s transmission rates—now amongst the highest in the nation—and the impact of the closure of CCC prison.

Per the terms of our mort- gage with the USDA Rural Utility Service, we must meet financial ratios 2 out of every three years. Having missed our 2022 ratios by quite a bit, we must collect enough revenue to meet our ratios in 2023 and 2024. We increased our base rates in November and then added a wholesale power cost adjustment of 2 cents per kilowatt-hour on the January bill, and then an additional 2 cents on the February bill for a total of 4 cents per kWh. We use the WPCA for temporary rate increases.

There is some good news in 2023. We are having a better year with our power supply. Prices for natural gas, and therefore the electricity market, have started to drop closer to 2021 levels. In addition, it’s a good hydropower year, which will help us recover from the losses from last year.

As of July’s billing that goes out July 31, we reduced the WPCA by 25%. It is now down to 3 cents per kWh. Our goal is to reduce the WPCA further at year’s end, depending on wholesale power costs and our ability to restore our financial position to where it was before 2022.

PSREC continues to improve system reliability and response times through its supervisory control and data acquisition system. We continued increased vegetation management and the removal of hazard trees on the system to improve reliability and fire safety. We appreciate the increased cooperation from members on this key reliability.

Sincerely,

Bob Marshall
General Manager