KIUC Linemen All Geared Up - Kauai Island Utility Cooperative

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48 KIUC CURRENTS By Anne Barnes MEMBER SERVICES Breaker Box Safety One of the most important parts of a home’s electrical system is the breaker box containing the circuit breaker panel. It serves as the electrical distribution system for your home, and is constantly distributing and receiving electricity. The panel protects from power surges and other possible hazards. With regular maintenance, experts say today’s electrical panels can function properly and protect homes for 30 years or more. As part of our safety issue, KIUC wants you to be familiar with the circuit breaker panel in your home. It divides the main supply of electricity into individual circuits that bring power to rooms and appliances. It also acts as an important piece of safety equipment, housing circuit breakers that switch off electrical circuits if those circuits become overloaded. This greatly reduces the likelihood of short circuits and potential electrical fires. Following key safety procedures makes accessing and servicing the breaker panel easy and safe. Electric Shutoff It is important to know where all of your home’s electrical panels are located and how to turn the electricity off in case of emergency. Because electric panels and shutoffs vary widely, you will need to locate your main electric panel and find which switch or circuit breaker shuts off the main feed. Your home may be equipped with fuses or circuit breakers. If your home has circuit breakers, you will need to open the metal door of the breaker box to reveal them (never remove the metal cover). The main circuit breaker should be clearly marked Shutting off the main breaker only disconnects the electricity to the internal wiring in the house. The line from the electric company will still be active! This is especially noteworthy if there are downed electric lines in your yard. Turning off the main breaker will not deenergize the downed line. You should exercise utmost caution around any downed lines.
showing “ON” and “OFF” positions. If your house has fuses, you will find a knife switch handle or pullout fuse that should be marked “MAIN.” Remove all the small fuses or turn off all the small breakers first, then shut off the “MAIN.” Most residential locations have a single feed from the electric company, so the process will be simple once you locate the main breaker panel. However, if you have subelectrical panels next to the main breaker panel or main fuse box, or in other parts of the home, in an emergency shut them off, too. Shorts can sometimes develop that cause a circuit to bypass the breaker or fuse. Write it Down KIUC’s meter team suggests posting a full written list of circuit breaker numbers next to the breaker panel describing which breaker switches control which parts of the electrical system. This will help you or anyone else working on the system focus on the correct parts of the breaker panel and steer clear of hot circuits. At the August 30 board of director’s meeting, KIUC President and CEO David Bissell read a letter from National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) Education fund regional Vice President Dan Kessler presenting a grant for $4,400 to KIUC. “This check will go a long way in promoting the cooperative business model and the cooperative principles—and KIUC is thrilled to be the recipient,” Bissell said. Throughout CFC’s more than 40year history of service to the coop industry, its focus has always been on electric coops. The Cooperative Education Fund is a part of that tradition. CFC established the fund in 1981 as a way to support education, training and information about the cooperative way to employees and coop members. Since the programs began, CFC has donated $7.8 million to statewide associations to use in member education initiatives. Since 2002, KIUC has received $37,100 from the program. How a Home’s Electrical System Works Electricity travels across distribution lines to a transformer. Power then passes from the transformer through the electric meter. Electricity enters the home through a circuit panel, which is wired to handle various loads. This is the main “onoff” switch to the loads in the house. When working on any part of your house’s electrical system, leave a note on the breaker panel notifying others not to turn on any circuits you have switched off. This will keep others from accidentally restoring current to an area of the house while you are in the process of making electrical repairs. And always secure the panel! Keep the breaker panel door closed and secured when it is not being worked on. Do not let children access the panel. You can install a lockable panel door if you are concerned children may be able to open it. By Anne Barnes KIUC Receives Education Grant OCTOBER 2011 49
Page 1 and 2: 3-Time Award-Winning KIUC Linemen A
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents How Come My Compu
Page 5 and 6: For this issue of “A Pictures Wor
Page 7 and 8: Food Mart, Kapa‘a Shell, Lawai Me
Page 9 and 10: APPLIANCE ESTIMATED ENERGY USE ESTI
Page 11 and 12: The data from new digital meters he
Page 13 and 14: Will I lose electrical service duri
Page 15 and 16: 38201829 ||||||||||||| |||||| |||||
Page 17 and 18: Connect With Care. ■ When in doub
Page 19 and 20: Facebook: A network of personal and
Page 21 and 22: Walk on sidewalks, not in the stree
Page 23 and 24: By Anne Barnes KIUC IN THE COMMUNIT
Page 25 and 26: The Qualifying Member Appliance Rep
Page 27 and 28: By Shelley Paik What the Well-Dress
Page 29 and 30: Photo by Maile Moriguchi We all wan
Page 31 and 32: Photos courtesy of NRECA and Cooper
Page 33 and 34: To perform their mission, electric
Page 35 and 36: Marie Morin embraced her new job as
Page 37 and 38: State law requires KIUC to maintain
Page 39 and 40: Short Ribs 3 pounds short ribs Salt
Page 41 and 42: Recovery Act (ARRA) for smart grid
Page 43 and 44: Directors are the connection betwee
Page 45 and 46: Board Actions for July and August 2
Page 47: Call it Cost-effective Economical P
Page 51 and 52: On July 29, 2011, David Bissell, pr
Page 53 and 54: Where Your Electric Dollar Goes Mos
Page 55 and 56: Request for Patronage Capital Refun
Page 57 and 58: MILLIKEN, STEPHEN P MINDORO, BEBINC
Page 59 and 60: MONIZ, JOHN MONTEMAYOR, J G MOORE,
Page 61 and 62: LEWIS, SAMANTHA LIN, GUANG LOMONGO,
Page 63 and 64: FULTON JR, RONALD FUNG, DEBRA A GAB
Page 65 and 66: WALCZUK, ANTHONY J WALKER, GEORGE W
Page 67 and 68: KINOSHITA, MICHIE KISHI, TATSU KITC
Page 69 and 70: CALHOUN, SAMUEL CALLAHAN, SABRINA C
Page 71 and 72: Simple Pleasures “Everybody chase

KIUC Linemen All Geared Up - Kauai Island Utility Cooperative

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