Manager’s Message – February 2024

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