The Great Lakes Energy People Fund is accepting grant applications from non-profit organizations throughout its local service area. The upcoming grant application deadline is June 1. 

The People Fund is supported solely by Great Lakes Energy members who allow their electric cooperative to round up their bill each month to the next dollar. Since 1999 more than $2.3 million in grants have been awarded to charitable and community organizations throughout Great Lakes Energy’s 26-county service area, which stretches from Kalamazoo to the Mackinac Straits.

Non-profit organizations can read program details and request a grant application online or by calling Great Lakes Energy at 1-888-485-2537, ext. 1313. Non-profit organizations that serve communities located in the Great Lakes Energy service area are eligible to apply. 

 Organizations that are unable to apply by June 1 will have another opportunity to apply later this year.

The rate structure is being changed effective 9/1/13 so that the rates paid by our members are fairer and more equitable. Our fixed costs to serve each residential member are the same regardless of the amount of electricity used. The COS study found that the fixed monthly charge is not covering all our fixed costs of providing the minimum system necessary to access the grid for each member.  As a result, we recover some of the fixed costs through the energy usage charge which is not fair to higher energy-users who pay a greater share of the fixed costs than lower energy users. By adjusting the monthly charge, each member will pay their fair share of the fixed costs of the minimum system that is necessary to serve them.

They are the normal operating expenses incurred by an electric cooperative in providing the minimum system necessary for each member to access the electric grid and are not related to how much electricity the member uses. These costs exist regardless of whether a member is a low or high kWh user. The biggest share goes for meters, poles, wires, transformers, service drops from the transformer to the meter along with labor, tree-trimming work and other distribution system improvements that allow us to provide safe and reliable electric service.  Other examples of expenses not related to kWh use include:

• Fuel, vehicles, maintenance and related transportation costs for covering a service area that is one of the largest of all electric cooperatives in the country. Vehicles include bucket trucks that can cost over $200,000 apiece.
• Labor, equipment, supplies and other fixed costs for operating eight local offices that help GLE respond more quickly to outages and provide better service to members.
• Costs to maintain the member services, 24-hour emergency dispatch, metering, accounting and administrative functions for handling billing, outage calls, and other co-op services.
• Costs for unexpected events, such as storm outage restoration expenses, depreciation on equipment, vehicles, etc.; interest on long-term loans, insurance, taxes and other normal business expenses.

There are still benefits to using your energy wisely. In the long run, greater participation by electric consumers in the state, including GLE members, in energy efficiency programs such as Energy Optimization can reduce the need for additional power generation and the related costs.

Recovering the fixed costs of the minimum system in the fixed monthly charge rather than in the energy usage charge means GLE members can reduce their kWh use without negatively impacting the recovery of the revenue the cooperative needs to provide each member with the minimum system needed to access the electric grid. Members who have lowered their kWh use will now be paying their fair share of the fixed costs of the minimum system necessary to serve them while still benefiting from their share of any cost reductions the cooperative experiences due to decreased purchases from the cooperative’s supplier.

March 22, 2013

The Great Lakes Energy board of directors unanimously approved the residential rate restructuring proposal at a special meeting held today at the cooperative’s Boyne City office.

The rate changes will take effect for billings rendered on or after Sept. 1, 2013. Calculate your bill using the new rates using the online rate calculator and a recent bill.

March 6, 2013 – Michigan Electric Cooperative Association (MECA) is conducting a statewide cooperative communications survey via telephone March 11-18. The survey will help MECA and participating cooperatives, including Great Lakes Energy, to better understand the value and effectiveness of current cooperative communications (including, but not exclusive to Michigan Country Lines), and evaluate how to most effectively communicate with changing member demographics in the future.

As part of the survey, 140 Great Lakes Energy members will be surveyed.  If you are contacted, please note that the survey is voluntary and callers are not trying to sell anything nor will they ask for personal or bank information. As previously reported, we will not contact you in person to take a survey.

Feb. 27, 2013

The Great Lakes Energy People Fund boards recently met to award grants. Over $45,000 was awarded to non-profit organizations in the GLE service area. The People Fund is solely supported by members of GLE who round-up their bill to the nearest dollar. View the list of grant recipients here.

Take caution – A concerned member reported to local authorities this week that someone came to their house posing as a Great Lakes Energy employee taking a survey, which we don’t do in person. Please know that our employees and contractors will have proper identification with them and you may contact our office to verify at 888-485-2537.

Members should also be wary of callers asking for personal or banking information over the phone. We do conduct satisfaction surveys by phone but do not ask for your personal or banking information.

Feb. 11, 2013

Information about the proposed rate restructuring is now available on the Great Lakes Energy website. Learn more by reading the frequently asked questions.

More information can also be found in the February issue of Michigan Country Lines.

Feb. 8, 2013

Great Lakes Energy will be conducting a seasonal member satisfaction survey by phone starting on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013. The phone survey will be conducted in the afternoons and evenings to gauge member satisfaction of seasonal members. Please note that if you are contacted by phone, do not share your personal or bank information.

If you have any questions about this survey email us at glenergy@glenergy.com