Interested in a Trip of a Lifetime? Two high school juniors will be selected to represent the co-op in Washington, D.C. Imagine winning an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., with high school juniors from across the country. Picture your- self touring the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Smithsonians and many other famous sites. Imagine seeing his- tory jump off the pages of your school book and truly begin to understand what so many sacrificed their lives for. Each summer, the Washington Youth Tour brings together 1,500 talented, ambitious high school juniors from across the country to experience our nation’s capital and develop their leadership skills. The program gives stu- dents an inside view of the political process as they see government in action. The inspiration behind the trip came from Texas Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson. In 1957, before he was president, LBJ spoke at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Annual Meeting in Chicago. He proposed a tour of the nation’s capital for teens liv- ing in rural cooperative service areas as a chance for them to see “what the flag stands for.” It has been more than 50 years since Johnson’s speech. The program has never been stronger. This fall, AEC will hold a contest to determine the two high school juniors who will represent the co-op in Washington, D.C., for one week in June. Applicants must live or attend school in the AEC service area; submit a written composition and completed application that can be picked up at the cooperative office or downloaded from the AEC website (www.anzaelectric.org); and participate in an interview with a panel of judges. Applications and written compositions must be received in the cooperative office by noon, Friday, October 10—although it is recommended that applicants not wait until the last minute. Compositions and applications can be turned in early. A panel of judges will evaluate each composition. Students will be called in at a later date for personal interviews. Judges want to learn about each student—their interests and ambitions, and why they should represent AEC. Following the interviews, two students will be awarded the all-expense-paid trips. For more information regarding this year’s competition, please contact the cooperative office at (951) 763-4333 or [email protected]. Application Requirements Each applicant must: Live or attend school in AEC’s service area. Be a high school junior. Complete an application. Write a composition. Be interviewed by a panel of judges. Applications and compositions are due by noon on October 10. Teddy Brumley and Caitlin DeBoer represented Anza Electric Cooperative during the 2014 Washington Youth Tour. Among their many stops was the White House. Anza Electric SEPTEMBER 2014 25
Transcript
Interested in a Trip of a Lifetime?Two high school juniors will be selected to represent the co-op in Washington, D.C.Imagine winning an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., with high school juniors from across the country. Picture your-self touring the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Smithsonians and many other famous sites. Imagine seeing his-tory jump off the pages of your school book and truly begin to understand what so many sacrificed their lives for.
Each summer, the Washington Youth Tour brings together 1,500 talented, ambitious high school juniors from across the country to experience our nation’s capital and develop their leadership skills. The program gives stu-dents an inside view of the political process as they see government in action.
The inspiration behind the trip came from Texas Sen. Lyndon Baines Johnson. In 1957, before he was president, LBJ spoke at the National
Rural Electric Cooperative Association Annual Meeting in Chicago. He proposed a tour of the nation’s capital for teens liv-ing in rural cooperative service areas as a chance for them to see “what the flag stands for.” It has been more than 50 years since Johnson’s speech. The program has never been stronger.
This fall, AEC will hold a contest to determine the two high school juniors who will represent the co-op in Washington, D.C., for one week in June. Applicants must live or attend school in the AEC service area; submit a written composition and completed application that can be picked up at the cooperative office or downloaded from the AEC website (www.anzaelectric.org); and participate in an interview with a panel of judges.
Applications and written compositions must be received in the cooperative office by noon, Friday, October 10—although it is recommended that applicants not wait until the last minute. Compositions and applications can be turned in early.
A panel of judges will evaluate each composition. Students will be called in at a later date for personal interviews. Judges want to learn about each student—their interests and ambitions, and why they should represent AEC. Following the interviews, two students will be awarded the all-expense-paid trips. For more information regarding this year’s competition, please contact the cooperative office at (951) 763-4333 or [email protected].
Application RequirementsEach applicant must: Live or attend school in
AEC’s service area. Be a high school junior. Complete an application. Write a composition. Be interviewed by a
panel of judges.
Applications and compositions are due by noon on October 10.
Teddy Brumley and Caitlin DeBoer represented Anza Electric Cooperative during the 2014 Washington Youth Tour. Among their many stops was the White House.
Anza Electric
S E P T E M B E R 2014 25
The Great Picture HuntPhoto Tips from David LaBelle
As a child, I loved going with my father to junkyards and the county dump. I would climb over the twisted metal bodies of crashed cars, foraging for treasures. I always found some little piece of something shiny that had no value to anyone except me.
For a while, I was fasci-nated with the tiny squares of broken glass from shattered windshields. I pretended they were diamonds and filled my pockets with them.
That curiosity, that fascination with treasures others discard, has never left me. Now, instead of filling my pockets with pieces of glass or metal, I fill my viewfinder with pictures of relationships and things others pass by blindly or discard as worthless.
We can learn much by sit-ting quietly and watching the natural world. Nothing is wasted in God’s great cre-ation. Swallows and purple
Martins scoop little mud balls with their beaks and engineer nests capable of clinging to cement or metal bridges and keep their families safe from weather and predators. Other birds gather discarded pieces of string—even the hair from horses and cows—to weave warm cradles that incubate their offspring. Yet it seems we humans need “new” things to make us happy.
Like the birds, artists often collect discarded bits of life to craft pictures and weave stories. They find beauty in the commonplace. As is often said, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
For the most part, I think photographers and artists have an inherent need to create, arrange and give order to visual clutter. Like dogs
bred to herd animals, it is their nature.
Beauty is present every-where, even in tragedy. There are diamonds to be found in the most unlikely places if we look for them.
But learning to see beauty in the trash heaps of life is an acquired skill. It requires slow-ing down and listening to life with our eyes and our heart.
Take a slow walk with your camera. Look up. Look down. Look all around. Train your eyes to see the beauty oth-ers—racing through life—pass by. You may discover that a fallen leaf, snow-covered seed pods, peeling paint or a subtle, comforting touch is a treasure to your soul.
That evil exists is evident. But good and beauty also abound.
Seeing Beauty in the Commonplace
David LaBelle is an internationally known photographer, teacher, author and lecturer. He has worked for newspapers and magazines across the United States and taught at three universities. He grew up on a frog farm in rural California, roaming the creeks and hills with his coon dogs. Many of the lessons he learned during those magical boyhood years have been applied to photography and
teaching the essence of this art form. For more information, visit www.greatpicturehunt.com.
There is a certain beauty in the commonplace, even in death. The lifeless body of a pigeon struck by a vehicle lies peacefully on the roadside. Its body position and color create a quiet and beautiful, natural arrangement.Photo by David LaBelle
26 S E P T E M B E R 2014
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Carbon Rules Opposition GrowingThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon rules for existing generating “will cause a whole host of problems” over and above the severe financial impacts on power plants and member-consumers, members of Arizona’s congressional delegation and other elected officials are learning.
Educating members of Congress, state lawmakers, policymakers and member-consumers of Arizona’s electric coopera-tives has become a priority as the full impacts of the EPA’s proposed carbon rules become more apparent.
Patrick Ledger, CEO of Arizona’s G&T Cooperatives, has been joined in visits to members of Congress by John Wallace, CEO of Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association; Phil Bashaw, director of government relations and grassroots advocacy for GCSECA; and other members of the AzGTs staff.
Ledger said the EPA has assumed existing power plant owners in Arizona can shut down coal generation and move to natural gas in less than six years—an
assumption that does not take into account the cost of building or buying natural gas generation or the challenges associated with the new transmission infrastructure that would be required.
“The assumption the EPA seems to have that we can just shut down our coal and move everything to (natural gas) generators causes a whole host of problems,” Ledger said at an August 7 meeting with Congressman Paul Gosar’s (R-AZ) staff, hosted by GCSECA at its Tempe offices. “Transmission can be as expensive as generation. We have to find a path, and then there’s the secondary impact which is going to be massive reli-ability problems.”
Jeff Small, Gosar’s legislative director, and Penny Pew, Gosar’s district direc-tor and intergovernmental affairs, were on hand to listen and report back to the congressman.
Face-to-face meetings with members of the Arizona congressional delega-tion or their senior staff are a prior-ity to ensure every Arizona member
Michael Wong, left, legislative aide to Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), discusses proposed carbon rules with Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative’s Phil Bashaw, center, director of government relations and grassroots advocacy, and CEO John Wallace. Attending via conference call was Arizona’s G&Ts CEO Patrick Ledger. Geoff Oldfather, manager of communications, marketing and public relations, also attended.
Arizona’s G&T Cooperatives, GCSECA meet with lawmakers to discuss impacts on member-consumers
By Geoff OldfatherArizona’s G&T Cooperatives
Down the LineNews From Arizona’s G&T Cooperatives
We ask that you stand up with us as we � ght to keep your electric bills a� ordable. Inserted in the center of this month’s magazine is a response card you are asked to complete and return.
Through www.Action.coop, the nation’s electric cooperatives are working together to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Congress to reconsider its approach and to work with electric cooperatives to � nd a common sense solution that balances energy needs and environmental concerns.
28 S E P T E M B E R 2014
Patrick Ledger, left, Arizona’s G&T Cooperatives CEO, talks about the possible impacts the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon rules will have on the Apache Generating Station. Clockwise, from left, Penny Pew with Congressman Paul Gosar’s office; Grand Canyon Electric Cooperative Association CEO John Wallace; Jeff Small with Gosar’s office; and GCSECA’s Phil Bashaw. At the meeting, but not pictured, was AzGT’s Geoff Oldfather.
of Congress understands the unique electric cooperative model, and why the proposed carbon rules will dispropor-tionately affect the AzGTs and member cooperatives more than other utilities.
Everything from the challenges and costs associated with converting or switch-ing to natural gas and other resources to the need for meetings with top EPA offi-cials to educate them on the impacts of the proposed rule is open to discussion.
Both Pew and Small agreed the rule is unworkable and the timeline—which would eliminate coal generation in Arizona by the year 2020, when an EPA interim rule goes into effect—will be dif-ficult, if not impossible, to comply with.
A meeting also was held August 11 at Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema’s district office in Phoenix to cover the same issues with Legislative Aide Michael Wong.
Wong asked about progress on the regional haze rule and said it seems the EPA hasn’t considered the impact one rule will have on the other. The regional haze rule requires power plants to reduce emissions that are said to cause haze-restricting views in national parks.
“Let’s see how this is supposed to fit together,” Wong said. “You have the
regional haze rule and you’re going to spend all the money to comply with that and the EPA is going to tell you, ‘OK, you need to be in compliance with this by 2018 and that’s great, but by the way, here’s another rule (carbon rules) that could put you out of business two years later.’”
Ledger said it is simple: “We need immediate relief from this rule.”
“The EPA’s carbon rule just doesn’t fit,” he said. “It doesn’t work.”
Arizona Democrats Sign Letter to EPAFour members of the Arizona congressional delegation, all Democrats, signed a letter expressing their alarm about the devastating impacts the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed carbon rules will have on all Arizona utilities, including electric cooperatives.
“While we support EPA’s e� orts to address GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, the e� ort must be balanced against individual economic hardships and the economic health of local economies,” the letter states. “On behalf of the constituents we represent in Arizona, we ask EPA to consider the impacts the proposed rule will have on rates and the local economy.”
Among the questions asked in the letter are two that are speci� c to electric cooperatives: “Did EPA analyze the localized economic impacts that could result from coal plant retirements? In particular, did EPA consider the strain that coal-plant retirements will place on rural areas?
To read the letter in its entirety, visit the AzGTs website at www.azgt.coop and click on News, then on blog.
S E P T E M B E R 2014 29
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Slinging for SalmonA young couple angles for sockeye salmon along the shore of Lake Aleknagik, near Dillingham, Alaska. Jackknife Mountain is silhouetted across the water. Although the near-midnight sunset was glorious, the fish were unimpressed and reclusive. Only the mosquitoes were biting. Photo submitted by Clark Fair of Dillingham, Alaska.We are always looking for photos to feature in Parting Shot. We pay $25 for one-time use. Send your best shots to Parting Shot, 5605 NE Elam Young Pkwy., Hillsboro, OR 97124, or email a high-resolution digital version to [email protected].
30 S E P T E M B E R 2014
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ANZA ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC.P.O. Box 391909 • Anza, CA 92539
Phone: (951) 763-4333 • Fax: (951) 763-5297 • [email protected] • www.anzaelectric.orgOur crew is on standby 24 hours a day. To report an outage or other service problem, please call (951) 763-4333.
Americans seem to be a con-tradictory bunch when one considers our investment strategies. Some of us like to save regularly, depositing a percentage of every paycheck. Others will invest in solid, reliable, safe bonds and slow- growth funds. The more radi-cal risk takers get into penny stocks and other schemes that scare the daylights out of the rest of us. Some of us even view Las Vegas or the state lottery as great retirement plans.
Anza Electric Cooperative prefers to invest in people. In this case, we are investing in our kids.
Every year, we sponsor two high school juniors on a trip to our nation’s capital. We are not trying to sway them politically; on the contrary, we hope that this trip leads them to a deeper under-standing of the process of government, and a greater appreciation for the history we all share.
Inside this issue of Currents, you will find a story about the 2014 Washington Youth Tour program, now entering its 51st year, and details about our 2015
contest. We again are send-ing two high school juniors to Washington, D.C., in June.
Thousands of young adults from cooperatives across the country will compete for the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., for a week of tours, meetings with their elected representatives and building new friendships.
Teddy Roosevelt once said, “A people without chil-
dren would face a hopeless future.” Our cooperative believes that by continu-ally investing in our children, we face a bright future. The rate of return on this investment is immeasurable; its value is priceless. We are helping to develop the leaders of tomorrow, with a small deposit today in the piggy banks of their lives.
I urge the families and friends of high school juniors to encourage your future leaders to participate in this program. The time and effort they spend on them-selves now will create an account of immeasurable wealth that they will carry into their adult years.
The best part is, we will all enjoy the returns of their investment.
Our Piggy-Bank KidsEMPLOYEE ANNIVERSARIES
September and OctoberCongratulations!
Scott Davies .................... 10 years Michael Gervais .................2 years Laura Manseau ................. 2 years Paula Ruiz ........................... 4 years
IMPORTANT DATES
Labor Day (o� ce closed) ........ September 2
Washington Youth Tourcontest deadline ..... October 10
Daylight savingtime ends ................. November 2
Kevin Short
A Message from the Manager
$25 Electric Bill Credit WinnerNo. 27607-001If this is your account number, contact the AEC o� ce and claim your $25 bill credit.
Anza Electric Cooperative Inc. uses its Facebook page to alert members to special events, energy-saving tips and outage update information. “Like” our page to receive notifications.
32 S E P T E M B E R 2014
AZ-56 Postmaster: Send address changes to Currents, 5605 NE Elam Young Pkwy., Hillsboro, OR 97124
