November 10, 2022 • 23 mins
Avoid potential bill shock by listening to our recent Power for Your Life podcast episode. Sean Vanslyke and Angie Byford, from SEMO Electric Cooperative, discuss strategies to help members take control of their energy usage and share some low-cost energy savings tips.
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Episode Transcript
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Sean Vanslyke (00:03):
I think it's an opportunity for all of us to
educate and help each other.
Harrison Waters (00:06):
I'd have a lot of little shock on some of those
meals.
Oh man.
Hey, and welcome to anotherawesome episode for The Power
For Your Life podcast.
I'm your host Harrison Watersand I have two of SMO Electric
co-ops Finest.
They're here to tell us a littlebit about low cost energy
savings in your house, butreally about bill shock and how
(00:29):
to avoid that as a member.
Take a listen.
I am so happy that you are bothin here with us today.
Can you both, uh, Sean and Angiekick it off and just introduce
yourself and your role at thecooperative?
Angie Byford (00:42):
Yes, thank you Harrison.
Um, I'm Angie Byford and I workfor S Electric Cooperative in
southeast Missouri.
I have had many hats that I'vewore inside and outside at the
cooperative over the past, um,little over 10 years.
And I do take care of the frontof the house right now and I
just enjoy working with our teamthere and just making
(01:06):
everybody's lives better insideand out of the cooperative.
Sean Vanslyke (01:10):
Yeah.
Sean Van, like I'm blessed to bethe head coach and chief
custodian of SMO Electric and uh, have the opportunity to serve
on a lot of state and nationalboards and, and be involved.
But, you know, the greatestthing that we do is change
people's lives.
As Angie said, I'm probablyfocused more internally than I
used to be, uh, where Angie'sfocused externally, but just
trying to make people's livesdifferent internally that
(01:32):
carries over to the external toour members and to the, our
subscribers on the broadbandside, it makes a difference.
Harrison Waters (01:38):
So we're here to talk about low cost energy
savings.
I am slowly becoming a fan offinding little ways to, I know
it's probably driving my wifeand my kids crazy as I'm like
guarding the, uh, thermostatevery night and all those.
So I'm already become the, uh,that control dad that's saying
we're not changing that.
So if I could put a lock on it,but no, what are the easiest
(02:00):
ones to do?
What are the easiest things thatevery home should do that we're
telling members to pay attentionto?
Angie Byford (02:07):
So let me just ask you this, Harrison, have you
ever read your meter yourself?
Harrison Waters (02:12):
No, no, no.
I'm ashamed to tell people thatI have never, I mean, I've gone
outside, looked at it, seen, youknow, some moving parts on it,
but no, I wouldn't know where Istart, where I end every month
for sure.
Okay.
Angie Byford (02:23):
Well, I mean, that's an honest answer.
We hear that a lot from a lot ofour members.
Um, but we do ask them, youknow, sometimes the first
question is, There's no way Icould be using that much
electricity.
Um, and we'll just ask them,Could you do this for me?
Could you go out and read yourmeter every day and just kind of
think of what the weather'sdoing, what you were doing at
(02:44):
your home?
Did you have a gathering there,you know, kids home, just
something else going on abnormalthat could maybe raise that
electric up during those days.
But if you start taking areading every day, you start
kind of paying attention towhat's going on within your
household and when you're usingthat electricity.
But also we have prepaidmetering at the cooperative now.
(03:06):
So we have members almost, um,probably 900 to a thousand that
are on prepaid and they payevery day kinda like a pay as
you go phone.
So they will keep up with theirusage every day.
They get something like a textor an email to let them know if
they've gone over and they're inthe hole and how much money they
(03:28):
need to bring into thecooperative.
So it's kind of a little budgetthing for'em.
It kind of helps them, um, bemore aware of what they're using
daily or weekly.
But it's just, it's a goodlittle tool that we've started
using so far.
Sean Vanslyke (03:42):
Yeah, and I would say, you know, when Angie talks
about reading your meter, youcan do it on the smartphone, the
smart app that we have.
And there's so many ways to dothat.
But if people really wanna savemoney, they're gonna do
something, uh, to, to beproactive, to do something.
Most people, unfortunately ourbusiness model was set up wrong
a hundred years ago.
You get to use it, then we sendyou a bill.
(04:03):
If we had it set up like a gas,like if you go buy gas for your
car, you pay for it or the gasstation moves the responsibility
of that bill to a credit card.
But Mr.
Gas owner, Mr.
And Mrs.
Gas station owner, uh, they'renot back in the day they did
because you had local credit,but today you go buy gas, you
use it if you can't drive 40miles cuz you can't afford the
(04:24):
gas, you don't drive.
Unfortunately in our business,if you don't have prepaid
metering, you use it, then wesend you a bill and the biggest
thing that we wanna do is avoidbill shock.
We just don't want people to getthis huge bill at the end of the
, at the end of the month andrealize that, wow, I didn't know
I used that much.
So we're always trying to getpeople to pay attention to what
they're using, but we want themto be happy.
But we also have to realize that, that they don't have a choice
(04:47):
on the electric side.
And I've been in Illinois whereyou could have choice and that
didn't seem to fix it eitherbecause people use it then pay
for it and we don't always know.
Imagine going into a restaurantand just eating what you want
without ever looking at the menuprice and you're there for a
couple hours and you just eatand eat and eat and then pretty
soon they bring you a bill andyou go, Well I can't pay for
that now.
And that's why they give you amenu.
(05:07):
So I think it's an opportunityfor all of us to educate and
help each other.
Harrison Waters (05:11):
I'd have a lot of bill shock on some of those
meals.
, Oh man.
So tell me if, if they're not,if they number one step pay
attention, try and get ahead ofit versus get that bill shock if
they're not willing to just turnit off or anything like that.
Cuz I know everyone's got 12tablets and four computers and
three smart TVs and all that.
(05:33):
What are some of the simpleones?
Cuz I know that you can spend alittle bit of money and it can
go a long way.
Angie Byford (05:39):
It can, um, you know, you've just got a bunch of
little tips like making surethat you've got l e d light
bulbs, stuff that are energyefficient, checking your seals
on your windows, making surethings are closed off, closing
off rooms that you're not using.
Closing your shades and drapesduring the day.
Making sure number one, thatyou've got the right, um, size
(06:01):
of a central unit.
We've had members call in beforethat we can see on the screen
that like their voltage has goneup quite a bit than what it
normally was in the past.
And we can say, you know, we cansee something's happened.
Um, is there something thatyou've changed within your home
or if you've had anything elsegoing on.
And um, we had somebody oncesay, Well we did get a central
(06:25):
unit from somebody, they gave itto us from an apartment building
and it's a little bit biggerwhen than what the other one
was.
So we thought it was more energyefficient.
So it really wasn't energyefficient for their home.
Not the size, but it was runningtheir bill up quite a bit.
So just being aware of some ofthat stuff and making sure that
you take your time researchingwhenever you're buying
(06:46):
appliances and things of thatnature to make sure that they do
fit, fit your home.
Sean Vanslyke (06:51):
So we have to, we have this real balance in the
distribution level and that'speople who realize that we come
out and talk to'em or we, wesaid they've got a bad water
heater or they have somethinggoing to ground, meaning that
the wiring was done wrong.
So you have electricity justgoing into the ground somewhere
and there's this moment of ofself-reflection that they
realize that, oh, it's not thebig bad utility company, it's
(07:14):
something in my house.
And we have to deal with thatwith handle that with humility.
Uh, we're just there to help and, and sometimes it gets real
personal, it, it gets realemotional.
Uh, we might see the same personmonth after month for three or
four or five months coming inand talking to us and trying to
understand why their bills areso big.
And a lot of cases it's just a,it's a trip to their home to
(07:36):
say, you know, why do you havethree or four freezers, uh,
plugged in?
Or why do you have this?
They don't always know what theydon't know.
Same way with me, I don't alwaysknow what I don't know, but
until it becomes an issue, wejust don't stop long enough to
really pay attention to it.
And that's why if people reallyhave an issue, we encourage'em
to read their meter every dayand realize a lot of the meters
(07:56):
may not, may have dials, butmore, more often than not, they
have numbers on'em today and youjust read the number at six
o'clock or eight o'clock or somestandard time and go out there
every 24 hours and just writethat down and subtract the
difference.
And at least you'll know.
And a lot of the utilities nowhave smart meters and they have
a device now an app and you haveyour phone and if you wanna see
(08:17):
it every day you can.
But until it becomes an issue,it's usually not an issue.
Right.
And unfortunately that's what wetry to avoid from and, and
paying attention.
I think we're all guilty of justgoing home and living how we
wanna live and then we pay forit later.
Harrison Waters (08:30):
Yeah, I've gotten good at reading like
wattage of appliances and allthat.
Like for me, like looking atspace heater and the 1500 watts,
it's like you don't have to knowa lot about it to know that if
that thing is running at 1500watts, it's not gonna take long
to rack up that expense.
Um, space heater's probably theeasiest one just because, you
know, it's such a high, I meanhair dryer's one thing, but I'll
(08:53):
never tell my wife she can't useher hair hair dryer and that's
for five, 10 minutes and that's,I can, you know,, but
space heater, you know, fallasleep, let that thing go
through the night and, and youknow, you pay for it later like
you said.
So certainly great feedback onthat.
Have,
Sean Vanslyke (09:09):
Have you ever looked at the wattage on your
wife's uh, hair dryer?
Harrison Waters (09:12):
I figure it's probably the same as a space
heater.
It is 2000 watts or
Sean Vanslyke (09:16):
Something.
Just go home tonight and look atthat and imagine turning that
thing on and just letting itrun.
Harrison Waters (09:21):
No, I could never, I could
Sean Vanslyke (09:22):
You wouldn't wanna hear it for one thing,
right?
No.
Right, right, right.
But that's, that's essentiallythe same thing.
Mm-hmm.
.
So when people come to us,that's something we talk about.
Imagine plugging your hair dryerin today and just letting it
run.
Mm-hmm.
.
But the space heater, I don'thear it.
So if the space heater made alot of noise, maybe people would
turn'em off.
It is just a constanteducational type thing that we
try to work, work with.
Harrison Waters (09:42):
Tell me what, other than maybe like
refrigerators or freezers intheir garage, what else is a
another one that sticks out?
Um,
Angie Byford (09:51):
There is, um, sometimes they have something
trying to keep their pumps fromfreezing out in their shed.
A lot of times they'll turn onsome kind of heat lamp or
something in the wintertime andthey may not realize that it's
drawn as much amp as what it is.
But, um, swimming pools, youknow, those in the summertime I
just put in an in-groundswimming pool last summer and it
(10:14):
really, the pump ran all thetime because I wanted that water
to go all the time because Ilove that sound.
But it's costing money everytime that's turned on.
Just anything that's plugged inis drawn amage.
Mm-hmm.
, it can, it canbuild up.
So we, we really try to gothrough any kind of scenario we
can with our members and justask them, what do you have
(10:34):
plugged in?
You know, if you could go aroundand walk around from room to
room and just see everythingthat's in there and then just
start unplugging stuff.
If you looked at your meter theday before and you had
everything turned on that wasplugged in in your home, but
then you turned around andturned it off the next day and
read it again, you know, whatkind of difference are you gonna
(10:55):
see?
Like Sean said, we just try toeducate people and just ask'em
questions about their habits,how they're using their
electric, what time of the daythey come home.
How big is your home?
Is it full of furniture?
Sometimes people don't havetheir house full of furniture.
Well furniture acts is like aninsulation whenever your heat,
it kind of absorbs all thatstuff.
Or when you have a lot of peoplein your home.
(11:17):
I know at Thanksgiving andChristmas we've had to open our
windows before because it'sgotten so warm while we're
cooking and all those people arein there and then, you know, the
next day you've got your windowsclosed back because you don't
have as much stuff going on.
So it's just kind of knowingwhat everybody is.
Harrison Waters (11:34):
I think it's nice on a cool summer night, if
you leave for vacation for threeor four days, I think that smart
app is nice to come back andlook and say, Okay, this is my
base.
Mm-hmm.
, if you're goneand you know that you can check
maybe your heat or your ACdidn't kick on while you were
out.
So it needs to be in those 60,70 degree days, you could come
back and say, okay, how many,Yeah, how many cell phone
charges do I have plugged in?
(11:55):
How many little lights are, youknow, going on on these
appliances and everything?
Angie Byford (11:59):
We have a lot of people that will call in and
say, Well I turned it off, Iturned the system completely
off.
And we're like, Did you really?
Because your pipes would freezeif it was really cool, but you
know, you don't wanna turn itway down because then you've
gotta get everything heatedright back
Harrison Waters (12:14):
Up.
Well that was a lesson learnedfor myself.
I, you know, getting into thisand being an early adopter of a
nest smart thermostat, I, um, Iwould optimize for my house.
I would leave and it would turnit down to a ridiculously low.
So then when I came back itwould, you know, heat things up
or cool things off.
And what I found was all thefurniture, my walls, everything
(12:34):
in the house would be freezing.
Yeah.
And I'd have to heat up againand the system would take
forever.
So I was actually far betterjust to lower it four or five
degrees, whatever and have itkick back on versus like it, you
know, making my house unbearablefor a little bit to catch back
up.
I thought I was doing best formyself and it was, it was hard
to be comfortable by the timeyou went to bed cuz my system
was playing ketchup.
(12:55):
So,
Angie Byford (12:56):
But like we said, you don't know what you don't
know.
So if you don't call and talk toyour electric company, then we
can't help educate you and justask you some of those questions.
Sometimes, sometimes not to, wedon't wanna make people feel bad
for what they're doing or forcalling and asking.
We just wanna try to help themunderstand, you know, that
there's a little bit more tojust the bill itself.
Sean Vanslyke (13:17):
And, and I would point out too that there could
be something wrong on our, ourend.
We're not perfect.
Mm-hmm.
, uh, sometimes wedo have a meter that goes bad or
perhaps we under overestimatedyour bill one month because for
whatever reason we're unable toget out there, read it or in our
case, and we have a lot ofinterference now coming in on
our power lines, how we read ourmeters.
And it's because of some of theindustrial members that we have,
(13:41):
they're putting more, uh, staticor more electricity back, if you
will.
It's hard to explain in generalterms, but they're just putting
noise back on the system andsometimes we're forced to
estimate the meter.
We try not to do that, but thereare times that the, that the
utility's gonna be off, it'sjust not gonna be right.
Um, but in my, my nearly 30years of experience, it's
usually, it's just, it's justhow we live in our homes and,
(14:03):
and my kids, you know, my oldestis 30 something years old now
and, and, uh, uh, they grew upat 63 degrees in the winter and
um, they know to wear clothes inthe house and that's because we
made a decision as a family.
We'd rather go travel.
We'd rather go to the river onweekends and not pay, uh, pay
the utility company more moneyor in natural gas.
(14:23):
And a lot of times when peoplecall the first que we, we should
start with questions instead ofjust trying to give solutions.
For example, are you heatingwith gas?
Are you heating with allelectric?
Are you using wood or are youusing propane?
Because if we have all electriccombs, they're mad at us a
couple times a year when it'sreally cold, when it's really
hot.
If they're electricity andnatural gas, they're usually mad
at us in the summer and they'remad at the gas company in the,
(14:46):
in the winter because they'rehaving to use natural gas.
So a lot of times in order tounderstand who we're talking to,
we gotta ask some questionsbefore we just start solving,
solving problems.
And I think that's probably justsomething as an industry, we
probably don't allow enough timesometimes just to ask questions
and listen.
Uh, cuz we just want to jump inthere and solve things.
And as a dad and as a husbandfor many years, uh, that's one
(15:08):
of my great weaknesses is tryingto solve problems before I ask
the questions.
So I think that applies to ourbusiness as well.
Harrison Waters (15:15):
I like that.
I like the, where all everythinghas to be immediate, you know,
feedback, which I had to getsome, uh, quotes on my, my HVAC
unit and all that.
That's always a, it's astressful time because you get
the feedback and it's like,yeah, replace the whole system.
It'll be by$25,000, you know,all.
And your there is certainly yoursticker shock, your, you know,
(15:37):
bill shock for sure.
Especially living in Missouri.
You have to have, uh, theMidwest, you know, you gotta
have a good, a good system cuzwe do have every bit of the
warmth and the cold and allthat.
So
Sean Vanslyke (15:48):
Let me, let me turn the podcast around on you.
I'm ready.
Okay.
So you just mentioned Missouri.
I don't think people realize howblessed we are to be part of the
Associated Family.
And I realize that this podcastcan be listened to around the
world and, and throughout theUnited States, but Associated
has such a great footprint.
And when you've lived in otherstates, you realize that if
you're paying for power atMissouri, you're getting a
(16:09):
pretty good deal.
Now, whether you're home'sconstructed to be in the area
that it's at, whether it's coldor hot up north or south east or
west in Arizona in the boot hill, some of the homes may have not
been built to withstand some ofthe colder temperatures that we
saw like we saw in February of2021.
But as a young dad with a oneand four year old at home,
right?
Mm-hmm.
, how much do youpay attention to your
(16:29):
electricity bill and when do youpay attention to it as a, as a
young, younger, married couple?
How important is that to you?
Harrison Waters (16:37):
It's, I mean, it's very important.
I I certainly, you know, when itcomes to little kids, I think
that's stressful because theircomfort is everything.
And knowing what thattemperature is to make sure that
they sleep well at night, that'sreally all I care about.
And finding that solution andknowing, being able to sleep
(16:58):
easy at night and knowing thatit's not gonna cost an arm and
leg, I, I feel absolutelyblessed to do that.
Um, you know, even during thewinter storm Yuri last year, it
was one of those times where youput practice into play when it
comes to energy efficiency andgoing around the house and
finding ways to keep the homewarm because there's nothing
(17:20):
scarier than, you know, nothaving power.
So the reliability of our systemis absolutely important.
And the, and the longer thatI've worked here, the more I've
realized that and the more Ifeel blessed to be here and
knowing that, you know, we arein control, um, of so many
things.
Right.
You know, you fix a lot of thethings we're talking about
(17:41):
today, and you're, you're notonly gonna have a lower electric
bill, but it's gonna be morecomfortable in your home.
Home, you know, and I, I mean Ido that for my spouse as well.
I might not go as far asswitching out my shower head for
like a low flow one, but my wifehas longer hair, so I, I I have
to draw the line somewhere.
(18:01):
But yeah, I take it, I take itvery seriously.
So I hope that our, our membersand and our listeners, you know,
realize that we're not alwaysjust trying to give them these
tips or feedback to get thisreally low built.
I take pride in being the energyefficiency dad, and I'm
hopefully instilling that intomy children.
So
Sean Vanslyke (18:20):
We're in this podcast right now and we're
trying to educate, uh, members,Right?
If you weren't in the business,how would I get your attention
Harrison Waters (18:28):
Talking about it more, you know, utilizing
social media platforms,realizing that, you know, if
we're going to, if we're goingto focus so much as a country on
clean energy and all thesedifferent initiatives, I think
it's what we say in our solaranimation series is the first
(18:48):
step is check to make sure thatyou have fixed all the energy
efficiency things for yourhousehold first before going out
to get solar.
Because otherwise you're justgonna use, you're gonna pay a
lot of money to let your energygo out the doors again, for lack
of a better term.
But I, you know, I, I told thisto my dad the last time we were
talking about the home energyaudit was like, if you add up
(19:10):
all the little inefficienciesand envision it as one large
inefficiency, you essentiallyare having a window open in your
home.
Mm-hmm.
.
And if, if they could see that,if, if you could go to their
house when it's snowing and openup a member's home and just say,
window's open in your kitchen,and they're like, Whoa, whoa,
(19:30):
whoa.
That's terrible.
Close it immediately.
I'm like, there's probablyanother window open in your home
and it's all the inefficienciesthat are taking place.
Yeah.
I think it's gotta be socialmedia.
I think it has to be word ofmouth.
It has to be letting even theyounger generations know the
value of the co-op membershipbecause I think the older
generations, they've been aroundit, they understand that.
(19:53):
But now you've got a newworkforce going out there that
probably doesn't care as muchabout this stuff as they should.
Sean Vanslyke (20:00):
And I think when we try to reach out to people,
it is so hard because we'retrying to cut through so much
clutter.
And as long as the power is on,and I remember my career when I
left the corporate world andcame into the cooperative world,
I had a 30 day gap there.
I was amazed how easily I wasable to disconnect from the
utility world for just 30 days.
(20:20):
I, I, I just disconnected fromit and I felt somewhat like a
normal, uh, consumer for just afew days.
And, and I learned a lot by thatmeaning that, that we're living
this, we're working it, uh,however many hours we work a
week, we're focused on this.
Our members and our subscribersor our consumers, uh, they're
(20:40):
not focused on this every day.
They're focused on life and thishappens to be our life.
And so we have an opportunity tobring that to them.
Them, it's just how do we cutthrough the clutter?
Harrison Waters (20:50):
And it's hard that when the times when they
have an interaction with acooperative is typically when
there's an outage or something.
And if the, if, if our poweronly worked, if electricity was
99%, that is not an a, this isnot school.
Like 99%, there's 1% of the timeyou'd be in the dark.
(21:11):
That would be unacceptable.
And so the few times we're inthe dark is when they're
thinking about us.
And so we're, we're doing such agood job with reliability that
it's hard to then send thosemessages because I know if I
take for granted I flip a lightswitch, it's gonna work.
Yeah.
You know, and so that's thebeauty of it.
But also it, it's tough reachingmembers to say, be proactive,
(21:32):
get out there, make a change,make a difference.
Angie Byford (21:36):
Well, and we, we really do, we try to educate,
educate, educate.
Um, Ashley, she's got themembers first page on Facebook
and there's a lot of great tipsout there.
We have a lot of great tips onour Facebook also.
Um, I've been blessed to serveon the member services committee
for Touchstone Now and Right.
(21:56):
They have like 700 pluscooperatives or utility places
that they serve.
And um, there's a great websitewith so many resources that
people can take advantage of.
And there's quick tips, integerState Energy savings guide, some
great educational videos outthere.
So we just share whatever we canwith Touchstone.
(22:18):
You can go to touchstoneenergy.com, but I know there's
so many other places that we canrefer our members to just to
make sure that they have theright information that they
have.
And I think even on TouchstoneEnergy, they can go through like
a home audit themselves and kindof walk through there.
So just a lot of good stuff.
Harrison Waters (22:36):
Well, I think you said it before, it's get
outside and check your meter,get comfortable doing that.
Or if you wanna be a little bitmore comfortable, stay inside
and use the, the Smart Hub Meterapp and get used to checking
that to see kind of how muchyou're using.
But I definitely, uh, wannathank you both for coming in.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
So we really enjoyed this andum, thanks for coming in.
(22:59):
Thanks.
Angie Byford (23:00):
Thank you.
It's been great.
Welcome to
Sean Vanslyke (23:01):
You.
Harrison Waters (23:03):
Well that's our show.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
And if you have another greatidea or a topic you'd like us to
cover, just let usknow@membersfirstaeci.org.
Once again, I'm your host,Harrison Waters and thanks for
listening.
I think it's an opportunity for all of us to
educate and help each other.
Harrison Waters (00:06):
I'd have a lot of little shock on some of those
meals.
Oh man.
Hey, and welcome to anotherawesome episode for The Power
For Your Life podcast.
I'm your host Harrison Watersand I have two of SMO Electric
co-ops Finest.
They're here to tell us a littlebit about low cost energy
savings in your house, butreally about bill shock and how
(00:29):
to avoid that as a member.
Take a listen.
I am so happy that you are bothin here with us today.
Can you both, uh, Sean and Angiekick it off and just introduce
yourself and your role at thecooperative?
Angie Byford (00:42):
Yes, thank you Harrison.
Um, I'm Angie Byford and I workfor S Electric Cooperative in
southeast Missouri.
I have had many hats that I'vewore inside and outside at the
cooperative over the past, um,little over 10 years.
And I do take care of the frontof the house right now and I
just enjoy working with our teamthere and just making
(01:06):
everybody's lives better insideand out of the cooperative.
Sean Vanslyke (01:10):
Yeah.
Sean Van, like I'm blessed to bethe head coach and chief
custodian of SMO Electric and uh, have the opportunity to serve
on a lot of state and nationalboards and, and be involved.
But, you know, the greatestthing that we do is change
people's lives.
As Angie said, I'm probablyfocused more internally than I
used to be, uh, where Angie'sfocused externally, but just
trying to make people's livesdifferent internally that
(01:32):
carries over to the external toour members and to the, our
subscribers on the broadbandside, it makes a difference.
Harrison Waters (01:38):
So we're here to talk about low cost energy
savings.
I am slowly becoming a fan offinding little ways to, I know
it's probably driving my wifeand my kids crazy as I'm like
guarding the, uh, thermostatevery night and all those.
So I'm already become the, uh,that control dad that's saying
we're not changing that.
So if I could put a lock on it,but no, what are the easiest
(02:00):
ones to do?
What are the easiest things thatevery home should do that we're
telling members to pay attentionto?
Angie Byford (02:07):
So let me just ask you this, Harrison, have you
ever read your meter yourself?
Harrison Waters (02:12):
No, no, no.
I'm ashamed to tell people thatI have never, I mean, I've gone
outside, looked at it, seen, youknow, some moving parts on it,
but no, I wouldn't know where Istart, where I end every month
for sure.
Okay.
Angie Byford (02:23):
Well, I mean, that's an honest answer.
We hear that a lot from a lot ofour members.
Um, but we do ask them, youknow, sometimes the first
question is, There's no way Icould be using that much
electricity.
Um, and we'll just ask them,Could you do this for me?
Could you go out and read yourmeter every day and just kind of
think of what the weather'sdoing, what you were doing at
(02:44):
your home?
Did you have a gathering there,you know, kids home, just
something else going on abnormalthat could maybe raise that
electric up during those days.
But if you start taking areading every day, you start
kind of paying attention towhat's going on within your
household and when you're usingthat electricity.
But also we have prepaidmetering at the cooperative now.
(03:06):
So we have members almost, um,probably 900 to a thousand that
are on prepaid and they payevery day kinda like a pay as
you go phone.
So they will keep up with theirusage every day.
They get something like a textor an email to let them know if
they've gone over and they're inthe hole and how much money they
(03:28):
need to bring into thecooperative.
So it's kind of a little budgetthing for'em.
It kind of helps them, um, bemore aware of what they're using
daily or weekly.
But it's just, it's a goodlittle tool that we've started
using so far.
Sean Vanslyke (03:42):
Yeah, and I would say, you know, when Angie talks
about reading your meter, youcan do it on the smartphone, the
smart app that we have.
And there's so many ways to dothat.
But if people really wanna savemoney, they're gonna do
something, uh, to, to beproactive, to do something.
Most people, unfortunately ourbusiness model was set up wrong
a hundred years ago.
You get to use it, then we sendyou a bill.
(04:03):
If we had it set up like a gas,like if you go buy gas for your
car, you pay for it or the gasstation moves the responsibility
of that bill to a credit card.
But Mr.
Gas owner, Mr.
And Mrs.
Gas station owner, uh, they'renot back in the day they did
because you had local credit,but today you go buy gas, you
use it if you can't drive 40miles cuz you can't afford the
(04:24):
gas, you don't drive.
Unfortunately in our business,if you don't have prepaid
metering, you use it, then wesend you a bill and the biggest
thing that we wanna do is avoidbill shock.
We just don't want people to getthis huge bill at the end of the
, at the end of the month andrealize that, wow, I didn't know
I used that much.
So we're always trying to getpeople to pay attention to what
they're using, but we want themto be happy.
But we also have to realize that, that they don't have a choice
(04:47):
on the electric side.
And I've been in Illinois whereyou could have choice and that
didn't seem to fix it eitherbecause people use it then pay
for it and we don't always know.
Imagine going into a restaurantand just eating what you want
without ever looking at the menuprice and you're there for a
couple hours and you just eatand eat and eat and then pretty
soon they bring you a bill andyou go, Well I can't pay for
that now
And that's why they give you amenu.
(05:07):
So I think it's an opportunityfor all of us to educate and
help each other.
Harrison Waters (05:11):
I'd have a lot of bill shock on some of those
meals.
So tell me if, if they're not,if they number one step pay
attention, try and get ahead ofit versus get that bill shock if
they're not willing to just turnit off or anything like that.
Cuz I know everyone's got 12tablets and four computers and
three smart TVs and all that.
(05:33):
What are some of the simpleones?
Cuz I know that you can spend alittle bit of money and it can
go a long way.
Angie Byford (05:39):
It can, um, you know, you've just got a bunch of
little tips like making surethat you've got l e d light
bulbs, stuff that are energyefficient, checking your seals
on your windows, making surethings are closed off, closing
off rooms that you're not using.
Closing your shades and drapesduring the day.
Making sure number one, thatyou've got the right, um, size
(06:01):
of a central unit.
We've had members call in beforethat we can see on the screen
that like their voltage has goneup quite a bit than what it
normally was in the past.
And we can say, you know, we cansee something's happened.
Um, is there something thatyou've changed within your home
or if you've had anything elsegoing on.
And um, we had somebody oncesay, Well we did get a central
(06:25):
unit from somebody, they gave itto us from an apartment building
and it's a little bit biggerwhen than what the other one
was.
So we thought it was more energyefficient.
So it really wasn't energyefficient for their home.
Not the size, but it was runningtheir bill up quite a bit.
So just being aware of some ofthat stuff and making sure that
you take your time researchingwhenever you're buying
(06:46):
appliances and things of thatnature to make sure that they do
fit, fit your home.
Sean Vanslyke (06:51):
So we have to, we have this real balance in the
distribution level and that'speople who realize that we come
out and talk to'em or we, wesaid they've got a bad water
heater or they have somethinggoing to ground, meaning that
the wiring was done wrong.
So you have electricity justgoing into the ground somewhere
and there's this moment of ofself-reflection that they
realize that, oh, it's not thebig bad utility company, it's
(07:14):
something in my house.
And we have to deal with thatwith handle that with humility.
Uh, we're just there to help and, and sometimes it gets real
personal, it, it gets realemotional.
Uh, we might see the same personmonth after month for three or
four or five months coming inand talking to us and trying to
understand why their bills areso big.
And a lot of cases it's just a,it's a trip to their home to
(07:36):
say, you know, why do you havethree or four freezers, uh,
plugged in?
Or why do you have this?
They don't always know what theydon't know.
Same way with me, I don't alwaysknow what I don't know, but
until it becomes an issue, wejust don't stop long enough to
really pay attention to it.
And that's why if people reallyhave an issue, we encourage'em
to read their meter every dayand realize a lot of the meters
(07:56):
may not, may have dials, butmore, more often than not, they
have numbers on'em today and youjust read the number at six
o'clock or eight o'clock or somestandard time and go out there
every 24 hours and just writethat down and subtract the
difference.
And at least you'll know.
And a lot of the utilities nowhave smart meters and they have
a device now an app and you haveyour phone and if you wanna see
(08:17):
it every day you can.
But until it becomes an issue,it's usually not an issue.
Right.
And unfortunately that's what wetry to avoid from and, and
paying attention.
I think we're all guilty of justgoing home and living how we
wanna live and then we pay forit later.
Harrison Waters (08:30):
Yeah, I've gotten good at reading like
wattage of appliances and allthat.
Like for me, like looking atspace heater and the 1500 watts,
it's like you don't have to knowa lot about it to know that if
that thing is running at 1500watts, it's not gonna take long
to rack up that expense.
Um, space heater's probably theeasiest one just because, you
know, it's such a high, I meanhair dryer's one thing, but I'll
(08:53):
never tell my wife she can't useher hair hair dryer and that's
for five, 10 minutes and that's,I can, you know,
space heater, you know, fallasleep, let that thing go
through the night and, and youknow, you pay for it later like
you said.
So certainly great feedback onthat.
Have,
Sean Vanslyke (09:09):
Have you ever looked at the wattage on your
wife's uh, hair dryer?
Harrison Waters (09:12):
I figure it's probably the same as a space
heater.
It is 2000 watts or
Sean Vanslyke (09:16):
Something.
Just go home tonight and look atthat and imagine turning that
thing on and just letting itrun.
Harrison Waters (09:21):
No, I could never, I could
Sean Vanslyke (09:22):
You wouldn't wanna hear it for one thing,
right?
No.
Right, right, right.
But that's, that's essentiallythe same thing.
Mm-hmm.
So when people come to us,that's something we talk about.
Imagine plugging your hair dryerin today and just letting it
run.
Mm-hmm.
But the space heater, I don'thear it.
So if the space heater made alot of noise, maybe people would
turn'em off.
It is just a constanteducational type thing that we
try to work, work with.
Harrison Waters (09:42):
Tell me what, other than maybe like
refrigerators or freezers intheir garage, what else is a
another one that sticks out?
Um,
Angie Byford (09:51):
There is, um, sometimes they have something
trying to keep their pumps fromfreezing out in their shed.
A lot of times they'll turn onsome kind of heat lamp or
something in the wintertime andthey may not realize that it's
drawn as much amp as what it is.
But, um, swimming pools, youknow, those in the summertime I
just put in an in-groundswimming pool last summer and it
(10:14):
really, the pump ran all thetime because I wanted that water
to go all the time because Ilove that sound.
But it's costing money everytime that's turned on.
Just anything that's plugged inis drawn amage.
Mm-hmm.
So we, we really try to gothrough any kind of scenario we
can with our members and justask them, what do you have
(10:34):
plugged in?
You know, if you could go aroundand walk around from room to
room and just see everythingthat's in there and then just
start unplugging stuff.
If you looked at your meter theday before and you had
everything turned on that wasplugged in in your home, but
then you turned around andturned it off the next day and
read it again, you know, whatkind of difference are you gonna
(10:55):
see?
Like Sean said, we just try toeducate people and just ask'em
questions about their habits,how they're using their
electric, what time of the daythey come home.
How big is your home?
Is it full of furniture?
Sometimes people don't havetheir house full of furniture.
Well furniture acts is like aninsulation whenever your heat,
it kind of absorbs all thatstuff.
Or when you have a lot of peoplein your home.
(11:17):
I know at Thanksgiving andChristmas we've had to open our
windows before because it'sgotten so warm while we're
cooking and all those people arein there and then, you know, the
next day you've got your windowsclosed back because you don't
have as much stuff going on.
So it's just kind of knowingwhat everybody is.
Harrison Waters (11:34):
I think it's nice on a cool summer night, if
you leave for vacation for threeor four days, I think that smart
app is nice to come back andlook and say, Okay, this is my
base.
Mm-hmm.
maybe your heat or your ACdidn't kick on while you were
out.
So it needs to be in those 60,70 degree days, you could come
back and say, okay, how many,Yeah, how many cell phone
charges do I have plugged in?
(11:55):
How many little lights are, youknow, going on on these
appliances and everything?
Angie Byford (11:59):
We have a lot of people that will call in and
say, Well I turned it off, Iturned the system completely
off.
And we're like, Did you really?
Because your pipes would freezeif it was really cool, but you
know, you don't wanna turn itway down because then you've
gotta get everything heatedright back
Harrison Waters (12:14):
Up.
Well that was a lesson learnedfor myself.
I, you know, getting into thisand being an early adopter of a
nest smart thermostat, I, um, Iwould optimize for my house.
I would leave and it would turnit down to a ridiculously low.
So then when I came back itwould, you know, heat things up
or cool things off.
And what I found was all thefurniture, my walls, everything
(12:34):
in the house would be freezing.
Yeah.
And I'd have to heat up againand the system would take
forever.
So I was actually far betterjust to lower it four or five
degrees, whatever and have itkick back on versus like it, you
know, making my house unbearablefor a little bit to catch back
up.
I thought I was doing best formyself and it was, it was hard
to be comfortable by the timeyou went to bed cuz my system
was playing ketchup.
(12:55):
So,
Angie Byford (12:56):
But like we said, you don't know what you don't
know.
So if you don't call and talk toyour electric company, then we
can't help educate you and justask you some of those questions.
Sometimes, sometimes not to, wedon't wanna make people feel bad
for what they're doing or forcalling and asking.
We just wanna try to help themunderstand, you know, that
there's a little bit more tojust the bill itself.
Sean Vanslyke (13:17):
And, and I would point out too that there could
be something wrong on our, ourend.
We're not perfect.
Mm-hmm.
perhaps we under overestimatedyour bill one month because for
whatever reason we're unable toget out there, read it or in our
case, and we have a lot ofinterference now coming in on
our power lines, how we read ourmeters.
And it's because of some of theindustrial members that we have,
(13:41):
they're putting more, uh, staticor more electricity back, if you
will.
It's hard to explain in generalterms, but they're just putting
noise back on the system andsometimes we're forced to
estimate the meter.
We try not to do that, but thereare times that the, that the
utility's gonna be off, it'sjust not gonna be right.
Um, but in my, my nearly 30years of experience, it's
usually, it's just, it's justhow we live in our homes and,
(14:03):
and my kids, you know, my oldestis 30 something years old now
and, and, uh, uh, they grew upat 63 degrees in the winter and
um, they know to wear clothes inthe house and that's because we
made a decision as a family.
We'd rather go travel.
We'd rather go to the river onweekends and not pay, uh, pay
the utility company more moneyor in natural gas.
(14:23):
And a lot of times when peoplecall the first que we, we should
start with questions instead ofjust trying to give solutions.
For example, are you heatingwith gas?
Are you heating with allelectric?
Are you using wood or are youusing propane?
Because if we have all electriccombs, they're mad at us a
couple times a year when it'sreally cold, when it's really
hot.
If they're electricity andnatural gas, they're usually mad
at us in the summer and they'remad at the gas company in the,
(14:46):
in the winter because they'rehaving to use natural gas.
So a lot of times in order tounderstand who we're talking to,
we gotta ask some questionsbefore we just start solving,
solving problems.
And I think that's probably justsomething as an industry, we
probably don't allow enough timesometimes just to ask questions
and listen.
Uh, cuz we just want to jump inthere and solve things.
And as a dad and as a husbandfor many years, uh, that's one
(15:08):
of my great weaknesses is tryingto solve problems before I ask
the questions.
So I think that applies to ourbusiness as well.
Harrison Waters (15:15):
I like that.
I like the, where all everythinghas to be immediate, you know,
feedback, which I had to getsome, uh, quotes on my, my HVAC
unit and all that.
That's always a, it's astressful time because you get
the feedback and it's like,yeah, replace the whole system.
It'll be by$25,000, you know,all.
And your there is certainly yoursticker shock, your, you know,
(15:37):
bill shock for sure.
Especially living in Missouri.
You have to have, uh, theMidwest, you know, you gotta
have a good, a good system cuzwe do have every bit of the
warmth and the cold and allthat.
So
Sean Vanslyke (15:48):
Let me, let me turn the podcast around on you.
I'm ready.
Okay.
So you just mentioned Missouri.
I don't think people realize howblessed we are to be part of the
Associated Family.
And I realize that this podcastcan be listened to around the
world and, and throughout theUnited States, but Associated
has such a great footprint.
And when you've lived in otherstates, you realize that if
you're paying for power atMissouri, you're getting a
(16:09):
pretty good deal.
Now, whether you're home'sconstructed to be in the area
that it's at, whether it's coldor hot up north or south east or
west in Arizona in the boot hill, some of the homes may have not
been built to withstand some ofthe colder temperatures that we
saw like we saw in February of2021.
But as a young dad with a oneand four year old at home,
right?
Mm-hmm.
(16:29):
electricity bill and when do youpay attention to it as a, as a
young, younger, married couple?
How important is that to you?
Harrison Waters (16:37):
It's, I mean, it's very important.
I I certainly, you know, when itcomes to little kids, I think
that's stressful because theircomfort is everything.
And knowing what thattemperature is to make sure that
they sleep well at night, that'sreally all I care about.
And finding that solution andknowing, being able to sleep
(16:58):
easy at night and knowing thatit's not gonna cost an arm and
leg, I, I feel absolutelyblessed to do that.
Um, you know, even during thewinter storm Yuri last year, it
was one of those times where youput practice into play when it
comes to energy efficiency andgoing around the house and
finding ways to keep the homewarm because there's nothing
(17:20):
scarier than, you know, nothaving power.
So the reliability of our systemis absolutely important.
And the, and the longer thatI've worked here, the more I've
realized that and the more Ifeel blessed to be here and
knowing that, you know, we arein control, um, of so many
things.
Right.
You know, you fix a lot of thethings we're talking about
(17:41):
today, and you're, you're notonly gonna have a lower electric
bill, but it's gonna be morecomfortable in your home.
Home, you know, and I, I mean Ido that for my spouse as well.
I might not go as far asswitching out my shower head for
like a low flow one, but my wifehas longer hair, so I, I I have
to draw the line somewhere.
(18:01):
But yeah, I take it, I take itvery seriously.
So I hope that our, our membersand and our listeners, you know,
realize that we're not alwaysjust trying to give them these
tips or feedback to get thisreally low built.
I take pride in being the energyefficiency dad, and I'm
hopefully instilling that intomy children.
So
Sean Vanslyke (18:20):
We're in this podcast right now and we're
trying to educate, uh, members,Right?
If you weren't in the business,how would I get your attention
Harrison Waters (18:28):
Talking about it more, you know, utilizing
social media platforms,realizing that, you know, if
we're going to, if we're goingto focus so much as a country on
clean energy and all thesedifferent initiatives, I think
it's what we say in our solaranimation series is the first
(18:48):
step is check to make sure thatyou have fixed all the energy
efficiency things for yourhousehold first before going out
to get solar.
Because otherwise you're justgonna use, you're gonna pay a
lot of money to let your energygo out the doors again, for lack
of a better term.
But I, you know, I, I told thisto my dad the last time we were
talking about the home energyaudit was like, if you add up
(19:10):
all the little inefficienciesand envision it as one large
inefficiency, you essentiallyare having a window open in your
home.
Mm-hmm.
And if, if they could see that,if, if you could go to their
house when it's snowing and openup a member's home and just say,
window's open in your kitchen,and they're like, Whoa, whoa,
(19:30):
whoa.
That's terrible.
Close it immediately.
I'm like, there's probablyanother window open in your home
and it's all the inefficienciesthat are taking place.
Yeah.
I think it's gotta be socialmedia.
I think it has to be word ofmouth.
It has to be letting even theyounger generations know the
value of the co-op membershipbecause I think the older
generations, they've been aroundit, they understand that.
(19:53):
But now you've got a newworkforce going out there that
probably doesn't care as muchabout this stuff as they should.
Sean Vanslyke (20:00):
And I think when we try to reach out to people,
it is so hard because we'retrying to cut through so much
clutter.
And as long as the power is on,and I remember my career when I
left the corporate world andcame into the cooperative world,
I had a 30 day gap there.
I was amazed how easily I wasable to disconnect from the
utility world for just 30 days.
(20:20):
I, I, I just disconnected fromit and I felt somewhat like a
normal, uh, consumer for just afew days.
And, and I learned a lot by thatmeaning that, that we're living
this, we're working it, uh,however many hours we work a
week, we're focused on this.
Our members and our subscribersor our consumers, uh, they're
(20:40):
not focused on this every day.
They're focused on life and thishappens to be our life.
And so we have an opportunity tobring that to them.
Them, it's just how do we cutthrough the clutter?
Harrison Waters (20:50):
And it's hard that when the times when they
have an interaction with acooperative is typically when
there's an outage or something.
And if the, if, if our poweronly worked, if electricity was
99%, that is not an a, this isnot school.
Like 99%, there's 1% of the timeyou'd be in the dark.
(21:11):
That would be unacceptable.
And so the few times we're inthe dark is when they're
thinking about us.
And so we're, we're doing such agood job with reliability that
it's hard to then send thosemessages because I know if I
take for granted I flip a lightswitch, it's gonna work.
Yeah.
You know, and so that's thebeauty of it.
But also it, it's tough reachingmembers to say, be proactive,
(21:32):
get out there, make a change,make a difference.
Angie Byford (21:36):
Well, and we, we really do, we try to educate,
educate, educate.
Um, Ashley, she's got themembers first page on Facebook
and there's a lot of great tipsout there.
We have a lot of great tips onour Facebook also.
Um, I've been blessed to serveon the member services committee
for Touchstone Now and Right.
(21:56):
They have like 700 pluscooperatives or utility places
that they serve.
And um, there's a great websitewith so many resources that
people can take advantage of.
And there's quick tips, integerState Energy savings guide, some
great educational videos outthere.
So we just share whatever we canwith Touchstone.
(22:18):
You can go to touchstoneenergy.com, but I know there's
so many other places that we canrefer our members to just to
make sure that they have theright information that they
have.
And I think even on TouchstoneEnergy, they can go through like
a home audit themselves and kindof walk through there.
So just a lot of good stuff.
Harrison Waters (22:36):
Well, I think you said it before, it's get
outside and check your meter,get comfortable doing that.
Or if you wanna be a little bitmore comfortable, stay inside
and use the, the Smart Hub Meterapp and get used to checking
that to see kind of how muchyou're using.
But I definitely, uh, wannathank you both for coming in.
It's been an absolute pleasure.
So we really enjoyed this andum, thanks for coming in.
(22:59):
Thanks.
Angie Byford (23:00):
Thank you.
It's been great.
Welcome to
Sean Vanslyke (23:01):
You.
Harrison Waters (23:03):
Well that's our show.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
And if you have another greatidea or a topic you'd like us to
cover, just let usknow@membersfirstaeci.org.
Once again, I'm your host,Harrison Waters and thanks for
listening.
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