General Manager’s Message – May 2024

Thanks to Mom

David Bailey, General Manager

I’d like to take a moment at the start of this column to say thank you to my mother, Nan Rae Wilson Roth. Better known as “Nan” to her 3 sons and “Nana” to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, she has without doubt been the greatest influence on my life other than my Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

No journey as a mom is perfect, but hers was particularly weighted with various medical issues for her 2 eldest sons. She advocated for above-average medical care for her boys and pushed them to be above average to overcome their medical issues.

She led by example, overcoming the various roadblocks that come at each of us over our lives. She was guided by a simple philosophy: “Put God first. He will carry you through the valleys and over the mountaintops of life.” She is my greatest hero, and I would like to wish her a very happy Mother’s Day this month. I love you for being my mom.

In the electric industry, May marks 1 of the months we call “shoulder months.” These periods, when temperatures outside are usually mild, often run from March to May and can sometimes include the end of September and October.

January 2024, though, was no shoulder month. The weather was so cold that South Alabama Electric Cooperative’s (SAEC) winter demand levels were second only to those in 2022. For PowerSouth, our power supplier, January had an all-time high winter demand.

So, what does this mean for you? Often, by the time we’re billed for that electric usage, the weather has become milder, and we forget just how much energy we used when temperatures were much colder or much hotter. The bill arrives and we have that classic sense of sticker shock. We think, “There’s no way I used that much electricity.”

Fortunately, SAEC has tools to help with that sticker shock. We can assist you to set up text notifications that tell you how much electricity you’re using daily. That way, if your usage increases due to the weather, you can make adjustments in your household in a timely manner before you’re billed.

Let’s say you usually set your thermostat to 68 degrees, but temperatures drop, and someone adjusts the thermostat to 75 degrees and forgets to turn it back down. Your heating system already must work harder to maintain 68 degrees at colder temperatures, and now it’s working at turbocharged mode at 75 degrees. But if you received a text notification that your usage was higher than normal, you’d be able to adjust your thermostat back to normal or lower settings and wear warmer clothes instead. When you make small adjustments to your thermostat, the savings can be big over a 30 day billing period.

It’s important to remember that your temperature at 68 degrees is still 68 degrees no matter how cold it may be outside. Technology can be a great thing if you allow it to work for you, and SAEC has plenty of ways you can use it to stay informed about your usage, your method of receiving billing statements and even check the status of your power when you’re not home.

More and more of our members are choosing to receive their bill digitally, which is significantly faster than the postal service. They don’t call it “snail mail” for nothing, with members sometimes receiving bills in the mail late or even when they’re past due. That certainly doesn’t help the sense of sticker shock. Members can receive bills both ways. E-bills give you the maximum amount of time to handle your monthly payment and provide the exact same information as your print bill, only on your computer or device.

If you’re concerned about setting up accounts and getting this new technology working, we’re happy to help you with that. The main thing to remember is the importance of keeping your information up to date. Keep an accurate cellphone number on file so we can send you text notifications and log the correct account and address when you call in an outage. Providing a working email address is also helpful for sending your e-bill. Rest assured that we will never share your data with anyone. Not even TikTok.

I hope all of you have enjoyed your shoulder months. As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions about your bill or any of our usage tools. Don’t forget to remember the military men and women this Memorial Day who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we have the freedom to call, visit or think about our mothers on their special day. Freedom is neither free nor guaranteed, so don’t take it for granted. Until next time, have a safe month.