From the Desk of...Chuck Witte, General Manager
Rain, Rain...Summer?
I am writing this article the end of June and the 4th of July is just around the corner. Summer will be either half over or just getting started depending on if you look at school starting or the warm weather finally getting here. June was full of rain storms which caused flooding on some of the waterways that are usually dry. We have seen trees washed out and fall into our power lines causing outages. All of the reservoirs are now full, even Grayrocks, Guernsey and Glendo are full. This has been one of the wettest Junes that I can remember. Area farmers cut hay and then watched the rain fall on it. Now, we are seeing the grasshoppers in large numbers and spraying is in full progress. What is next? Warm weather would help the crops to mature.
Fair and School...
The Platte County Fair will start soon, and I would like to congratulate all of the participants, and thank all of the workers who make the fair possible.
Labor Day is just around the corner and we hope that all of you have a picnic or some other type of “get together” planned. School will soon be starting; please make sure you watch out for the students as they are on their way to school or just waiting for the bus to pick them up. When I was younger, much younger, I always waited for the day that the school year was over. Then again I was always happy when the new school year started. Go figure.
Hunting Season...
September marks the start of the hunting season. Some of the so-called hunters are still using Association property as targets. This increase in vandalism does not always show up right away. In a lot of cases the problems will show up under not so nice weather conditions like rain or snow storms. The linemen then have to go out under not so nice conditions to make the repairs and put the lights back on. This takes a lot of time and money from other projects. I would again like to remind you that this Association offers a $500 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of anyone vandalizing Association property.
Pending Legislation...
The federal government is just gearing up to introduce the Kerry-Lieberman legislation that has the possibility of changing all of our lives. As it is now written the bill has the possibility of increasing our electric rates by a minimum of fifty percent and doubling the price of gas. I can’t begin to guess how much our overall cost of living will rise! If you have not done so I urge you to go to Our Energy website at www.ourenergy.coop and let your legislatures know how you feel about legislation that will increase your cost of energy. A long time ago my Grandmother told me that there are some things worth fighting for and there are some that are not. She was telling me to pick my fights wisely. This is one of those fights that we do not want to lose.
Out & About...
The girlfriend and I have been out and about this past month. Yes, Sadie, my shadow went with us. I can always get her to go for a ride with me when the girlfriend decides to stay home. The area is greener than I have ever seen. The crops are a little behind with all of the cool wet weather. However, with the recent hot days, I swear that you can hear the corn grow. All of the pastures are in great shape. We did hit a few hoppers on our travel and with a little elbow grease they will come off the bumper. We hope that your summer is going well and that you are enjoying the great outdoors. Call, write or stop in if you have any questions or comments.
Wheatland REA's after-hours outage call numbers are: |
