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We all wish to help those in need following the devastation of recent

hurricanes, and now, more than ever, that wish brings to mind one of our core cooperative principles: concern for community. Our primary commitment is to deliver safe, reliable, and affordable electric service to our Members, but we also are bound by this fundamental directive to assist our

communities in continually increasing prosperity and improving quality of life. It is important to be mindful of this effort, especially during National Cooperative Month.

Hancock-Wood’s office (our address is on Page 22) has been serving as an official collection site for our Hope After Hurricanes program donations through Impact With Hope. We are open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, to take donations of water bottles, blankets, flashlights, Band-Aids, shovels, hand tools, and non-perishable food items until October 31. Monetary donations can be sent to American Red Cross, 125 Fair Street, Findlay, OH 45840. Please list Hurricane Harvey or another hurricane on the check’s memo line to ensure that 100 percent goes to help those struggling in the aftermath. We will add your name to a list of donors on a poster we are creating to send our best wishes to coastal areas most impacted.

Several electric co-ops also have been hit hard by these monstrous storms, especially Victoria Electric. We send our thoughts and prayers to those still caught in the grip of these catastrophes and send kudos to our fellow not-for-profit electric cooperatives responding directly or lending mutual aid to restore power to communities in dire need. Learn more by visiting electric.coop/texas-co-ops-continue-hurricane-recovery.

LOCALLY, ORU REACHES MILESTONEThe power of change through giving is also going strong in our electric co-op. Less than 10 years since its founding, our Operation Round Up (ORU) program reached a milestone of $511,823 in total grants awarded. Program support comes exclusively from the generosity of you, our Member-Owners, who round up to the next dollar on your monthly bills.

Although the donation amounts to less than $6 per member annually, those pennies per month add up to a greater quality of life in the communities in which our Members live, work, and play.

In its third quarter, the Community Trust Fund (CTF) Board presented $12,800 in individual ORU grants to

Putnam County YMCA, Findlay Hope House, Awakening Minds Art, Vanlue Fire Department, and Eagle Scout Damon Dotson — for a shelter house project at North Baltimore reservoir. Those funds joined past grant amounts to top the half-million dollar mark in area donations.

I am extremely proud of our Members’ commitment to concern for community. Although this is one of many of our grant programs that have added up to millions to benefit our communities over the years, it is a momentous benchmark for our Members to have achieved.

This quarter, the donations benefited Allen, Hancock, Hardin, Putnam, Seneca,

and Wood counties. The all-volunteer CTF board, along with Hancock-Wood Electric Co-op Trustee Dave Corbin, meet quarterly to pore over application submissions that have more than quadrupled in number over the past nine years.

“Grant recipients have included numerous charitable, non-profit, service, scouting, and health organizations, along with schools, fire and law enforcement departments, and the arts, just to name a few,” said Corbin. (See a photo of the grant presentation on Page 20.)

George Walton, President and CEO

Commitment to Members and Beyond NATIONAL CO-OP MONTH

Linemen from our fellow electric cooperative Victoria Electric restore service in Texas.

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Rebuilding continuesIn October, Hancock-Wood’s Rebuild Program will continue as contracted crews work in Hancock County on a three-phase project along State Route 68. Learn more by visiting hwe.coop/construction-corner.

ORU reaches milestone A new year for ACREStarting Jan. 1, 2018, the Action Committee for Rural Electrification (ACRE®) membership year will now follow a calendar year. The change only affects how ACRE participation is recognized and will help reduce confusion over which year a contribution applies. Only the 2017 ACRE membership year will extend to become a 16-month membership year, ending Dec. 31 instead of Sept. 31, 2017. Contributions made up until that time will be counted toward the 2017 ACRE membership year. Contributions in 2018 will count toward membership in 2018, which will be a 12-month-membership year.

From left, front row: Community Trust Fund, Inc. (CTF) board members Karen Schuh, Dan Branson, and Darlene Petkwitz. Top row: Melanie Stokes, Putnam Co. YMCA; Angela Crist, Findlay Hope House; Sarah Crisp, Awakening Minds Art; Dave Hefflinger, Vanlue Fire Dept.; and Damon Dotson, Eagle Scout, Troop 315. Not pictured are CTF board members Ellen McKee and Denise Foos. In August, Hancock-Wood Electric Co-op Member-Owner Operation Round Up (ORU) funding to local charitable organizations and non-profit entities exceeded a half-million dollars since the inception of the ORU program in 2008.

Van Buren awards HWE

Van Buren Schools Superintendent Tim Myers presents HWE President and CEO George Walton with a certificate of recognition.

Thanks in part to the groundswell of our Member-Owners’ support, congressional appropriators have set a $5.5 billion loan level for fiscal year 2018 to help co-ops build and maintain their infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) program provides loans, grants, and guarantees to support economic development and essential services in rural communities.

Co-op leaders, including Hancock-Wood leaders, stormed Washington to secure commitments for the RUS program from their elected officials at the recent Legislative Conference.

The Trump budget proposed scrapping support for the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program (REDLG), which enables co-ops to invest in their communities and create jobs; however, the Senate bill set aside $42 million for REDLG — approximately $9 million more than the House bill. No timetable has yet been established for floor action on the bills in either of the two chambers.

Hope returns for rural economic growthOn Aug. 11, Van Buren Schools Superintendent

Tim Myers presented Hancock-Wood President and CEO George Walton with a 2017 Ohio School Boards Association Honor Roll award in recognition of Hancock-Wood’s “overall contributions to Van Buren Local Schools and exemplary service to the community.” Over the years, Hancock-Wood has made many donations to the district’s academic and athletic programs and has offered full-day student tours of its information technology, communications, member services, accounting, engineering, and operations departments.

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES Chair Tom Kagy, Vice Chair William Kale

Secretary/Treasurer Tom Dierksheide, Assistant Secretary/Treasurer Marlene Barker, and Trustees Dave Corbin, Edward Ingold, Knut Lahrs, Glenn Miller,

Timothy Phillips, and Ann Demler.

Think Energy $mart with BruceAs Halloween looms, the timing seems perfect to provide you energy-saving information about how to manage the “phantom” or “vampire” electric consumption in your home. Phantom or vampire loads are widely accepted terms for energy consumed by appliances when they are switched off or operating in a stand-by mode.

Until now, phantom load has been largely a non-issue for electricity consumers. With the advent of digital clocks, smartphones, electronic tablets, rechargeable batteries, and stored settings in appliances, the amount of electricity an appliance consumes when not in use is a little, well, spooky.

In 2012, Consumer Electronics Association estimated the average U.S. household contains 24 electronic products. Each one has the potential to draw energy, while not in use, and result in approximately five to 10 percent of total electric use. The Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory has determined that an informed,

aggressive approach can reduce phantom load by up to 30 percent. While it’s virtually impossible to eliminate all standby energy consumption, here are a few tips to help you scare away energy vampires:

• Unplug devices that don’t get used frequently, such as DVD players, gaming systems, guest-room clocks, and televisions.

• When shopping, search for low-standby-power products such as ENERGY STAR® devices.

• Purchase a watt meter to measure the energy used by devices in your home so you can target the hungriest energy eaters.

Hopefully, these suggestions will help control how much energy those phantoms consume and prevent your electric bill from creeping higher.

If you have questions about this information, please give me a call at 419-257-5025 or send me an e-mail at bruce@hwe.coop. Be sure to visit our website at hwe.coop for more energy-saving information.

Bruce Warnecke, Energy Services

Advisor

Cyber safety checklist keeps out hackers We know October is National Co-op Month, but it also is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. Electric co-ops protect the private information of Member-Owners and ensure hackers don’t tamper with the reliability of the electric grid, but Members have a lot at stake, too.

Here are basic steps to take to provide good layers of protection:

1. Create a strong password, especially for primaryinternet and computer access, and wireless routers. 2. Keep software updated and check the website to make sure the update is legitimate.3. Don’t click on any link or attached files unless youknow where it will take you. Move your cursor over a link to reveal the full address before clicking it. 4. Install virus protection from a trusted source.5. Don’t use flash drives to avoid multiple risks.6. Back up your devices — better safe than sorry.7. Secure all your internet-connected devices.8. Protect children; teach them not to share ID, personal, or traveling information online.

Learn more by visiting staysafeonline.org.

Hope returns for rural economic growth In August, George Walton, Ohio Propane Gas

Association (OPGA) trustee, Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative president and CEO, and Prism Propane president and COO, presented a $1,000 OPGA scholarship to Bailey Boyer, daughter of employee Amy Boyer and her husband, Mike. Bailey also was awarded a scholarship in June from Hancock-Wood. She is the 2017 North Baltimore High School valedictorian, a member of the National Honor Society, and was designated the American Legion’s Buckeye Girls State delegate. Bailey also has demonstrated an impressive history of sports excellence and community volunteerism.

Bailey earns to learn

Bailey Boyer, left, with HWE President and CEO George Walton, following the OPGA scholarship presentation at Geneva-on-the-Lake.

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HANCOCK-WOOD ELECTRIC COOPERATIVEKIDS CONNECTION1399 Business Park Drive South, North Baltimore, OH 45872 • www.hwe.coop • info@hwe.coop • 800-445-4840

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CO-OP MONTH WORD SEARCHDid you know October is National Co-op Month? Co-ops are different types of businesses because they are not-for-profit and are owned by the members they serve — including you!Use the word bank to find the words associated with co-ops in the puzzle below.

Word BankPRINCIPLESCOOP MONTHPARTICIPATIONMEMBERSDEMOCRACY

COOPERATIONNOT-FOR-PROFITCOOPERATIVEEDUCATIONCOMMUNITY