Manager’s Message – May 2023

Dear Members:

Director Elections

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

This year, Districts 6 and 7 are up for election. District 6 (North Doyle, Milford and Herlong areas) is served by Tom Hammond, and District 7 (Edgemont and Levitt areas) is served by Nancy Miller.

To check which district you live in, you can view the boundaries of each district at our website.

You can call me for more information if you live in Districts 6 or 7 and are interested in running for the board. The board meets once a month, usually on the fourth Wednesday. Directors must complete training to stay current on issues and become certificated as directors.

Rates

As we all know, this has been a wet winter. This is the first condition for good hydropower deliveries but not the only condition. It’s important for the Bureau of Reclamation to properly manage runoff. We will know more about deliveries over the next few months. In addition, while hydropower is roughly half our power portfolio, another third of our power supply comes from natural gas and is sensitive to natural gas prices, which have been erratic for the past six months. Lastly, even though this year is looking better than 2022, we must recoup our heavy losses from 2022 and rebuild our financial strength.

The board is aware the members would like to see our wholesale power cost adjustment come down, and we are analyzing if and when we can reduce it at all. This will be a discussion point at each board meeting, and we will reduce it if conditions allow and the board deems it prudent.

May is Electrical Safety Month

At Plumas-Sierra, 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, 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. Contact us at (530) 832-4261 or visit  our 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 pipe or other long objects, make sure you avoid power lines.

Telecommunications

Galeppi Ranch and North Loyalton are now open for sales. Please call our office at (530) 832-4126 to get on our schedule.

PST continues to make progress on the 5 California Advanced Services Fund grants it received last year. The projects are in various stages with some starting construction this spring as the weather improves.

PST is applying for additional CASF grants this month and will be submitting 4 applications with projects in Plumas, Sierra, Lassen and Nevada counties.

A reminder to members: If you are looking 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.

Given our fast speeds, you can stream videos on multiple devices at the same time without slowing down. We have had many customers replace their TV provider with streaming services, ultimately lowering their monthly bills.

If you do not have fiber optic, the best way to accelerate fiber optic deployment is to download the CalSpeed.org app for your devices or computers. Running this app through your wired internet (not a cellular connection) will help us get additional grants to speed up fiber optic deployment. Even if you are without broadband access at your home, running this test is helpful for PST when applying for future grants to show lack of broadband access in the area.

If you haven’t already, get on our interest list or sign up for service by calling us at (530) 832-4261 or visiting Plumas Sierra Telecommunications.

If you have any questions, please contact me at (530) 832-4261 ext. 6076, or email me.

Sincerely,

Bob Marshall
General Manager