The pole top rescue competition is a part of every electric cooperative’s safety program.  Its purpose is to train an employee to rescue an injured lineman on a pole in the least amount of time.  A standard procedure must be strictly followed.  The employee must make a call for assistance, grab his climbing tools from the truck and put them on, climb the pole, attach a harness to the 105-pound mannequin and lower him to the ground and perform CPR. 

For the past twenty-two years, the twenty-six electric cooperatives in North Carolina host a statewide competition to find out who is the best of the best.  In October of every other year, each cooperative sends its local winner to Raleigh to compete against the rest of the field.  In the eleven times the competition has been held, French Broad EMC’s representative has never finished below fifth place and has taken first place a record six times. 

This year French Broad EMC’s competitor was once again crowned the winner.  Jason Worley of Marshall took first place with a winning time of 1 minute 42 seconds.  Most people only saw Jason’s winning time, but I also witnessed all the countless hours after work he spent practicing his technique and working hard to reach his goal.  Congratulations to Jason for his dedication and for the skilled manner in which he represented French Broad EMC.

With a new year rapidly approaching, let’s take one last look at 2008 as it relates to the energy industry.  We will remember that it was a year with fuel costs from our power supplier escalating to record levels this past summer due to a worldwide increase in demand.  At the same time there were steep increases in the transportation costs to deliver coal by rail.  In a matter of months, coal went from $40 per ton to over $150 for the same amount.  Natural gas prices also climbed this summer due to high demand and the imminent threat of hurricane damage to the Gulf Coast.

Congress also considered legislation designed to make the generation of electricity with coal financially punitive in an effort to reduce our carbon output and improve our environment.  While the intent of the proposed laws should be applauded, little regard was given to the financial burden it would have placed on the electric rate payers.  Fortunately, our customers along with thousands of other cooperative members across the country banded together to ask tough questions of our representatives in Washington, and they responded to our letters. The proposed bills lacked enough support to become law. 

Our energy problems will continue to be one of the greatest issues facing our government in 2009. We must continue to let the politicians know we want to protect the environment but we need to be reasonable in developing a plan to assure the electricity we need is at a price we can afford. 

On behalf of the employees and Board of Directors of French Broad Electric Membership Corporation, I wish all our members a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.  Enjoy the time you have with your family and friends as it will pass all too quickly.  Soon we will have to get used to writing 2009 on everything we date!

Thank You,

Jeff Loven
Email: jeff.loven@frenchbroademc.com


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