SC | co-op news YORK www.yorkelectric.net 1385 E. Alexander Love Hwy. York, SC 29745 1-866-374-1234 MEMBER SERVICES (803) 684-4248 MAIN OFFICE (803) 684-4247 (800) 582-8810 Hours: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday FORT MILL OFFICE 2089 Hwy. 21 Bypass Fort Mill, SC 29715 (803) 548-4244 Hours: 8 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.–5 p.m. BOARD OF TRUSTEES Max T. Settlemyre Chairman, District 1 Richard B. Sadler Vice Chairman, District 9 Carolyn Hicks Boyd Secretary/Treasurer, District 5 E. Jack Cornwell, District 2 Richard M. Roach, District 3 Paul D. Poston, District 4 William Roy “Will” Mitchell, District 6 Marion Comer, District 7 Invested in serving you YEC INVESTS in the future of your co-op through system upgrades. This month, I’m going to reach back to my engineering roots to discuss many state-of- the-art improvements your co-op has made to our distribution system. In this issue, you will fifind detailed information about upgrades and their benefifits to you. As you know, we are always looking out for you, which means we want to make sure your lights come on and stay on. We strive to provide excellent service day to day, but it is imperative for your co-op to plan ahead in order to carry this mission into the future. From 2018 through the rest of this year, an investment of more than $19.5 million will be spent improving our distribution system and another $5.9 million will be put towards maintenance. While some of these updates were necessary because of growth, others were to improve technology, increase reliability, and to make our grid smarter, enabling us to identify and isolate outages as they occur. We realize this is a large amount of money. While this includes dollars we spend yearly in right of way maintenance, it does not include our Investment in our system has benefitted members throughout YEC’s territory. large ongoing project to bury overhead lines that are hard to reach in outage situations. As your co-op, our job is to power your life. This price tag sets us up for success to continue providing reliable, safe, affordable energy for years to come. Thank you for trusting us to serve you. We aim to continue improving while staying true to our mission of always putting our members fifirst. PAUL BASHA President and Chief Executive Officer Tommie Bratton, District 8 PRESIDENT & CHIEF Teachers may apply for Bright Ideas grant ONLINE APPLICATIONS ARE now being accepted for the second annual Bright Ideas Grant Program for teachers in York, Clover, Fort Mill, Rock Hill, and Lancaster schools. Each district will have one winner, receiving up to $1,000 to accomplish an innovative classroom program or project that improves the learning experience for students. All grade levels are eligible to apply. Visit us at yorkelectric.net/my-community/education/bright- ideas-grant/to submit your bright idea by midnight on Sept. 14. We will celebrate and announce winners during October as part of co-op month! EXECUTIVE OFFICER Paul Basha CO-OP NEWS EDITOR Porter W. Gable FIND US ON 4 SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING | AUGUST 2020 | SCLIVING.COOP ERIN POWELL