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CURRENTS •News • Legislation • Trends • Research

Utilities join forces to save lives

According to the National Electrical Safety Foundation (NESF), electrical accidents claim about 370 lives, cause more than 1,400 injuries and result in more than 41,000 residential fires. Prevention of electricity-related tragedies is the goal of "Safe Electricity," a new statewide campaign being launched by a coalition of nearly three dozen Illinois electric utilities, electric cooperatives and the University of Illinois.

"Each member of the Illinois Electric Council (IEC) is committed to electrical safety and promotes safety through their own organization," said Paul Benson, IEC executive director. "This cooperative effort expands upon those individual programs, and extends the reach of safety information beyond each organization's activities."

The centerpiece is a comprehensive web site, www.SafeElectricity.org. The web site is intended to promote awareness of topical and timely safety issues, and will be continually updated and expanded. The web site is designed to be easy for anyone to use - teachers, students, contractors, homeowners, farmers, business owners, public safety officials - anyone who has questions about electrical safety. The SafeElectricity.org Web site includes sections for Home Safety, Youth Safety, Rural Safety, Contractor Safety, Educator Resources, Videos and links to other sites with additional information. For more information about safety programs, contact your local electric cooperative.

Demand for fuel cells increasing

The overall fuel cell energy generating capacity will increase by a factor of 250, according to Allied Business Intelligence's (ABI) findings.

"Fuel cell markets have attracted a great deal of attention in the last two years," said Atakan Ozbek, ABI's director of energy research and author of ABI's latest fuel cell study, Stationary Fuel Cells: US and Global Early Market Opportunities. "However, the pressure on the fuel cell companies will be greater than ever before due to Wall Street's attention to fuel cells and the fuel cell industry's ability to deliver stationary fuel cell units on time," added Ozbek.

According to ABI's findings, the global stationary fuel cell electricity generating capacity will jump to more than 15,000 megawatts (MW) by 2010 from just 75 MW in 2001. Energy Co-Opportunity (ECO), a cooperative organization owned and operated by electric cooperatives, including several Illinois co-ops, is working with its fuel cell partner, H Power, to introduce a very limited number of fuel cells for sale in California this year. This will help meet the large market for on-site residential generation created by high prices and predicted brown-outs and blackouts. ECO and H Power have contracted with Altair Energy, a clean energy services company already selling and installing photovoltaic systems at homes in southern California, to market and install the H Power fuel cells.

The California-bound fuel cells utilize power production technology that H Power perfected in its test process at electric cooperatives.

Source: Allied Business Intelligence, www.prnewsire.com and Energy Co-Opportunity, www.e-coop.com

6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING JULY 2001

Illinois co-ops committed to coal
A question by a U.S. Department of Energy official during a roundtable discussion on the future of Illinois coal brought the state's electric cooperatives into the spotlight for their commitment to the use of Illinois coal. The meeting, "Illinois Coal in the 21st Century: A Roundtable Discussion," was held May 18 on the campus of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
George Rudins, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Coal Technology, after hearing about the cooperatives' history of Illinois coal use and plans for long-term use, asked, "Why do the Illinois electric cooperatives burn Illinois coal but the public utilities don't?" The question, posed to a large number of utility and energy representatives, was answered more by the long pause following the question than by anyone's comments.
Rudins had earlier heard Tim Reeves, President/General Manager of Southern Illinois Power (SIPC), explain how SIPC has made a major, long-term commitment to the use of clean coal technology to burn Illinois coal, and Earl Struck, President/CEO of the AIEC, relate the plans of Corn Belt Energy to use clean coal technology in a generation plant in central Illinois.
SIPC, in fact, has burned Illinois coal in its Lake of Egypt generating plant for 40 years, and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, who along with Governor George Ryan sponsored the discussion session, called that fact to participants' attention, commending cooperatives for their commitment to Illinois coal.
In addition to utility and energy participants, the event drew state and federal leaders to discuss coal, energy, and related industries. A number of Congressmen and Illinois General Assembly members attended.
The roundtable was designed to focus on three major topics: Illinois energy policy, regulatory challenges, and clean coal technologies. John Mead, director of the SIU-C Coal Research Center, was moderator.

Illinois cooperatives visit congressmen

In May, more than 80 representatives of Illinois electric cooperatives discussed energy industry issues with Senator Dick Durbin, aides to Senator Peter Fitzgerald, and eight Illinois congressmen. The meetings were productive and focused on issues regarding clean coal technology, federal electric utility restructuring, clean air legislation, the Public Utility Holding Company Act, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulation of cooperatives and tax policy fairness.

In addition to the senatorial meetings, the delegation met with the following U.S. Representatives: Danny Davis of the 7th District, Lane Evans of the 17th District, Timothy Johnson of the 15th District, Ray LaHood of the 18th District, Donald Manzullo of the 16th District, David Phelps of the 19th District, Bobby Rush of the 1st District, and John Shimkus of the 20th District.

Special guests in the delegation this year included representatives from Illinois' newest electric cooperative, the Chicago-based Community Energy Cooperative (CEC). Kathryn Tholen, General Manager, and Julius Yacker, an attorney instrumental in the formation of CEC, provided informational materials and discussed the new co-op at the meetings.

President Bush unveils energy plan at Touchstone Energy® Place

When it comes to the nation's energy debate, electric cooperatives rarely make the news. That changed in May, when President Bush revealed his national energy policy at Touchstone Energy Place in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Media coverage - from the Minneapolis Star Tribune to CNN

Touchstone Energy logo

— mentioned the Touchstone Energy Place name in reports covering the May 17 speech.

"This is a great example of how we're leveraging the Touchstone Energy® Touchstone Energy brand," said Jim Bausell, chief operating officer of Touchstone Energy. "Our exposure on CNN is the first of many results to come under our increased public relations efforts."

Bush's energy plan contained recommendations to boost conservation, environmental protection and alternative fuels; recommendations to increase energy production and distribution, and international initiatives to increase energy resources.

Touchstone Energy is a national alliance of local, cooperatively owned utilities committed to high standards of service to customers large and small, as well as their communities. More than 550 Touchstone Energy cooperatives in 39 states are delivering energy and energy solutions to more than 16 million customers every day.

Illinois Touchstone Energy cooperatives include: The Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives, Springfield; Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative, Mattoon; Corn Belt Energy Corp., Bloomington; Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative, Paxton; Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association, Steeleville; EnerStar Power Corp., Paris; Illinois Rural Electric Cooperative, Winchester; Jo-Carroll Electric Cooperative, Inc., Elizabeth; McDonough Power Cooperative, Macomb; Menard Electric Cooperative, Petersburg; Monroe County Electric Co-Operative, Inc., Waterloo; Norris Electric Cooperative, Newton; Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative, Co., Auburn; Shelby Electric Cooperative, Shelbyville; SouthEastern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Inc., Eldorado; Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Dongola; Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Inc., Mt. Vernon; Southern Illinois Power Cooperative, Marion; Soyland Power Cooperative, Inc., Jacksonville; and Wayne- White Counties Electric Cooperative, Fairfield.

JULY 2001 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 7

Forests new income source for farmers

Maybe southern Illinois farmers looking to diversify should see the forests and the trees. "There are 1.8 million acres of forest on farmland nearly half the state's timber," says Andrew D. Carver, an assistant professor of forestry at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Carver, who set up and directs the forestry department's new GIS (geographic information systems) laboratory, has used that lab to take a look at what he calls "farming foresters" across the state. He found them in large numbers in southern and western Illinois.

"Somewhere between 50 and 75 percent of farms (in these regions) have woodlots, which could be a great source of diversifying income," Carver says.

"Agriculture and forestry are so often portrayed as completely different, but trees are like corn - it's just a longer rotation. If producers sold their timber, maybe they could save the family farm."

Carver's GIS-generated maps show that forests in 43 downstate counties consist largely of oak and hickory trees, highly valued woods when it comes to crafting furniture, cabinets, floors and molding. Also, roughly two thirds of Illinois' timber leaves as lowly logs for processing elsewhere.

Mills could help the region's economy by creating more demand - and higher prices - for locally grown products. Jobs, higher income, higher tax base and higher land prices could result, Carver speculates.

Source: K C. Jaehnig, Southern Illinois University, (618) 453-2276, siucnews@siu.edu.

Interesting rural web sites

Web Address

Organization

State Government

Illinois Department of Agriculture.................................www.agr.state.il.us Illinois Agricultural Statistics Service.........www.agr.state.il.us/agstats.htm
Illinois Farm Development Authority.......................... www.state.it.us/ifda/ Rural Affairs Council .....................www.state.il.us/ltgov/RuralAffairs.htm Illinois Dept. of Commerce
   and Community Affairs........................ www.commerce.state.il.us
Illinois Department of Natural Resources ................. www.dnr.state.il.us Illinois Environmental Protection Agency................. www.epa. state.il.us University of Illinois - College of Agricultural,
  Consumer and Environmental Sciences .......................... www.aces.uiuc.edu Illinois Cooperative Extension Service..................
   .......................... www.extension.uiuc.edu/welcome.html
Illinois State University -
  College of Agriculture ...................... www.cast.ilstu.edu/agr/agrhome.htm Southern Illinois University -
  College of Agriculture ............................www.siu.edu/departments/coagr/ Western Illinois University -
   College of Agriculture .................................. www.wiu.edu/users/miag/

Federal Government

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ....................................www.usda.gov Economic Research Service-USDA.......................... 151.121.66.126 National Agricultural Statistics Service-USDA ..........www.nass.usda.gov Illinois Farm Service Agency-USDA......... www.fsa.usda.gov/il/index.html

Associations

American Farm Bureau ............................................................. www.fb.com American Soybean Association .................................. www.amsoy.org Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives ......................... www.aiec.org Illinois Farm Bureau..................................................... www.fb.com/ilfb Illinois Corn Growers Association.................................www.ilcorn.org Illinois Pork Producers Association............................................ www-ilpork.com Illinois Milk Producers Association .................................. www.illinoismilk.org
Illinois Wheat Association...................................... www.illinoiswheat.org Illinois Soybean Association............................................ www.ilsoy.org/ Illinois Specialty Growers Association ............www.specialtygrowers.org Illinois Electric Council ............................................... www.iecouncil.org Interstate Producers Livestock Association............................... www.ipla.com National Cattlemen's Beef Association...... www.beef.org/groups/ncba/index.htm
National Farmers Organization................................................... www.nfo.org National Pork Producers Council.................................. www.nppc.org

Other

StratSoy................................................ www.ag.uiuc.edu/~stratsoy/new/ Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research.........www.ilcfar.org Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas........... www.attra.org Ag Information on the Web................. www.attra.org/searchAgWeb.html
Ethanol Consumers and Producers............................ www.ethanolmt.org Governor's Ethanol Coalition .................................... www.ethanol-gec.org Renewable Fuels Association..................................... www.ethanolrfa.org National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition .................................. www.e85fuel.com American Coalition for Ethanol........................................ www.ethanol.org

Source: Fiscal Focus newsletter, Illinois Office of the Comptroller

8 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING JULY 2001