Month: November 2020

Satanta Dudley Township Fire Department Receives Southern Pioneer H.U.G.S Grant for Thermal Cameras

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Southern Pioneer Electric’s Helping Us Give to Society (H.U.G.S) team presented members of the Satanta Dudley Township Fire Department with $5,000 in grants on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The funds will be used to purchase two HyperSight Kits for their fire trucks, monitors for inside the trucks and two backup cameras. The HyperSight Kits include a thermal camera that will allow firefighters to see through smoke when fighting fires.

“Our H.U.G.S team is honored to provide the funds needed to purchase these kits,” said Dee Longoria, H.U.G.S. team member. “We know these cameras will be a huge asset to not only Satanta’s fire department but to any county that requests their aid.”

In addition to seeing through smoke and other obstructions, the cameras can detect fluids within oil tankers, batteries, and train cars. The cameras can also be used to detect the heat source of an individual during bad weather rescues.

The H.U.G.S team meets quarterly to review applications for grant funds and awarded a $2,500 grant to the fire department during their fall meeting. The H.U.G.S. team then nominated the project for CoBank’s Sharing Success program to receive matching funds.

“We are extremely grateful for the help and for the H.U.G.S. and Sharing Success programs,” said fire chief, Jared Sunderland.

Funds for grants through the H.U.G.S. program are generated through recycled scrape materials taken out of service due to repair or rebuild. As funds are collected, Southern Pioneer Electric is able to put those funds towards grants for organizations with community-focused projects. Once available, our H.U.G.S team then reviews any submitted applications and awards eligible projects with grants.

 

Southern Pioneer Electric Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pioneer Electric Cooperative, is headquartered out of Ulysses, Kansas. Southern Pioneer Electric Company has local offices in Liberal and Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Southern Pioneer Electric Company serves approximately 17,200 customers and operates in 10 counties and 34 communities. Southern Pioneer Electric Company’s service territory stretches east from Liberal to Medicine Lodge and north to Kingman and back west to Greensburg, Kansas. Southern Pioneer Electric Company is dedicated to providing customers with safe and reliable electric service. For more information about the HUGS program, please contact Vice President of Energy Services, Anita Wendt. (Phone: 620.424.5271 and E-mail: awendt@pioneerelectric.coop

CoBank is a $152 billion cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 70,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country.

CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore.

Local Youth To Represent Southern Pioneer Electric in Washington, D.C. and Colorado.

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Southern Pioneer Electric offers many programs that support the youth and their futures, among those many programs are Youth Tour. Youth Tour provides the opportunity for local sophomores and juniors to witness government first hand and learn about the essential service that powers their communities. Students who wish to participate in Youth Tour must first apply and, if selected for, interview with a panel of judges. After the application and interview process, Southern Pioneer selected four students to represent the company in Washington, D.C. and Steamboat Springs, Colorado next summer.

Attending the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. are Sean Wagner of Satanta, and Viridiana Berraza of Liberal. Wagner and Berraza will take part in learning about government first-hand and touring some of the nation’s cherished landmarks June 14-21, 2021. Ryan Garetson of Sublette, and Kara Kunselman of Satanta will travel to Steamboat Springs, CO next summer to attend Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp, July 16-22,2021

“We’re always amazed at the caliber of students that apply for our Youth Tour program,” said Rae Gorman, manager of energy services. “Our hope is that the knowledge these students receive through these experiences will impact them for many years to come.”

Southern Pioneer Electric continues to make decisions that help protect the health and safety of the communities it serves. In the event that students will not be able to travel due to health safety concerns, or if organizers decide to cancel the 2021 trips, Southern Pioneer is committed to ensuring that this year’s delegates are still honored.

Southern Pioneer Lineman Return From Assisting Oklahoma Co-op

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Two teams of Southern Pioneer Linemen departed for Binger, OK. on Friday, October 30, to assist with power restoration efforts after a severe ice storm left many without essential electricity. Southern Pioneer’s crews worked alongside crews from CKenergy and many other crews from across the state of Kansas over the course of a week.

Medicine Lodge’s crew included Tavis MacDonald, line foreman; Jordan Webster, journeyman lineman; Scott Hull, journeyman lineman and Garrett Randels, apprentice lineman.

Liberal’s crew included Rueben Archuleta, crew foreman; Nick Schwindt, journeyman lineman; Ryon Fischer, journeyman lineman; Travis Rhine, journeyman lineman and John Dealy, apprentice lineman.

Additionally, each crew took a foreman’s pick up, digger derrick, pole trailer, 55’ bucket and 37’ service bucket.