Beware. of Scams. In situations where members are having a. Salem Electric Does Not Do Business This Way.

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Beware. of Scams. In situations where members are having a. Salem Electric Does Not Do Business This Way."

Brook McCoy
5 years ago
Views:

1 JUNE 2014 Beware In situations where members are having a difficult time paying their bill, Salem Electric will mail a notice with information about payment options and energy assistance. We also make every attempt to keep a member s power on. Before disconnecting service, we always try to make personal contact at your home or business. Here are a few tips to remember that may help you avoid becoming a victim: Salem Electric never calls to ask for sensitive or personal information over the phone. If you are unsure if the call is from Salem Electric, hang up and call our office at If a Salem Electric employee visits your home they will be wearing SE clothing be driving a white vehicle that is clearly marked with an SE logo, and will be carrying proper identification. Salem Electric never calls our members to threaten disconnection of their service whether you re a residential or business member. Members should only use payment methods authorized by Salem Electric. These methods include: mailing a check, dropping your payment in our drop box, calling our office during business hours to pay by phone, bringing your payment to the office during of Scams News & Information about your member-owned utility Unfortunately there are people in the world that take advantage of others for their own profit and gain. Over the past few years we ve seen an increase in scams relating to electric utilities. The scammers contact members by phone and demand payment threatening to disconnect the power if members don t pay. They identify themselves as Salem Electric employees and are very aggressive in their attempt to collect payment by instructing the member to purchase a prepaid credit card, often a green dot card, and call them back with the credit card information. Some scammers are even sophisticated enough to have the caller ID indicate that the call is coming from Salem Electric. Salem Electric Does Not Do Business This Way. regular business hours, or using our online bill pay or auto bill pay options. If you are targeted and receive a call from a scammer, never give out your personal or financial information. Hang up immediately and report the call to the Oregon Department of Justice Consumer Protection at A

2 2014 Annual Membership Meeting Salem Electric s 2014 Annual Membership Meeting was held on May 13, at the Roth s in West Salem. The membership elected incumbents Carl Beach and Alicia Bonesteele to serve three year terms. Dave Bauer, a Keizer member, was elected by the membership to serve his first term. The board elected Jerry Berger to serve as President; Joe Van Meter, Vice-President; and Alicia Bonesteele as Secretary/Treasurer at their Organizational Meeting. The board also includes Jeff Anderson, Dave Bauer, Carl Beach, and Paul Ennor. A General Manager Terry Kelly talks about Salem Electric programs and what makes co-ops different. Board President Jim Dyer shares about his 20 years serving on the Salem Electric board. Debbie Addison, Member Services Coordinator, hightlights what Salem Electric does to achieve our goal of Good Customer Relations. SALEM ELECTRIC INFO BULLETIN

3 Adam Deshon, Engineer II, talks about Salem Electric s Avian Protection Plan and the affect it has on area osprey. Heidi Hand, Administrative Services Coordinator, tells her story about interactions she had with Salem Electric before and after becoming an employee. Craig Koller, IT Technician, talks about Salem Electric s approach to e-waste disposal. JUNE 2014

4 2014 Scholarships Logan Adams Benjamin Asay For the past 11 years Salem Electric has annually awarded ten $1,000 scholarships to individuals who reside in our service area. The 2014 recipients were recognized at May s Annual Meeting. Those who were able to attend included: Logan Adams (Oregon State University/Engineering); Benjamin Asay (Oregon State University/Mathematics); Aleesha Liedtke (Oregon State University/Chemical Engineering); Alicia Phan (Chemeketa Community College/ Nursing); Allison Sladek (Oregon State University/Engineering & Physics); Linda Yang (Oregon State University/Zoology). Recipients unable to attend included: Carter Frantz-Geddes, Abby Horner, Eni Nako, and Chan Zhang. A SALEM ELECTRIC INFO BULLETIN Aleesha Liedtke Allison Sladek Alicia Phan Linda Yang

5 Board Meeting Summary from APRIL, 22, Audit Report: Capital Credits: Presented by: Alicia Bonesteele Secretary/Treasurer FROM YOUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS The 2013 Salem Electric audit was presented and accepted by the board. The audit firm gave Salem Electric a clean, unmodified opinion. The second Notice of Unclaimed Capital Credits insert will be placed in the Statesman Journal on April 23, with additional inserts included in both May and June. The list is also available on Salem Electric s website salemelectric.com No Outage Month: March 2014 was Salem Electric s 22nd month with no preventable outages and the 8th month in the cooperative s nearly 75-year history with no internally or externally-caused outages. IT Threat: The Heartbleed bug affected one device at Salem Electric but there were no security issues as a result. Long-time Service Recognition: The board recognized General Manager Bob Speckman (32 years) and director Jim Dyer (20 years) for their dedicated, long-time service to Salem Electric. Speckman retires April 30, and Dyer s term on the board ends May 13, Upcoming Board Meetings June 24 July 22 August 26 Jerry Berger President Joe Van Meter Vice-President Board of Directors Alicia Bonesteele Secretary/Treasurer Jeff Anderson Dave Bauer Carl Beach Paul Ennor All board meetings are held at 7 PM at Salem Electric, 633 Seventh Street NW, Salem, Oregon JUNE 2014

6 Capital Credits Each year Salem Electric publishes a list of former members we are unable to locate in order to issue them a capital credit refund. The publication (shown here) will be an insert in the Statesman Journal on May 23 and June 13. You can also visit our website at salemelectric.com and click on Unclaimed Capital Retains to access the information. A salemelectric.com I m not only a Special Services Representative I also flag traffic when we install holiday decorations and spring banners Britni, serving you since 2003 SALEM ELECTRIC PO BOX SEVENTH STREET NW SALEM, OR PH: FAX: se@salemelectric.com salemelectric.com Printed on recycled paper with soy-based ink.

Social Security. Don t be a Scam Victim- You re in Control. This presentation produced at U.S. taxpayer expense.

Social Security. Don t be a Scam Victim- You re in Control. This presentation produced at U.S. taxpayer expense. Social Security www.socialsecurity.gov Don t be a Scam Victim- You re in Control This presentation produced at U.S. taxpayer expense. Identity Theft and Scams Ø Scammers have claimed to be SSA employees