The national award was presented
March 3 during the 2003 NRECA annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn.Hoosier Energy's environmental education resources have earned the generation and transmission cooperative the "Building for the Future" Community Service Award from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).
The national award was presented
March 3 during the 2003 NRECA annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn.
The power supplier for 16 central and southern Indiana electric cooperatives (REMCs/RECs), Hoosier Energy provides a free environmental and science lending library and maintains an environmental education center with classroom and laboratory facilities.
All of Hoosier Energy's environmental education resources are available free to teachers and groups.
"Our environmental education resources are a logical extension of a commitment to environmental stewardship for the natural resources and people of central and southern Indiana," said President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Smith, who accepted the award along with Environmental Team Leader Michalene Reilly.
"It's important that the young people of Indiana have the resources to learn more about energy, science and the environment," Smith noted. "Electric cooperatives have a good story to tell when it comes to providing power, preserving the environment and demonstrating commitment to community."
Hoosier Energy's environmental education center is located at Turtle Creek Reservoir, the cooling facility for the power supplier's Merom Generating Station in Sullivan County.
With a 50-seat classroom, laboratory and floating dock, the education center gives adults and youths a chance to see how an electric power plant operates within the natural environment. The center has a variety of activities, curriculum and course materials available to educators, along with audio-visual and hands-on equipment for classes.
Responding to a need for easily-accessible environmental and science learning materials, Hoosier Energy developed "Freshwater Fred's Lending Library." This Internet-based library features more than 900 titles including CD-ROM computer software, audio recordings, videos and other materials on topics such as energy, safety, science, ecology and more.
"Hoosier Energy members serve more than half-a-million Hoosiers in a 48-county area that covers about half the state," said Reilly. "The lending library gives us a way to share resources with teachers, parents and others throughout the service territory and beyond. It's a unique resource that adds value to our primary mission of providing reliable and affordable power to members."
For more information on the library, see Hoosier Energy's website at www.hepn.com/library/content.
The NRECA Community Service Award recognizes creative solutions to an array of economic and social community needs. Such activities strengthen the bond between electric cooperatives and their customers. Glenn English, former congressman and now NRECA chief executive officer, presented the award.
Hoosier Energy is a generation and transmission cooperative supplying electric power and other services to 16 electric cooperatives that serve more than 230,000 customers in the southern half of the state. With headquarters in Bloomington, Hoosier Energy operates two coal-fired power plants - the Merom Generating Station in Sullivan County and the Frank E. Ratts Generating Station in Pike County - as well as a power delivery network with nearly 1,400 miles of transmission lines and more than 200 substations.