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GEUS System Bears the Test of Record Snowfall

(February 16, 2010) GEUS’ system reliability remained strong during record snowfall last week that left many North Texas homes and businesses without power for an extended period of time. Other area utilities reported a significant number of sustained outages due to the storm.

It took GEUS crews just over an hour to restore power to approximately 87 residents losing power mostly due to tree limbs in lines. The GEUS cable TV and Internet network fared well also, with only six cable drops to homes having to be replaced.

“Many hours of tree trimming begins to pay dividends when ice or snow moves into an area”, said GEUS Board Chairman Don Bolin. “This was not luck, but the result of a concerted long-term effort to maintain clear right-of-ways,” Bolin added.

GEUS has long used in-house and contract tree trimming crews to stay ahead of the growth. GEUS has spent $308,000 in recent years including $62,000 recently authorized by the GEUS Board to renew an existing tree trimming contract.

Greenville Establishes New Winter Electrical Load Peak

(January 8, 2010) GEUS reached a new winter electrical peak of 89MW this morning at 8AM eclipsing the 88MW established in January 2007.


GEUS’ all-time summer peak of 113MW occurred in August 2008.


The Utility’s residential winter rates include declining prices as more electricity is consumed. This rate structure has encouraged the increased installation of electrical heat in the area as has volatile natural gas prices in recent years.

TMPA Cities Reach Settlement Agreement

(December 18, 2009) The Texas Municipal Power Agency (TMPA) recently closed an unpleasant chapter in its history with the TMPA Board of Directors and member-cities Bryan, Denton, Garland and Greenville approving a settlement agreement ending a dispute that has been in and out of courts for the past 10 years. The agreement came after District Courts in Travis and Grimes counties ordered mediation to settle the long running dispute.

"Going into the mediation discussion process most of the eight member-city representatives did not think a settlement was possible without the Lord intervening. He did - we found common ground to the benefit of all of our member cities’ electric customers. What a wonderful Christmas present for TMPA and their member-cities!” said Don Bolin, GEUS Board Chairman.

The divisive issues involved TMPA’s obligation to provide power to points of delivery at or near the four cities and the refinancing of TMPA existing debt past the current maturity date of 2018. TMPA’s coal-fired generation plant has an expected “life after debt” well past the 2018 maturity date causing some member-cities to consider extending a portion of that debt to relieve current pressures on retail rates.

The settlement will allow each city to financially manage their share of the debt to meet individual city needs and goals. Each city will have more control in financing the ongoing scrubber refurbishment project to meet anticipated federal regulations regarding emissions from TMPA’s Gibbons Creek Generating Plant in Grimes County, Texas.

“The settlement will allow the cities and TMPA to again work together in cooperation,” explains David McCalla, GEUS General Manager. “We appreciate the efforts of many to resolve this issue and we are glad it is behind us,” added McCalla.

GEUS Residential Winter Rates Begin

(November 4, 2009) GEUS takes this opportunity to remind residents of Greenville that lower winter electric rates begin each November and extend through May. GEUS’ winter rates are structured so that average costs decline as more electricity is used during a month.

GEUS’ cost to produce electricity is lower in the winter as the low-cost coal-fired Gibbons Creek Plant provides most of Greenville’s needs making GEUS less dependent upon natural-gas fired energy.

“GEUS’ access to both coal-fired and natural gas-fired generation remains a solid hedge against the volatility of the natural gas market seen in recent years”, said David McCalla, GEUS General Manager. “The expected Fall 2010 commissioning of GEUS’ new Engine Plant in North Greenville fortifies our ability to maintain competitive electric rates for years to come”, McCalla added.

GEUS Increases Fuel Adjustment Charge and Power Cost Recovery Factor

(October 1, 2009) GEUS announced today that the Utility’s Fuel Adjustment Charge/Power Cost Recovery Factor (FAC/PCRF) will be raised by slightly less than a penny/kWh bringing it to 3.484 cents/kWh for all commercial and residential bills effective October 1st.

This is up from the 2.5 cents/kWh that has been in effect since April of 2009. The FAC/PCRF peaked last summer at 7.426 cents when the cost of natural gas reached record highs.


The FAC/PCRF is a pass-through charge based on GEUS’ actual cost to generate or purchase power. GEUS’ access to the Texas Municipal Power Agency’s (TMPA) Gibbons Creek coal-fired generation has moderated the community’s cost as natural gas has been very volatile over recent years.


This increase became necessary due to GEUS’ share of increased TMPA fixed costs for 2010.

Snake Causes Power Outage

(September 17, 2009)-Approximately 3,500 Greenville homes and businesses lost power today when a 30 inch snake made contact with energized hardware in a substation’s switchgear.

The incident affecting mainly the central portion of Greenville occurred at 12:23PM. GEUS Crews rerouted the feeds restoring all power within 45 minutes.

Awards Recognize Contributions to Public Power

(August 3, 2009) The Texas Public Power Association (TPPA) is pleased to announce the recipients of this year's awards to organizations and individuals in Texas for contributions to their communities, public power and TPPA.

Sue Ann Harting"For exceptional leadership and public service in the public power field, Sue Ann Harting, Chairman, GEUS Electric Utility Board and Board Member, TMPA, received the Jack Miller Public Service Award. This award recognizes exceptional leadership and public service in the public power field. To be considered for the award the nominee must have made a substantial contribution to public power and to their community.

Sue Ann Harting’s contributions to public power are numerous. From 1994 until 2000, she served as Mayor of the City of Greenville after previously serving on the City Council. For the last nine years she has served on the Board of Directors for Greenville’s municipal electric system, GEUS.

Both as Mayor and on the GEUS Board, Sue Ann Harting has been an active and effective public power leader. She was instrumental in establishing the GEUS Cable & Internet system which now provides critical broadband service for Greenville. Her leadership and foresight have helped GEUS establish its Power Supply Management Group, its 24/7 transmission operator dispatch function, its new engine plant, and its energy efficiency programs.

Shaun Raborn presents award to Sue Ann HartingAlways looking out for the less fortunate, Sue Ann Harting has worked with the GEUS Board on a pre-paid metering and low-income assistance fund, and on locating a new service center in the downtown area.

The Texas Municipal Power Agency has also benefited from Sue Ann Harting’s leadership. She has served on the TMPA Board since 1995 and held the positions of President and Vice president. She has been an effective advocate for TMPA, GEUS, and TPPA at the Texas Legislature and in Congress." (remarks by Mark Zion, TPPA Executive Director)

Representative Jose Menendez received the TPPA Public Official Award for leadership and contributions to public power. The Distinguished Service Award went to Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager – Utilities, Georgetown Utility Systems, for his outstanding leadership and dedication to public power. Denton Municipal Electric was honored with the System Achievement Award for improved service to customers and for enhancing the prestige of public power. The TPPA Seven Hats Award, which recognizes outstanding leadership and dedication by an official of a TPPA system which serves less than 5,000 meters, goes to James Cantwell, City Manager, Bowie. The Industry Achievement Award recognized Jeff Morris, Superintendent, Construction & Operations, Denton Municipal Electric, for significant individual contributions to the electric industry and to public power. Jim Campbell , Sr. Director, Governmental Relations, CPS Energy, was named to the TPPA Honor Roll. This award recognizes substantial contributions made toward attaining the goals of TPPA and toward enhancing the prestige of the Association.


The awards were presented at the 2009 TPPA Annual Meeting Awards Breakfast held on July 29th at the Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio, TX. The Texas Public Power Association represents Texas' publicly-owned electric utilities. Members include municipal utilities, joint action agencies, river authorities, and rural electric cooperatives.

GEUS Applies for Weatherization Assistance Grant

(July 6, 2009) GEUS recently submitted an application seeking funds through the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) to weatherize local homes making them more energy efficient. GEUS is seeking $545,000 through WAP which has seen increased funding due to the recent passage of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Eligibility is based on the occupant of the home’s income level being within 200% of the national poverty level. The occupant does not have to own the home to be eligible.

“GEUS is very optimistic we will receive funding based on the number of citizens that meet eligibility requirements in our community”, said Retha Cooke, GEUS Energy Efficiency Specialist. “Our goal will be to weatherize 125 homes over the next two years if we receive the grant”, Cooke added.

GEUS has other energy efficiency programs available, such as the Savvy Consumer Program, with the goal of helping our consumers use energy more wisely.

Lower Natural Gas Pricing Impacts GEUS Consumers

(May 29, 2009) Less volatile natural gas prices are holding down the cost of electricity in Greenville this summer. June marks the beginning of this year’s summer residential electric billing season. Many Texas utilities, including GEUS, have a discounted winter rate during the non-summer months.

Local citizens are fortunate to receive the majority of their power from the coal-fired Gibbons Creek Generation Plant near Bryan, TX. GEUS only has to supplement Greenville’s needs by purchasing or producing a portion of electricity from natural gas-fired generation. Stable coal prices and moderate priced natural gas allows GEUS to hold down its pass-through fuel adjustment charge\power cost recovery factor (FAC\PCRF) which is currently at 2.5 cents\kWh.

Last summer’s FAC\PCRF started at 5.626 cents\kWh before quickly rising to 7.426 cents.

“GEUS is happy to pass along these savings to our customers,” said David McCalla, GEUS General Manager. “June bills are expected to be $31.26\1,000 kWh less as compared to last June,” McCalla added.

Consumers interested in cost-share incentives to make their home or business more energy efficient should check out GEUS’ Savvy Consumer Program.

New record for reliability achieved in 2008

(May 15, 2009) GEUS reports an increase in reliability in supplying electricity to our customers, according to General Manager David McCalla.

The System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), an industry calculation for reliability, rates GEUS at 14 for 2008. Thatmeans that the average GEUS customer would have experienced just 14 minutes of outage time during 2008.

This compares to a SAIDI of 150 in 1993, a ten-fold improvement in reliability.

SAIDI chart

GEUS to Carry Full Texas Rangers Baseball Package

(April 20, 2009) GEUS announced today that beginning Wednesday of this week, GEUS will be airing the remaining 50 Texas Rangers games scheduled to air on Fox Sports this season. GEUS was already airing 110 other Rangers games including 73 of those in high definition.

“Since the beginning of baseball season, we have heard from many loyal subscribers who were disappointed that we were not carrying all of the Texas Rangers baseball games,” said David McCalla, GEUS General Manager.

GEUS had made the decision not to carry the extra Rangers games after unsuccessful negotiations with Fox Sports that would have allowed the games to be included as part of the regular programming fees, as pay-per-view programming, or for a more reasonable increase in cost.

“Sports programming fees are a major portion of GEUS’ total programming cost,” McCalla added. “We thought that offering 110 games would be a fair balance between additional fees and the desires of Rangers fans in Greenville. Our subscribers have made us aware of the importance of the Rangers games and we are responding.”

GEUS Reduces Fuel Adjustment Charge and Power Cost Recovery Factor

(April 6, 2009) GEUS announced today that the Utility’s Fuel Adjustment Charge/Power Cost Recovery Factor (FAC\PCRF) will be lowered again bringing it to 2.5 cents\kWh for all commercial and residential bills effective April 1st. This is down from the current 3.5 cents. It peaked last summer at 7.426 cents when the cost of natural gas reached record highs.

The FAC\PCRF is a pass-through charge based on GEUS’ actual cost to generate or purchase power. GEUS’ access to coal-fired generation has moderated the community’s cost as natural gas has been very volatile over recent years.

GEUS receives over 60% of Greenville’s energy from its share of the Texas Municipal Power Agency’s Gibbons Creek coal-fired generation plant. “ As the cost to produce electricity has gone down, GEUS is pleased to pass on these lower fuel costs to our consumers,” said GEUS General Manager David McCalla.

GEUS Consumers Can Now Pay Online

(March 13, 2009) All GEUS consumers now have the option of viewing and/or paying their bills online.

Consumers who register online will be notified by email each month when their bill is ready to be viewed online. Consumers can instantly view those bills and make payment as they normally do or pay online. Consumers choosing to pay online can do this by credit card or by entering their bank account number (ACH). There is no additional fee to make one-time or recurring credit card/ACH payments.

Hard copies of the bills will continue to be mailed unless the customer chooses the option to suppress hard-copy mailings. Consumers will have access to their last three bills online and can print these if they choose to do so.

“GEUS expects this to be a very popular service and it was created to be as user friendly as possible,” said Jimmy Dickey, Consumer Services Manager. “We encourage consumers to choose the option of hard-copy bill suppression to save postage and the handling of unnecessary paper,” Dickey added.

GEUS Announces Win-Win Program

(March 2, 2009) GEUS has officially launched a new program to assist residential and commercial customers in lowering their energy consumption.

The GEUS $avvy Consumer Program offers consumers cost share incentives in several areas such as efficient lighting, programmable thermostats, insulation, water heater clocks and rebates on the purchase of Energy Star appliances.

“The program was developed with all consumers in mind, whether you are cooling a small efficiency apartment or lighting a large industrial plant,” said Retha Cooke, Energy Efficiency Specialist.

Potential energy efficiency initiatives were evaluated based on the expected savings within the Greenville community; avoided electrical generation or purchased power by GEUS and avoidance of emissions of regulated gases that generation would have produced. The options with the greatest benefit-to-cost ratio were selected for implementation.

GEUS will be partnering with the following local businesses through this program-Armstrong Appliances, Crawford-Smith, Curtis Appliances, Duncan Electrical Contractors, Forbes Air Conditioning & Heating, Leeco Air Conditioning, LOWE’S, Moore Electrical Services and Tri-County Insulation.

“Most of these programs involve little cash outlay by the consumers and a quick return on that investment,” said Cooke.

Interested consumers or business partners can learn more online or contact Retha Cooke at 903-457-2831.

Storm Damage

Power poles felled by storm(February 11, 2009) Approximately 1,000 GEUS homes & businesses lost power last night as a storm rolled quickly through Greenville packing very strong winds, lightning, and heavy rain. GEUS had 5 transmission poles fall and one power line down across Interstate 30. Several other poles were blown down on Stonewall and East I-30.

Crews worked throughout the night rerouting power and repairing damage.

“Power was restored to most of our customers in 1½ to 3 hours except for about 20 homes and businesses that are still without power”, said David McCalla, GEUS General Manager. “We expect to have power restored to these customers by this afternoon,” added McCalla.

Replacement of the downed transmission poles is expected to take about three days as crews will be hampered by mud in the area.

 

 

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