Dear Members:
Your Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative (PSREC) board of directors has rebalanced the districts based on total members in each district to make them more even while keeping consistency as much as possible between communities. The changes are as follows:
- District 1 (Dr. Larry Price) covers Quincy to the northern part of Plumas-Eureka Estates. There is no change for this district.
- District 2 (Dick Short) covers Graeagle, Mohawk, and Johnsville. District 2 will no longer cover the southern part of Plumas- Eureka Estates.
- District 3 (Fred Nelson) covers Whitehawk, Clio, Gold Mountain, Blairsden, and C-Road. This district no longer covers the north side of Highway 70 between Blairsden and Portola.
- District 4 (Dave Roberti – current director) covers all of Sierra Valley and will now include Scott Road.
- District 5 (David Hansen) covers Red Rock, Doyle, and Herlong east of Lassen County road A-26.
- District 6 (open) covers the Grizzly Road area, Lake Davis, the north side of Portola, the north of Highway 70 from Portola to Blairsden, along with the southern and western part of Plumas-Eureka Estates.
- District 7 (Nancy Miller) covers Highway 395 starting at Lassen County road A-26 and all members west of A-26 and all members north of the intersection of A-25 and 395.
All directors represent their specific district but are elected by the full membership.
The board has sent each member in District 6 a notice of the opening on the board for that district. Members from District 6 have until April 8 to complete the application, which can also be found on our website. The regular election for Districts 6 and 7 will occur starting at the beginning of August and will culminate at the annual meeting on September 10.
Director Duties
PSREC is a private corporation, owned by those it serves. The job of a director of an electric cooperative is similar to that of a school board, CSD board, recreation department board, college board, county supervisor, city councilmember, or nonprofit organization. The board sets policy, approves budgets and fees (rates), takes feedback from the membership, hires the cooperative’s general manager, develops strategic plans, and monitors the execution of the cooperative’s plans and programs by staff.
Board meetings are once a month, with the expectation that a director will attend initial training (1 weeklong) and a regional or national meeting once or twice per year.
Board members do not receive a salary, but there is a per-diem for attending meetings.
For more information, questions, or if you are interested in running for a seat on the board, contact Bob Marshall at 530-832-6076 or Executive Assistant Kaitlyn Beaver at (530) 832-6060.
Outage Management System
When outages occur on the PSREC system, the Outage Management System automatically sends outage notifications to members who have signed up. The outage map also updates in real time, so members can see what areas are affected by the outage.
Members have several ways to report an outage. To report an outage, call the PSREC office at (530) 832-4261 and press 1.
Members can also report the outage via SmartHub at the top of the app home screen.
We also have a rotating on-call communications team that provides more detailed outage information to members as outages occur via text, social media, email, and on our website. These updates are focused on the system status, what caused the outage, and when power will be restored.
To sign up for outage notifications, call (530) 832-4261 or visit the SmartHub app. In the app, click on “Settings” and then “Manage Notifications.”
SmartHub is a great resource for members. You can pay your bill, view our outage map, sign up for outage and billing notifications, and view your payment history, among many other features.
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, an electric co-op lineworker’s mindset of helping others often extends beyond their commitment to their work and into their communities.
Given the dedication of PSREC’s lineworkers—on and off the job, and especially when big storms occur—I encourage you to take a moment to acknowledge the many contributions they make to our community.
Telecommunications
Due to a mild winter this year, our crews have made significant progress on building our fiber network. The Sierra Brooks area is now ready for installation, along with most of Quincy, Portola, Loyalton, and Graeagle.
If you are searching for broadband service or wondering if you should make a long-term commitment with another provider, please check with us first. We hear repeatedly 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) 832-4261 or visiting the Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications website.
Fire Prevention
As the weather improves, PSREC begins right-of-way maintenance. This includes clearing poles, trimming trees, and removing trees that threaten our rights of way and communities.
Your help with 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 members can help is by understanding and cooperating when we need to remove trees. We don’t cut trees unnecessarily. It is a big expense for the cooperative. However, 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 us maintain rates and keeps the community safe. Given California’s strict standard of liability, PSREC must remove all identified hazard trees from our lines.
If you have any questions or would like more information, call (530) 832-4261 extension 6076 or email Bob Marshall.
Sincerely,
Bob Marshall
General Manager