Georgia Magazine - April 2018 - 14

NEWS FROM GEORGIA'S ELECTRIC CO-OPS COMPILED BY AMY SCHNEIDER

COURTESY GRADY EMC

* Seeing the light: Marietta-based Cobb
Electric Membership Corp. (EMC) plans
to convert 60,000 streetlights to brighter,
safer light-emitting diode (LED) lights
in Cobb, Fulton, Bartow, Paulding and
Cherokee counties. The lights will require
less maintenance (they have a 10-year
warranty) and also are designed to send
an alert to Cobb EMC if one goes out.
* Shining example: Tucker-based Green
Power EMC and its partner, Silicon
Ranch Corp., received the 2017 Best of
the Best Energy/Industrial Project award
from Engineering-News Record for the
72-megawatt solar facility in Hazlehurst.
The award was part of the organization's
annual Best of the Best Projects awards.
For more information, go to bit.ly/2018
enrawards.
* Hot commodity: Sumter EMC in
Americus recently donated $3,000 to Lee
County Fire and Emergency Services for
a thermal imaging camera. The heatsensing device will help firefighters
locate people through the dense smoke
of a house fire or in the dark. Sumter
EMC also recently donated $2,325 to the
Positive Direction Youth Center, an afterschool development program, which will
use the money for Lego kits to introduce
children to engineering and for speakers
to help the children hear educational
videos.
* New digs: The Randolph County University of Georgia Extension and 4-H office has moved into the building formerly
occupied by LaGrange-based Diverse
Power's Pataula District office. The building on Blakely Street in Cuthbert was
donated to UGA Extension of Randolph
County after the district office moved into
a new building.
* Leader among leaders: James Wright,
vice president for corporate services at
GreyStone Power Corp. in Douglasville,
was installed as the new chairman of
the Paulding Chamber of Commerce
on Jan. 20. One of his goals during his
tenure is to recruit employers and jobs in
fields such as health care and advanced
manufacturing to Paulding County. To
read a Jan. 15 Marietta Daily Journal
Continued

EMCs go back to school

A doll called "Little Susie" learns the hard way about touching live electrical lines during
Grady EMC's demonstration at Washington Middle School in Cairo.

ebruary was a busy month of
school visits for electric membership cooperatives (EMCs).
* On Feb. 12, Hart EMC in Hartwell
demonstrated high-voltage electricity to students at Hart County High
School. The next day, Hart EMC participated in the school's Career Day
event.
* On Feb. 13, Millen-based Planters
EMC was part of Burke County Middle School's eighth-grade Career Fair.
* On Feb. 16, Cairo-based Grady
EMC visited two Cairo schools:
Washington Middle School, where a
doll called "Little Susie" assisted in a
live-line demonstration; and Eastside

Elementary School, where two employees used an acoustic music performance to introduce the principle
of cooperation and cooperatives.
* On Feb. 20, Monroe-based Walton
EMC gave a safety demonstration
to fourth-graders at Prince Avenue
Christian School in Bogart who had
just finished studying electricity and
magnetism.
* Employees of Jefferson Energy Cooperative in Wrens took some time in
February to read to students at Goshen Elementary School in Augusta
and to talk about the electrical industry with students at Augusta Christian
School during its annual Career Day.

A T-shirt tribute
The Friends of Shellman Bluff, a Townsendbased nonprofit organization that works to
improve life in the Shellman Bluff and surrounding communities, had a unique way of thanking
the linemen of Coastal Electric Cooperative in
Midway for their efforts to restore power after
last year's Hurricane Irma. A Coastal Electric
truck and lineman are included in artist Lissa
Shearouse's design for the organization's St.
Patrick's Day T-shirt, which was sold locally in
March. An annual St. Patrick's Day parade is
the organization's primary fundraiser.
More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

ART BY LISSA SHEAROUSE

Short takes

GEORGIA MAGAZINE

http://www.bit.ly/2018enrawards http://www.bit.ly/2018enrawards http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - April 2018