Georgia Magazine - September 2019 - 17

COURTESY J.D. POWER

Sheep patrol the grounds at Snapping
Shoals EMC's cooperative solar facility
in Covington to keep the weeds under
control and away from solar panels.

ovington-based Snapping
Shoals Electric Membership
Corp. (EMC) is among the first
utilities in Georgia to use a resident
flock of sheep to maintain its 13-acre
cooperative solar facility. The first
sheep arrived this spring, just in time
to start nibbling away the weeds beginning to emerge from underneath
the solar arrays.
Sheep were chosen instead of
other grazing livestock because they
do not climb on the panels (like goats
would) and don't damage the equipment by rubbing against it or chewing on wiring. Using sheep to control
vegetation is a green alternative to
using chemicals and mowing with
internal combustion equipment.
Snapping Shoals' newest
employees work around the clock
to keep weeds at bay-weeds that
could decrease the solar panels'
performance and damage equipment. The goal is to have a flock of
about 50 Katahdin ewes. The hardy
breed doesn't require shearing and is
well-suited to Georgia's climate. The
sheep are cared for by students from
the Newton County Career Academy
in Covington and Snapping Shoals
EMC employees.

-Scott Fuss

Stay in school: The Flint Energies Foundation in Reynolds recently donated $5,000 in
Operation Round Up funds to the Georgia
Southwestern State University Foundation in
Americus for the university's Office of FirstYear Experience, which works to help new
students succeed and remain enrolled. The
grant will be used to buy five iPads for the
office staff so that they can be more mobile
and meet students where they are to address
their needs. In Operation Round Up, members opt to round their electric bills to the
nearest dollar, and the difference goes into a
fund for charitable causes in the community.
Tablet winner: Jaley Mize, a member of
GreyStone Power Corp., was the winner of
the 2019 Georgia Magazine Student Tablet
Giveaway. She lives in Winston and attends
Robert S. Alexander Comprehensive High
School in Douglasville. The annual survey
offers a tablet computer to one student at a
Georgia high school or college whose name
is drawn from respondents.

ANITRA ELLISON / GREYSTONE POWER CORP.

COURTESY SNAPPING SHOALS EMC

Sheep give new
meaning to solar
'farm'

Top-notch with customers: GreyStone
Power Corp. in Douglasville was the nation's
top-rated electric cooperative in the J.D. Power 2019 Electric Utility Residential Customer
Satisfaction Study. The study is based on
more than 103,000
interviews of residential customers
of the 142 largest
electric utilities
nationwide. For
information about
the 2019 J.D.
Power awards,
go to jdpower.
com/awards.

COURTESY WASHINGTON EMC

SHORTTakes

Cooperative kids: Fifty youngsters ages 8
to 13 gathered at the Sandersville headquarters of Washington Electric Membership Corp.
(EMC) on June 18 for the cooperative's annual
Camp Co-op. The free camp teaches the children about the electric cooperative through
fun activities such as bucket-truck rides, crafts,
games, safety demonstrations and a tour.
Above, campers cheer on teammates in the
rubber glove nut-and-bolt relay.
Keeping their cool: Senior citizens in need
were able to beat the heat with air-conditioning units provided through a $2,250
grant from the Americus-based Sumter EMC
Foundation. The 11 units were distributed
to seniors from Dougherty, Lee and Terrell
counties on a first-come, first-served basis by
the Southwest Georgia Council on Aging in
Albany.
Business boom: Tucker-based Georgia EMC's
Community and Economic Development
team played a role in bringing several new
development projects to the state. Swiss
manufacturer Preci-Dip will build its first
U.S. production facility in Bryan County,
while online retailer Wayfair will launch a
customer-support facility in Athens-Clarke
County. These projects, along with an Amazon
fulfillment center already under construction
in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties, will create
1,600 jobs.
A critical eye: Mark Bolton, vice president of
marketing, communication and economic
development at Coastal Electric Cooperative
in Midway, served as one of three judges for
the 2019 Arts on the Coast Magnum Opus
Annual Exhibit. The exhibit is on display
through Sept. 7 at Deep South PhotoPoint
Gallery in Richmond Hill.

www.georgiamagazine.org

http://jdpower.com/awards http://jdpower.com/awards http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Georgia Magazine - September 2019

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