Illinois
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Illinois Coal Bill passes

Illinois consumers may avoid California-like power blackouts, thanks to new Illinois energy legislation. H.B. 1599, the Illinois Resource Development and Energy Security Act, sometimes referred to as the "Illinois Coal Bill," was signed by Governor Ryan on June 22, 2001. It authorizes a $3.5 billion package of tax incentives and state bonds designed to aid the Illinois coal industry and encourage construction of new generating plants. While most of the financial incentives are geared towards new coal-fired plants, the bill also includes incentives for constructing transmission lines and large baseload plants fueled by natural gas. The bill also contains an environmental component.

Up to $500 million will be available for new coal-fired generating plants. To be eligible, new plants would have to generate in excess of 400 megawatts and create at least 150 new Illinois coalmining jobs.

A $3 billion low-interest loan program utilizing Illinois Development Finance Authority (IDFA) bonds is also included. This program will provide up to $1.7 billion of bonds to finance new electric generating facilities, including coal mine-mouth plants; up to $500 million for alternative energy sources; up to $500 million for scrubbers at existing generating plants; and up to $300 million for transmission power lines.

New baseload generating plants may be eligible for certain sales tax exemptions and credits. In order to qualify, a natural gas plant must have a generating capacity of at least 1,000 megawatts, and a coal-fired plant at least 400 megawatts.

Under the environmental provisions the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will study the need for stricter air quality standards for older coal-fired power plants.

Funding for rural housing development

The mission areas under USDA's Rural Development include the Rural Utilities Service, Rural Housing Service and Rural Business-Cooperatives Service. Rural Development works with many agencies and groups to help provide a starting point to address business, community or housing needs. Cooperative development specialists are also available upon request to help groups or individuals with questions about cooperatives. Loan programs are designed to strengthen rural businesses, finance new and improved rural housing, develop community facilities, and maintain and create rural employment.

These programs have an outstanding portfolio in Illinois of approximately $751 million and are delivered through 18 local and nine area office locations as well as a state office located in Champaign.

A recent example of affordable housing development is the Dogwood Apartments in Griggsville. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held earlier this summer to celebrate the grand opening of the apartments formerly known as River Hills Apartments. Rick Stanford recently purchased the complex, plus one in Pittsfield and one in Perry. The opening was held at the conclusion of a six-month renovation of the three complexes.

State Director of Rural Development Douglas Wilson describes the renovation as an "excellent example of the owner of multi-family housing complex going above and beyond, working to ensure quality affordable housing."

Cooperation among co-ops lasts 60 years

Illinois' electric cooperative leaders met in Springfield to celebrate 60 years of cooperation at the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperative's (AIEC) annual meeting August 2-3.

Based in Springfield, the AIEC provides legal, engineering, communications, safety training, legislative and other services to the 27 Illinois electric cooperatives. By working together the cooperatives can afford the expertise and service needed in an ever changing deregulated utility environment. AIEC member cooperatives serve more than 245,000 farms, homes and business in 86 counties, with 55,871 miles of line.

"More changes will occur in the next 10 years than have taken place in the first 60 years combined," warned Dexter Edmison of Belle Rive, who serves as both AIEC's board chairman and as a director for Tri-County Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Mt. Vernon. Two factors, deregulation and diversification are fueling the changes, he said. "It's imperative that co-ops work together. We can maximize our effectiveness by working together. It's what has kept us strong for 60 years," he said.

Before the meeting a conference was held on new cooperative diversified services such as: long distance, propane, Internet, security and power quality.

Rep. Gary Hannig, D-98 Litchfield, received the Illinois Electric Cooperative Public Service award during the meeting. "Representative Hannig has been a consistent and strong supporter of the electric cooperative program and rural issues," said Earl Struck, president/CEO of the AIEC.

6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • SEPTEMBER 2001

Power washers can kill

A man was electrocuted recently while using an electric pressure washer to wash a truck, prompting the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to reissue a consumer alert.

Pressure washers pump water under high pressure through a hose, sometimes mixing the water with a cleaning solution. Pressure washers may be used to wash farm equipment, motor vehicles, outdoor power equipment, porches or houses.

The power cord, washer and user are often in contact with water when the pressure washer is in use. This can be a deadly combination if the power cord connections become wet, an internal short exists, or especially if the machine is not properly grounded. At least 13 such fatalities have been reported; in one incident, a three-year-old boy was killed when he touched a pressure washer being used by his father.

To stay safe: never defeat a proper ground connection; never allow the power cord to lie in water; use a ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs); use a heavy duty power cord and keep any connection out of standing water and as far away as possible from the item being washed; and wear rubber-soled footwear that provides some insulation. Source: Consumer Product Safety Commission (www.cpsc.gov)

Michigan Bulb files for bankruptcy

Michigan Bulb advertised in Illinois Country Living for 24 years and the editors had very few complaints from readers over the years. That changed recently. Unfortunately, the parent company Foster & Gallagher filed for bankruptcy June 31. They also own other catalog companies such as Stark Brothers Nursery and HearthSong. They laid off 3,000 workers, including at least 650 in Illinois.

"I am very disappointed," said John Lowrey, editor of Illinois Country Living. "Like some of our readers, who recently placed orders with Michigan Bulb and will not receive their order or reimbursement, our publication may not receive payment from the company for ads. Our loss, however, is not as great as those Illinois workers that are now unemployed."

Don't waste your well-pumping dollars

If you get water from a well, keep these tips in mind to make sure you get the most for your money when you use the pump:

• Make sure your pressure tank has the proper air charge. Waterlogged tanks cause pumps to start and stop continuously during pumping cycle, and well pumps use a lot of energy in the start mode.

• Be sure you have the right pump for your well. A service inspection can help you determine the proper size pump and prevent wasting energy. For instance, a 3/4 horsepower pump, running 30 minutes a day, will use 350 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. A 1/2 horsepower pump, however, uses only 240 kilowatt-hours over that same year.

• Fix any leaks in your pipes, faucets and fixtures. One home with a few "minor" drips can end up losing two to three gallons of water per minute! That water loss, in turn, will force your pump to run and use more energy. Source: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories (HomeEnergySaver.lbl.gov)

Expanded rural health services

Expanded services offered by one of Southern Illinois University Carbondale's (SIUC) outreach centers will benefit rural health and social services agencies needing help with such tasks as finding grant money, improving their programs and boosting their client bases.

SIUC's Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development is looking to play a more active role downstate, said Tess D. Heiple, who became its director last June.

"We have always performed research, done needs assessments and feasibility studies, and run pilot projects and demonstrations on statewide, regional and local levels, and we will continue to do that. Center staff can point agencies toward appropriate funding sources and compile statistics that will help support their grant applications.

"It's a partnership," Heiple stressed. Our main goal is to work with them in implementing the projects and programs their communities need."

The center also can train agency staff. "One of the needs we see comes when people are promoted into supervisory positions," Heiple said.

If a grant is involved, it usually will cover the center's fees, making the services, in effect, free to the agency.

To request help or learn more about what's available, call the center's main switchboard at (618)453-1262.

SEPTEMBER 2001 • ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 7

Co-op ads focus on the people advantage

Touchstone Energy cooperatives have launched a new advertising campaign that focuses on the true strength of electric cooperatives — co-op members. The Touchstone Energy ads are building a national awareness of electric cooperatives and the distinct advantages they offer.

Touchstone Energy is a national alliance of local, consumer-owned electric cooperatives providing high standards of service to customers large and small. More than 550 Touchstone Energy cooperatives in 39 states are delivering energy and energy solutions to more than 16 million customers every day. Touchstone Energy cooperatives serve their members with integrity, accountability, innovation and a longstanding commitment to communities.

The multimedia campaign features the tagline The Power of Human Connections and is designed to communicate that co-op customers are actually members and have a voice in the operation of their energy provider.

"At a time when the U.S. energy supply is tremendously uncertain, America's electric co-ops are emerging as a hidden resource, representing local, customer-owned and controlled utilities operating with efficient energy management systems," said Jim Bausell, chief operating officer of Touchstone Energy.

"It is important that both individual members and businesses alike understand the benefits of a co-op as it relates to them," continued Bausell. "This campaign communicates exactly that."

"This new ad campaign celebrates the human-to-human connection of co-ops, demonstrating their power and meaning, which remain as strong today as when they were created more than a half a century ago," says Ken Keylor of Ohio REC, chair of the Touchstone Energy Advertising and Promotions Advisory Committee. "This is the magic of the cooperative element in the electric utility industry."

The campaign features 11 television ads airing on various national cable channels as well as DirecTV. In addition, there are a dozen print and outdoor signs; six radio spots and a series of four-page advertorials set to run in Reader's Digest. The television and radio spots introduce the Touchstone Energy theme song, "We Shine As One," music created exclusively for the campaign. The TV ads will be seen on CMT, CNBC, Discovery Channel, ESPN, Fox News, Headline News, History Channel, MSNBC, TNN, TNT, Learning Channel, TBS, Weather Channel and Golf Channel.

Illinois' Touchstone Energy Cooperatives include: 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, 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, Mt. Vernon; Southern Illinois Power Cooperative, Inc. Marion; Soyland Power Cooperative, Decatur; and Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative, Fairfield.

8 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • SEPTEMBER 2001