Loan guarantees reliable power for southern Illinois Southern Illinois Power Cooperative (SIPC) has been granted a $103 million loan for upgrade and construction project to its Marion coal fired generating plant. The loan is from the USDA Rural Development guaranteed electric loan program and will be used to replace three existing boilers with a new circulating fluidized bed boiler. This will allow the generation and transmission co-operative to continue burning Illinois coal and reduce emissions. The co-op is also in line to receive a grant from the state of Illinois meant to aid the construction of power plants that cleanly burn Illinois coal. "At Southern Illinois Power, we're re-powering our existing boilers with new technology," said Tim Reeves, SIPC's chief operating officer, during the project's groundbreaking in October of 2000. "This technology will provide economical and reliable electricity to the people of southern Illinois for years to come." SIPC has always been at the forefront of efforts to burn Illinois high sulfur coal. The cooperative uses one of just a handful of operating sulfur dioxide scrubbers in Illinois. SIPC has always burned Illinois coal, virtually all of which comes from mines within 50 miles of its plant site. The plant currently utilizes 840,000 tons of Illinois coal, and the project will boost SIPC's usage of Illinois coal by 40-50 percent, while reducing harmful air emissions, such as sulfur dioxide by 74 percent, and nitrogen oxide by 68 percent. The locally owned, not-for-profit nature of electric cooperatives means that any money spent or generated by SIPC stays in the hands of southern Illinois citizens. Beyond selling wholesale power, SIPC is also a significant part of the local economy contributing close to $30 million in payroll, property tax, sales tax and fuel purchases annually.

How to handle suspicious mail

First, don't panic. Although facilities in communities around the country have received anthrax threat letters, most were empty envelopes.

Suspicious packages and letters may have: excessive postage, handwritten or poorly typed addresses, incorrect titles, title but no name, misspellings of common words, oily stains, discolorations or odor, no return address, excessive weight, lopsided or uneven envelope, protruding wires or aluminum foil, excessive security material such as masking tape, string, etc., visual distractions, ticking sound, marked with restrictive endorsements ("Personal" or "Confidential"), shows a city or state in the postmark that does not match the return address

If you receive a suspicious package, do not shake or empty the contents of any suspicious envelope or package. Place the envelope or package in a plastic bag. Leave the room and close the door, and keep others away. Wash your hands. Report the incident to local police. List all people who were in the room or area.

Source: CDC Health Advisory

Survey says...co-op members satisfied with service

Every three years Illinois electric cooperatives survey a sample of cooperative members just like you. Co-op leaders hope to learn more about what you and your fellow members like, or don't like, about their cooperative. They also want to learn about the kinds of products and services you might be interested in. What did we learn? Here are some of the interesting results:

• Electric co-op members are positive about their cooperative. Nearly 95 percent said they were "very positive" or "positive" about their electric cooperative. More than 93 percent said they were "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with the service from their co-op.

• Most respondents indicated that they were unlikely to switch power suppliers, providing that they could change suppliers and rates were comparable. More than 65 percent said they were unlikely to switch, while 17 percent indicated they are likely to switch and nearly another 17 percent don't know.

• Very few respondents said they have ever visited their co-op's internet web site, but a significant number showed an interest in services via the internet.

• The majority of respondents use natural gas or propane to heat their homes, while one in five utilize electricity as their primary heating source.

• Co-op members showed a high level of interest in a half dozen non-electric services, which could be or are being provided by their cooperative utility. These include appliance service and repair, whole-house surge protection, security lighting, long distance phone service, emergency generators and propane gas.

• Members were split about evenly when asked if they would be willing to contribute to a fund that would help needy cooperative members — nearly 48 percent would be very willing or somewhat willing to contribute to such a fund, while about 52 percent weren't willing.

• More than 93 percent of respondents own their own home.

• More than 25 percent of respondents described their occupation as retired, with 19 percent listing "professional," and more than 17 percent as "farming/ agriculture."

• Most respondents said their household's pretax income was in the "$30,000 to $50,000" category.

6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING www.aiec.org

Enron's winners and losers

The following is a follow up response to a letter David Jenkins, division manager for the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association, wrote to Jeffery Shilling, president/COO of Enron in 1997. The 1997 letter pointed out the arrogance of Enron's leadership that could have predicted its downfall.

Enron's shares close at 36 cents The corporate geniuses who we were supposed to emulate; the folks who—even according to some of our own cooperative family-were supposed to lead us to the enlightenment, now have a company whose stock price is less than the price of a hot dog at Enron Field. These are the guys we were supposed to admire. Four years ago, I wrote a letter to Mr. Jeffrey Skilling, until recently the President of Enron. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) published that letter and Skilling's reply. Mr. Skilling makes one accurate prediction in his letter to me. He talks about "winners and losers" in a restructured industry. He is right about that. He and his boss (Ken Lay) certainly were winners. Together, they collected $210,000,000 in compensation from the company last year. Who were the losers? Well, it looks like just about everyone else: their stockholders, lenders, and employees. The lesson here is this: The next time we're told to adore some high-flying corporate suit, lets consider the values those people really represent before falling on our knees and shouting our hosannas.

Dear Mr. Skilling

On March 14 1997, the Financial Times newspaper quoted some of your remarks to a conference of electric industry leaders in Phoenix, Arizona. The gist of your remarks, according to Christopher Parkes, the author of the story, was that electric utilities in this country would have to reduce their costs 50 to 60 percent in order to be "competitive" in the future.

According to the story, you told the conference "Depopulate. Get rid of people. They gum up the works."

To which people are you referring, Mr. Skilling? The line worker, who goes out in a thunderstorm to restore power to neighbors? The customer service representative who deals with a service complaint? The economic development specialist who brings a new business and new jobs to a community? The power quality technician who helps a business run its equipment more efficiently or who conducts commercial energy audits?

Because of Enron's size and market share of the power marketing business, utility executives give credibility to your prescriptions and advice on the direction their companies and the industry should take. Your words influence the actions of utilities and of policymakers.

By exhorting the industry to "Get rid of people," you have given policymakers and utility executives a clear choice between two fundamentally opposed visions of business. One vision, yours, is the "Gordon Gecko" vision. It holds that "Greed is good." It says that it is ok to throw away loyal workers. All that matters is that the stockholders become more enriched (at least for the next quarter). This is the vision your remarks reflect.

There is another vision of how the industry should be transformed.

It views employees as critically necessary to the success of the firm. While layoffs are necessary in any enterprise, they are done with regret, not with the gusto and enthusiasm your remarks suggest.

Our vision of the future electric power industry focuses on our employees, customers and communities. Only trained, dedicated, motivated people can provide good service to our customers. Our members have employees who do things like calling on an elderly person in a rural area on a hot day in August to make sure things are ok. I realize your vision of the future considers this a naive waste of money. Our vision holds that this is a fundamental reason we exist.

Mr. Skilling, if and when you win the right to market your vision in this state, how many service centers and local offices will you be setting up? What kinds of investments will your local representatives (if there are any after "depopulation") be making?

The difference between our conceptions of the role of employees is critical. How can we expect employees in this industry to be motivated to serve their customers when industry leaders like you counsel, "Get rid of people"? This is not a formula for building a dedicated work force.

When I was younger. I managed a firm that grew to 1400 employees. When I was first given responsibility for the company (a profitable petroleum marketing firm) we had 200 employees. I was proud of that growth. As with any organization, there were times I had to dismiss people. However, our goal was growth: more customers, more retail outlets, more jobs, growing profits. That was my conception of business. I needed more, not fewer, people to do that.

There is no question some utility organizations may not be efficient. But, rather than calling for depopulation, why not call for retraining, reinvesting in employees (Continued on page 8)

FEBRUARY 2002 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING 7

Enron's winners and losers (Continued from page 7)

in other roles where they can serve the enterprise? In a statement a few months ago, the president of Wisconsin Public Service Corporation noted that, "We have not gone through downsizing or layoffs because we disagree with that approach. Instead, we got better and more efficient through training, learning, improving the way work and by treating people with the respect they deserve. Doing it our way has allowed us to lower the price of electricity for our customers without hurting our employees, their families or the communities in which they live." It is clear that not all industry executives share your enthusiasm for "getting rid of people."

In the coming months and years, policymakers in this country will have a clear choice about the role of electric power providers in society. They will decide between the slash and burn approach, or the vision that, holds that people create, customers and are vital to future success. There is a lot of "smart money" betting that your approach is best for this state and for this country.

But, I wouldn't bet a nickel on it.

Very sincerely,
David J. Jenkins,
Division Manager
Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association

U.S. soy to fight malnutrition in Afghanistan

U.S. soybean oil, a corn-soy blend and a wheat-soy blend soon will flow to Afghan refugees as part of an U.S. aid package administered by the World Food Programme (WFP). Anna Pavlova, a Washington representative for the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health (WISHH), said rations would provide protein critical for reducing malnutrition while delivering calories critical for winter survival.

"We have been encouraging the inclusion of soy protein in addition to other commodities so rations deliver more complete nutrition," said Pavlova. "High calorie commodities can sustain people for a while, but if protein is lacking people often die from malnutrition rather than from starvation."

Nearly half of children suffer from chronic malnutrition and one out of every three Afghan children is an orphan.

President George W. Bush recently announced a $320 million Afghan aid package, $195 million of which will take the form of food aid.

The wheat-soy blend is well suited to the emergency situation in Afghanistan, according to Pradeep Khanna, Program Coordinator for the National Soybean Research Laboratory, University of Illinois. WFP last year fed 83 million persons in 83 countries. Nearly three-quarters were women and children.

Source: Illinois Soybean Association

Energy trading giant implodes financially Enron, the energy deregulation promoting firm that grew to become one of the nation's 10 largest companies, collapsed in December, after rival Dynegy backed out of a deal with its bigger energy trading cousin. With $62 billion in assets Enron could become the biggest American company ever to go bankrupt. Dynegy had second thoughts when Enron disclosed more financial problems and investors lost confidence too. Enron has been accused of misrepresenting its financial health. Enron's troubles left 21,000 employees jobs in doubt and wiped out the holdings of stock investors, including some big mutual funds, as shares that sold for $90 in August 2000 crashed to 61 cents.

8  ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING    www.aiec.org