Manager’s Message — January 2020

Dear Members:

Happy New Year! 2019 was a full, productive year for Plumas-Sierra Rural Electric Cooperative and Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications.

We are pleased to announce we were awarded the five California Advanced Services Fund grants we applied for to bring broadband services to the hardest-to-reach areas of our region. We will begin construction of the projects during the first quarter of 2020.

PSREC continued its increased vegetation management and removal of hazard trees on the system to improve reliability and fire safety. We appreciate the increased cooperation we have had from our members on this key reliability and safety issue. PSREC also continued to improve system reliability and response times through our supervisory control and data acquisition system. State law requires that all property owners allow cooperative staff and contractors to remove hazard trees that meet the state definition.

Be Prepared for Outages

Even though your cooperative has invested in system improvements, removed hazard trees and kept up its ongoing maintenance, outages can and will happen. Being prepared can help make the best of a bad situation. Please visit www.psrec.coop for information on outage preparedness and electrical safety.

PSREC has changed its outage notification system to provide more localized outage information to members. To view the most up-to-date outage information, or report an outage, please log into the PSREC SmartHub app on your Apple or Android device, or log in at www.psrec.coop. As of February 29, we will no longer use the current text messaging system. You will automatically receive email notifications of outages if you have an email address on file with PSREC, but to continue to receive text messages, you must log into SmartHub and activate your mobile number in the new system. Instructions on how to add your mobile number for outage notifications can be found on page 4, at www.psrec.coop, or by calling us. Please report all outages to us, day or night, at 800-555-2207 or through the SmartHub app.

Telecommunications

PST crews are wrapping up work to complete the coax-to-fiber conversion to provide broadband services to Chandler Road and the surrounding area. They have also completed converting a large portion of west Quincy to fiber optics as well. We were delayed on finishing Sierraville and Calpine due to materials delays, but we will be working to complete them as soon as possible.

Please call us at 800-221-3474 or visit www.pst.coop for more information.

Scholarships

PSREC and PST are again offering scholarships to students who receive either electric or internet services from PSREC or PST at their primary residence in Plumas, Sierra, Lassen and Washoe counties. An application can be found on page 28. The deadline is April 27. More information can also be found on our website at www.psrec.coop.

If you have any questions, or would like more information, please call me at 800-555-2207 ext. 6076, or email me at bmarshall@psrec.coop.

Sincerely,

Bob Marshall
General Manager