The Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative (CCEC) has issued checks and credits to 60 members who applied for energy conservation rebates last September, although Bonneville Power Administration had not sent the funds to CCEC.

“We have 60 members who have waited well beyond the expected 10 weeks for their rebates,” Christine Stallard, the co-op’s marketing and member services manager, told the CCEC board of directors last week.

“Even though we haven’t received the money from the Bonneville Power Administration, I believe we should go ahead and advance the funds,” she said.

The BPA develops rebate programs for energy conservation measures that are installed according to their policies and guidelines. These energy conservation programs are paid for by consumer-owned utilities such as CCEC as part of their wholesale power cost. As CCEC buys nearly all its wholesale power from the BPA, the energy conservation rebate programs are offered to members of the cooperative.

The installed measures include ductless heat pumps, Energy Star appliances, windows and insulation.

BPA’s new program year began Oct. 1. Then, BPA implemented a new software program that replaced the way utilities had been applying for rebates on behalf of their consumers. 

Typically, utilities submit rebate requests on a monthly basis for projects that have all the documentation required by the BPA to qualify. BPA approves the invoice and sends the funds to the utility. Once the funds are received, the cooperative either applies the rebate to the member’s account or, in the case of larger refunds, mails a check.

Stallard said that the new software program had a multitude of problems from the beginning, which resulted in processing delays that affected consumers throughout Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.  

“We have been applying for rebates as they come in, according to the BPA requirements and timeline, but, unfortunately, we have not received any funding since late September,” Stallard said. 

After deciding to advance the money for the rebates, CCEC found it was more difficult to do than expected because staffers were unable to retrieve the information they had put into the computer to create a list of names and rebate amounts.

“After re-entering the information into a spreadsheet, we were able to apply rebates to 39 member accounts and request an additional 21 checks from our Accounts Payable,” Stallard told the board.

The total of those rebates was $38,110.

“In addition, we have $38,103 outstanding for November rebates and $6,693 for December,” she said. 

A couple of weeks ago, after considerable pressure from participating utilities such as Coos-Curry, BPA decided to abandon the new program until the problems could be resolved.  

Participating utilities have been working with the BPA to resolve the issues with the new software program but are unsure how long it will take, Stallard said. 

“We hoped to have this resolved weeks ago, but it just didn’t happen,” Stallard told the board of directors.  

“We have all the documentation so we are sure we’ll receive funding as soon as the software issues are resolved.” 

The board agreed to advance the $38,000 and asked cooperative staff to “get the checks in the mail yesterday.” 

Information on what qualifies for the rebates and application forms are available at the cooperatives’ offices and on its web site: www.ccec.coop.

Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative Inc. was founded in 1939 by a group of Coos County residents who wanted electricity in their area.  Today, the nonprofit cooperative has approximately 14,000 members, more than 17,000 meters in Coos, Curry, and Douglas Counties, and 1,626 miles of line, including 52 miles of transmission line between Gold Beach and Brookings.  CCEC serves the rural populations east and south of Coos Bay in Coos County, a portion of Douglas County and all of Curry County except for the town of Langlois.  Headquartered in Port Orford, CCEC has area business offices in Port Orford, Coquille, Gold Beach and Brookings.