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I l l i n o i s Building a brighter future for rural Illinois Telecommunications technologies have grown beyond simply delivering local and long distance telephone service, to become the driving force of the New Economy. Telecommunication technologies are redefining communities, bringing innovation to industry, education, commerce, health care, human services and government. How will Illinois communities keep up in this rapidly changing environment? You can find out at a conference called, "Building a Brighter Future Using Telecommunications Technology." The conference, hosted by Rural Partners and the Illinois Rural Health Association, will be held Nov. 29 and 30. This conference is for health professionals, community leaders, rural telecommunications providers, educators, small business owners, elected officials, and those interested in planning a healthier, more productive rural Illinois. The registration deadline is Nov. 15. For information contact Nathela Chatara at the Illinois Rural Health Association, (800) 500-1560, or Ben Mueller, University of Illinois Extension (217) 244-2463, or online at www.extension.uiuc.edu/telecom/. Caring for an Alzheimer's patient November is National Alzheimer's Disease Month. Over 70 percent of America's four million Alzheimer's patients are cared for in the home. Their caregivers are the wives, husbands, daughters, sons, or other loved ones that care enough to take on this 24-hour-a-day job. Many caregivers live under the same roof with the patient but others, mostly adult children, have the added challenge of trying to manage a sick parent's care from afar. Whatever the circumstances, Alzheimer's caregivers need all the help they can get. There are sources of help for caregivers, but those resources are fragmented. Navigating the maze of services can be a formidable job. The following are some important resources that can help caregivers find help in their own community or answer crucial questions about managing their loved one's affairs. Much of this information is free. * Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral Center, (800) 438-4380, www.alzheimer's.org/adear * American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), (202) 434-2277 * American Health Assistance Foundation (AHAF), (800) 437-2423, www.ahaf.org * Eldercare Locator, (800) 677-1116, www.aoa.dhhs.gov/ * Medicare General Information Hotline (800) 638-6833 For more information about Alzheimer's disease and how to cope with it, call the Alzheimer's Family Relief Program, a program of the American Health Assistance Foundation at 1-800-437-2423 or write to them at 15825 Shady Grove Road, Suite 140, Rockville, MD 20850. Habitat loss is birds' loss, too Our year-round birds as well as those that migrate between North and South America are in trouble. Little by little, their habitat is disappearing, due to urban expansion and forest fragmentation. The National Bird-Feeding Society believes that the most successful remedy lies right outside every individual's back door. Providing food, water and shelter is an excellent start toward good wild bird habitat. Natural habitat can be re-created around homes with fruit-bearing trees and shrubs, plants and flowers that attract insects, water and bird feeders. Birds will visit and settle in habitats that offer food and water as well as places to raise their young and escape from the elements or predators. A simple plan that includes the three essentials is the key to creating birdfriendly habitats, one backyard at a time. 1. Are there more than two varieties of native shrubbery around your home? 2. Is there at least one type of evergreen or deciduous tree? 3. Do you provide fresh water for wild birds year-round? 4. Do you offer bird seed, suet and/or nectar for the birds all year long? Source: National Bird-Feeding Society www.birdfeeding.org. 6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING NOVEMBER 2000 California electric restructuring efforts in turmoil Power consumers in California saw their electricity bills double and their utility companies stage rolling blackouts this summer. Typical electric bills for San Diego households doubled. California is one of the first states in the country to restructure the electric utility industry. Consumers are outraged as the 1996 electric restructuring legislation that was supposed to usher in competition, lower prices and reliability has not fulfilled its promise. At a July press conference, Carl Wood, a current member of the state's Public Utility Commission, said that California's restructuring was a "mistake." But more than restructuring is being blamed for the volatile market. Rising demand for electricity during the summer months, a growing economy, and a shortage of power plants have also had a role in sending prices soaring. To address the price problems in the short-term, the California Independent System Operator (ISO), lowered wholesale price caps from $750 to $500 per megawatt hour in early July. A new player in deregulated markets, an ISO controls a region's transmission grids, and sets the power trading rules. California legislators and the Public Utility Commission (PUC) lobbied the ISO to lower that price to $250 but the ISO remained firm. In addition, consumer advocacy groups are pressuring the PUC to impose a cap on bill payments and allow consumers to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from power companies until an investigation is completed. Long-term solutions include building new power plants and changing the way Californians consume electricity to decrease demand during times of peak use. Twenty-five states, including Illinois, have approved restructuring plans already. California was in the forefront with San Diego as the first city to experience a fully deregulated market. Unfortunately, California is not alone in experiencing significant price spikes this summer. It's happening in the Northeast and the Northwest as well. In Montana, there are industries that are shutting their doors because they can't afford to operate with these high electric prices. In Illinois, electric cooperatives and municipal utilities have local control over the deregulation issue. Each locally-elected co-op board or city council will decide what is best for local consuers. Several Illinois cooperatives are also lowering the risk of price spikes by diversifying their power supply sources. One option is to build new peaker plants. Another is to form larger power supply cooperative alliances. Finally, cooperatives are also taking a lead in advanced distributed generation technology such as fuel cells and microturbines. This onsite power technology will give consumers more control over their source of electricity. Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI) save lives Mixing water and electricity can be a shocking experience. In fact, each year more than 300 people are electrocuted, and thousands more injured from electrical shocks or electrical fires in and around the house. Many electrical injuries could be avoided through use of a simple, inexpensive device called a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI).
When the GFCI detects that some of the current is not returning to the receptacle and is, instead, "leaking" it will quickly turn off the power to the outlet to prevent the possibility of electrocution. The National Electric Code has required that all homes built since the mid-1970s have GFCIs installed wherever an electrical receptacle is within six feet of a water source. GFCIs are found in the bathrooms, kitchens, garages and unfinished basements of newer homes. GFCI receptacles are also required around pools, spas, hot tubs and similar outdoor installations. But many homes built before 1975 are not equipped with GFCIs. If your home is one of them call a licensed electrical contractor to install GFCI receptacles wherever they may be needed. Source: Leviton Institute, www.leviton.com Electrical fires at home When you hear of a tragedy striking someone, do you think, "It can't happen to me?" Well, we all do, and we're all wrong! The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that 40,000 residential fires caused by problems with electrical wiring systems occur every year. These fires claim more than 350 lives, cause thousands of injuries through shocks and burns, and result in more than $2 billion in personal property damage. About 7,100 fires resulting in 120 deaths are caused by electric cords and plugs every year. Lamps and light fixtures account for about 8,900 fires and 60 deaths; switches and outlets are involved in 4,700 fires and deaths. Another 3,600 people are treated for injuries associated with extension cords. Electricity has improved our lives in countless ways. It's a force for good—but it is a powerful force that must be used with respect and caution. So enjoy all the benefits that electricity brings you, but don't take it for granted, and don't use it carelessly.
Source: National Electrical Safety Foundation
NOVEMBER 2000 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 7 What's a Watt? A watt is the basic unit of electricity. But most definitions of a watt just lead us humanities types down the garden path. One definition of a watt is "a joule of work in one second." A joule is a metric measure equivalent to 100,000,000 ergs, an erg being "one dyne acting through a distance of one centimeter." Not impressed? Try "a watt is one amp flowing under a pressure of one volt at unity power factor." As we all know, of course, an amp is 6,250,000,000,000,000,000 electrons passing a one-volt circuit in a second. In electricity, the term "watt" describes the CAPACITY to do work. Your 1500-watt hairdryer has the ABILITY to use electricity whether or not it's operating. Once you turn the hairdryer on, your electricity CONSUMPTION is measured in "watt hours." In 30 minutes - half an hour — your hairdryer uses 750 watt hours. A watt is not a lot. We generally use bigger units. A kilowatt (kw) is a thousand watts. A megawatt (mw) is a million watts or a thousand kilowatts. You can also have a billion watts - gigawatt - and a trillion watts - terawatt. Consumers pay for electricity in kilowatt hours (kwh). One kilowatt hour keeps 10100-watt light bulbs burning for an hour. Power plants are sized in megawatts. A 600-megawatt plant is a typical size for new gas facilities. Coal and nuclear plants are generally much larger. A large windmill may be 1.6 megawatts. In theory, a 600-megawatt power plant could put out 432,000 megawatt hours per month (600 megawatts x 720 hours in a month). But equipment needs maintenance and repair. The "capacity factor" indicates the percentage of time you can expect the plant to be generating electricity. The best of today's gas plants have a 95 percent capacity factor (giving you 410,400 megawatt hours per month at the 600-megawatt plant). Nuclear plants have capacity factors around 75 percent; coal plants average 75 to 85 percent; optimally wind runs, around 27 percent. Since the average residence uses 854 kilowatts of electricity per month, a 600 mw gas plant could theoretically supply more than 480,000 homes. But while the geographic location of power plants is important for technical reasons having to do with balancing grid inputs and outputs, a nearby power plant does not protect you from blackouts. The power plant and your home are both connected to the local distribution grid and, through it, to your regional transmission grid. If the grid blacks out, your home blacks out - even if your local power plant is still operating. The only way to get around this is to have an alternative power source - like your own generator or, soon, a fuel cell - directly connected to your home. Source: Dr. Energy, Charlotte LeGates, Energy.com Correspondent Electrical hazards - trust your nose Sparks, smoke and hot surfaces are clear indications that an outlet or appliance presents an electrical hazard. But you should also follow your nose! Sometimes, your first clue that an electrical problem exists may be nothing more than an odd or burning odor from an appliance or outlet. If you detect an odor, call a licensed electrician right away to check out the suspected problem. You could avoid much more costly and dangerous problems later. Source: National Electrical Safety Foundation (www.nesf.org); Monticello Electric Plant Board (www.monticelloepb.com/safety.htm). I-57 could become the silicon highway Look for a flurry of high-tech business activity to be triggered by the major expansion of National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) facilities in Urbana-Champaign, the construction of the new Siebel Center for Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the launch of a new 168-acre Technology Park in Champaign. "The combination of all these resources means that startups and IT companies in the 1-57 corridor south of Chicago will have unparalleled access to world-class computer-science research, prototyping and development," says Pam McDonough, director, Department of Commerce and Community Affairs of the State of Illinois. The Technology Park will be anchored by the new NCSA building, and it will include incubator facilities to encourage new start-up firms, leased space for developing and mature companies, and space for established firms to construct their own facilities. The plans call for the Technology Park to be home to an Illinois Technology Enterprise Center (ITEC), one of a regional network of privately managed centers created to stimulate high-tech economic development in Illinois and promote technology transfer from the state's major universities. The ITEC centers help entrepreneurs with economic and business assistance and by facilitating collaborations with faculty, research scientists and students at Illinois universities. "The birthplace of the Web browser, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, already is the leading Supercomputing center in the nation, and the new facility will help the NCSA maintain its prominent position and leverage hundreds of millions of new federal and corporate dollars," McDonough says. 8 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING NOVEMBER 2000 |
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