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Winter Weather and High Energy Bills

The extreme cold weather last year left many Hartselle Utilities customers with record energy usage – and higher than normal utility bills. While predictions for this winter range from mild to extreme cold, it is always a good idea to take steps to keep energy usage and costs down. Here are a few tips:

1. Turn down your thermostat to 68 degrees or lower. For every degree you lower your heat in the 60- to 70-degree range, you’ll save up to five percent on heating costs.
2. Set the thermostat back to 55 degrees when leaving home for an extended time. However, heat pumps should only be set back two degrees to prevent unneeded use of backup strip heating, which carries higher costs.
3. Check air filters. Dirty air filters increase your energy usage and can also damage your heating. Be sure to use filters approved for your specific system.
4. Caulk around windows and replace old weather stripping around doors to keep the cold air out. Small leaks add up.
5. Reduce cold-air drafts around windows, typically seen in older homes, by using heavy-duty clear plastic sheets, or tape clear plastic film inside your windows. Ensure the plastic is sealed tightly.
6. Close your fireplace damper when not in use.
7. Schedule service for your heating system, and ask what maintenance is required to keep it running optimally. Keep up with maintenance milestones.
8. Open curtains on your south-facing windows on sunny days to naturally heat your home with sunlight. Close the curtains at night to reduce any chill or drafts.

And, while it won’t actually save you money, Hartselle Utilities’ Levelized Billing program can help you budget your monthly energy costs by providing you with a consistent bill each month. Levelized Billing calculates the average of a customer’s prior 12 months, with a cap of 20 percent increase or decrease from the previous month to keep a bill from jumping too much from one month to the next. For more information and to enroll in Levelized Billing, contact Customer Service Manager Terri Harris at tharris@hartselleutilities.org or (256) 773-3340.

TVA and Hartselle Utilities Introduce eScore Program

eScore Rebate Schedule 07.25.2014

Hartselle Utilities and TVA are pleased to introduce eScore, a modernized, enhanced version of the existing In-home Energy Evaluation (IHEE) program. eScore will become effective December 1. “The new program,” says Hartselle Utilities Customer Service Manager Terri Harris, “is designed to provide a simple path to making your home as energy efficient as possible.

“The program evaluates areas of energy usage within your home using a 1-10 point grading system, with 10 being the most efficient,” Harris explains. “According to TVA, average homes in the Tennessee Valley that achieve a 10 eScore can expect up to 20 percent savings on energy costs.”

Areas which are included in the eScore evaluation, and may be eligible for rebates, include air sealing, attic insulation, duct systems, lighting, heating/cooling systems, appliances/electronics, water heating, refrigerators, and windows and doors.

Energy efficiency improvements that are performed by a member of TVA’s Quality Contractor Network (QCN) and follow program guidelines are eligible for rebates. Homeowners will receive a rebate check from Hartselle Utilities and TVA. “The new program will be more technologically friendly, and allow you to complete energy-efficiency improvements over time as your budget allows,” says Harris.

There are two ways residents can participate in the program. If someone needs recommendations for improvements to reduce energy use and costs, he or she can have an eScore evaluation performed on their home before any improvements are made for a non-refundable $75 fee. The pre-evaluation is not required, however. A program participant who knows what work they need performed can skip the pre-evaluation and hire a contractor who is a member of TVA’s Quality Contractor Network (QCN) to perform qualified energy efficiency improvements, receiving rebate checks from Hartselle Utilities and TVA, after the work is inspected by an eScore evaluator. To participate in the program, Hartselle Utilities customers can register at www.2escore.com or by calling 1-855-237-2673, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Once registered, homeowners can select a QCN member through the eScore website and schedule work to be completed or request an eScore evaluation. After work is completed by a QCN member – and before rebates are issued – an inspection will be performed to ensure the qualified energy efficiency improvements were installed properly. An eScore evaluation is performed at no charge during the inspection process.

To participate in the new program, the home must be an existing single family home served by Hartselle Utilities, and have had permanent electric service for a minimum of one year. Rental properties are eligible, as long as both the landlord and tenant sign the Participation Agreement in order for a tenant to participate.

For more information, contact Terri Harris at tharris@hartselleutilities.org or by calling (256) 773-3340.

Wastewater Treatment Plant To Reuse Water, Save 800,000 Gallons Per Month

Hartselle Utilities’ Wastewater Treatment Plant has begun a new project to reuse treated water in the plant’s operations.

Wastewater from throughout Hartselle is treated at the plant to meet federal and state standards. The treated wastewater is then released into Shoal Creek, which is part of the Flint River watershed. The Wastewater Treatment Plant is designed to treat 2.7 million gallons of water a day from homes, businesses and industries from the City of Hartselle; it currently discharges about 2 million gallons each day into the creek.

The plant’s chlorine feed and headworks use about 800,000 gallons of water per month. Currently, the plant purchases potable water from Decatur Utilities. Potable water is generally defined as drinking water safe enough to be consumed by humans or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm.

According to Hartselle Utilities Engineering Services Manager Glen Partlow, water used within the plant’s systems doesn’t need to meet drinking water standards, and can safely be reused from the plant’s discharge flow.

“We’ve seen rate increases from Decatur Utilities for the last three years,” explains Hartselle Utilities General Manager Bob Sittason. “By reusing the water within our own system, we will no longer have to purchase this water and save an estimated $26,000.00 per year.”

Last July, the Hartselle Utilities Board approved a plan to build the infrastructure to allow this water to be redirected from within the plant, reducing its dependence on purchased potable water.

The project will cost approximately $90,000, and Partlow expects to recover that cost within three and a half years, possibly sooner. “We were able to utilize some existing piping and buildings to save on costs,” he explains. WWTP staff will paint the reuse pipes purple, a common practice for identifying recycled water.

Major components of the WWTP, Partlow says, will keep a potable water backup system, with backflow preventions built in. “We always want to keep our potable water source in place, just in case,” he says.

SNAP Nearing Completion: Five Sections Finished, One To Go

Including donations received in 2014 and pledges and commitments for 2014, $65,000 more is needed to complete a second playground for the SNAP complex, shown above in an artist’s rendering. The seven-year project is the result of a county-wide coalition to create a play area for special needs children in Morgan County. The second playground is the final planned phase.

The final phase of a county-wide effort to provide a playground for special needs children in Morgan County is scheduled for early 2015. Fundraising efforts are well under way for a second playground area in the John Mark
Stallings Special Needs Accessible Playground of Morgan County (SNAP).

The second playground area will feature an integrated ramped structure with numerous freestanding structures, including slides, climbers and ladders designed for various special needs, along with several different sound and play panels. “There are six senses of play,” says project manager Bob Francis, counting them off: sliding, spinning, swinging, climbing, social and tactile. “In the design of the entire complex, we’ve made a conscious effort to collectively address each one of these to provide accommodations for our special needs children.”

Francis says that throughout 2014 the group will focus entirely on fundraising and continuing education. “Beginning January 1 of this year, we needed a little over $210,000 to complete the playground. Now, based on donations and firm commitments, we are reasonably within $65,000 of having sufficient funds to complete SNAP. I don’t have any doubt we’re going to get there,” he says.

When the boundless playground was initially proposed, organizers estimated there were 1,700 special needs children in Morgan County. Recent information puts that number closer to 2,500.

Currently, the SNAP complex includes a swing area, playground, splashpad, pavilion and entryway. The entryway with a lighted clock tower and backlit LED logo houses the plaque dedicating the playground to John Mark Stallings, son of Coach Gene and Ann Stallings. John Mark, who had Down Syndrome, impacted and inspired thousands of people during his 46-year life.

In 2011, the SNAP Splashpad was recognized by Aquatics International Magazine as the best spray park of its category in the nation. SNAP has received countless other recognitions throughout the course of the project as other communities, both in and out of state, have asked for guidance in developing their own special needs playgrounds. SNAP is now viewed as a model for special needs playgrounds in the state of Alabama.

Over the past seven years, volunteers from the Hartselle Civitan, Kiwanis, Rotary and Lions clubs, along with the City of Hartselle, United Way, Hartselle Medical Center, Wal-Mart, the Volunteer Center of Morgan County, Hartselle Area Chamber of Commerce and the Morgan County Association of Volunteer Fire Departments have worked together to raise almost $640,000 in donations and in-kind services for SNAP, according to Francis. He pointed out that $12,702 of that figure came from Hartselle Utilities in in-kind donations for the infrastructure, as an example of the many ways the community has joined together to complete the playground. At last count, 418 individuals and organizations have donated money, products and services to the project.

“We planned six major elements for the SNAP playground,” Francis smiles. “We’ve completed five, and have one to go. After seven years, it’s time to finish the job.”

No donation is too small, Francis says, relating stories of a child donating a handful of coins, and a prisoner from Holman sending a check for $5.00.

To donate to the SNAP playground project, visit SnapPlayground.org/donate or send money to P.O. Box 512, Hartselle, AL 35640.