Archive for category: News

Recently, PVEC members have been receiving phone calls from people claiming to represent the cooperative staff and threatening to disconnect service. Scammers insist your electric bill needs to be paid immediately or your electric service will be disconnected.  Below are suggestions to follow should you receive such a call.

If you receive a call from someone claiming to be a representative of the cooperative, do not give out any personal or financial information.

“If you feel pressured for immediate payment or personal information, ask for the caller’s name, hang up the phone and call your local cooperative office,” says Lisa Tarver, PVEC billing supervisor.  “Do not use a phone number provided by the caller.  Locate the correct phone number on your energy bill or at www.pve.coop.  This will ensure you are speaking to a PVEC representative.”

Because PVEC does sometimes contact members by phone, it can be difficult to identify a scammer from a cooperative representative.  Here are some tips:

• If a caller specifically asks you to pay by prepaid debit card.
• If a caller requires you to make an immediate payment or one that could only be made over the phone, PVEC will not require either.
• Powell Valley Electric has a 24-hour answering service available to its co-op members. If there’s a question about the legitimacy of the call, tell the caller you are going to call the Cooperative before paying – then do so.
• Don’t trust your caller ID! Scammers have the ability to use different phone numbers on your caller ID, making it appear the phone call is coming from another party.

If you receive a suspicious call, try to gather as much information as possible.  After calling the cooperative to confirm they did not contact you, notify local law enforcement.

Powell Valley Electric Cooperative is a consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric utility that serves more than 30,000 meters in Scott, Lee and Wise counties in Virginia and Claiborne, Hancock, Hawkins, Grainger and Union counties in Tennessee.

Students from Powell Valley Electric’s service area spent a week in our nation’s capital as delegates of the 2018 Washington Youth Tour.   Bailey Hopkins, Hancock County High School, Taylor Kinsler and Katie Nichols, Clinch High School, and Brittany Cruz, Claiborne High School were among 135 students from across Tennessee on the weeklong trip that began Friday, June 8.

The annual event, sponsored by Powell Valley Electric Cooperative and the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, provides young leaders with an opportunity to explore the nation’s capital, learn about government and cooperatives and develop their leadership skills. Students were selected for the trip by writing winning short stories titled “Electric Cooperatives — Going Beyond the Wires” that explained how co-ops provide communities with much more than electric power.

“Powell Valley Electric Cooperative is pleased to provide this opportunity for the young people in the communities we serve,” says Randell Meyers, general manager for Powell Valley Electric Cooperative. “It is a great trip and a wonderful chance for these delegates to learn about history, government, co-ops and leadership.”

“The investments co-ops make in Youth Tour pay real dividends for these young people and the communities where they live,” said Todd Blocker, vice president of member relations for the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association and tour director. “They come home with a deeper understanding of history and government. More importantly, we want them to be prepared to have a positive influence on their hometowns and to consider leadership roles when the opportunities come along.”

While in Washington, D.C., Tennessee’s Youth Tour delegates saw the White House and memorials to past presidents Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt as well as monuments honoring the sacrifices of veterans of World War II and the Vietnam and Korean Wars. During visits to the museums of the Smithsonian Institution, the touring Tennesseans saw and experienced natural, historical and artistic treasures. Other stops included historic homes of former presidents — George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Jefferson’s Monticello — as well as Toby’s Dinner Theatre, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and International Spy Museum. Among other Youth Tour highlights was a solemn and sobering visit to Arlington National Cemetery where the group laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. The group was welcomed to the U.S. Capitol by Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and members of the Tennessee congressional delegation who posed for photos and answered questions.

While in D.C., winners were announced in the statewide competition for the Robert McCarty Memorial Scholarships. Silas Freeze from Gibson Electric Membership Corporation was awarded the $3,000 first-place scholarship for writing the top-judged short story of the more than 10,000 papers submitted across the state. McKinley Thomas from Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative earned second-place honors and a $2,000 scholarship, and Mary Kate Sheppard from Forked Deer Electric Cooperative, third place, received a $1,000 scholarship. McCarty was an employee of Volunteer Energy Cooperative and longtime chaperone on the annual Youth Tour. McCarty lost a battle with cancer in 2015, and sponsoring cooperatives renamed the scholarships in honor of his love for young people.

Matthew Byrd of Tipton County, a recent graduate of Munford High School, was awarded a $10,000 Cooperative Youth Ambassador Scholarship. Byrd was a 2017 delegate for Southwest Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation on the Washington Youth Tour. In the year following the tour, delegates who remain engaged with their sponsoring cooperatives and complete certain community service requirements are eligible for the scholarship. Byrd’s name was randomly selected from 37 delegates from across the state who completed the requirements.

“The excitement that co-op leaders and chaperones have for these students tells the story,” said David Callis, CEO of the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association. “These young people are the next generation of doctors and teachers and farmers in the communities we serve. We want them to be passionate about their communities and prepared to lead when those opportunities come along.”

President Lyndon Johnson, then a senator from Texas, inspired the Washington Youth Tour in 1957 when he encouraged electric cooperatives to send youngsters to the nation’s capital. In the years since, more than 6,000 young Tennesseans have been delegates on the Washington Youth Tour.

In front of the U.S. Capitol are, from left, Jessica Smith, Taylor Kinsler, Bailey Hopkins, Brittany Cruz and Katie Nichols

Clinch High School student Noah Jones and Claiborne High School student Mary Lipfird were in Nashville March 12-14 for the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association’s annual Youth Leadership Summit. These students were selected by the principal and guidance counselor at the school and were sponsored by Powell Valley Electric Cooperative.  Delegates to the annual event receive a hands-on look at state government, learn networking and leadership skills and develop a better understanding of their local electric cooperatives.

While in Nashville, the students visited the State Capitol Building where they were welcomed to Nashville by members of the Tennessee General Assembly. Alan Whittington, assistant chief clerk of the Senate, explained the process required to pass legislation, and students debated and voted on a mock bill.

In addition to lawmakers, students also heard from Tennessee leaders like Ms. Tennessee 2018 Caty Davis; Adam Hammond, anchor for Nashville’s NewsChannel5; and Trooper Jeffrey Buchanan with the Tennessee Executive Protection Detail.

Delegates to the Youth Leadership Summit are encouraged to be leaders in their hometowns and use their talents to improve rural Tennessee. “Local electric co-ops, school officials and guidance counselors chose these deserving students to attend the summit based on their interests in government and strong leadership abilities,” says Todd Blocker, Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association vice president of member relations and director of the Youth Leadership Summit. “They will be the next generation of leaders in rural Tennessee, and we want to prepare them for the challenges and opportunities they will face.”

“These students will soon be our community leaders — and electric cooperative member-owners,” says Randell Meyers, General Manager of Powell Valley Electric Cooperative.  “We want them to share our passion for rural Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, so it is an honor for Powell Valley Electric Cooperative to help prepare them for the opportunities that are ahead. We want them to see what makes their electric cooperative special.  We want them to appreciate all their co-op provides for their communities and understand why it was so important to form electric co-ops in the first place.  The future of our rural communities depends on a new generation of strong leaders like these.”