A few years ago I talked with a member who was under the impression that the Cooperative kept a large board with light bulbs that would blink whenever an outage occurred somewhere in our electric system.

Although we have not quite reached that state of automation, we are ready to offer our members a device which will monitor their homes for outages, blinks and voltage problems.  This device know as an "RPM" (Remote Power Monitor) will, without any member involvement, automatically report outages and other system electrical problems to the Cooperative.  Once a report is received from the RPM unit, Cooperative personnel will be dispatched to restore service and/or repair the problem, possibly before the member is even aware of the situation. 

The RPM units, which are about the size of a pack of cigarettes, are fairly easy to install into a standard 120-volt outlet located adjacent to a phone jack.  The units are installed in series with your phone line and in order to function properly, the unit must remain plugged in to an active receptacle at all times.

The units are available upon request for $75.00 each, including tax and shipping fees.  The units will be mailed to members, complete with installation instructions.  Separate units are required for each metered installation and once installed, will not function if moved to another location.  Field testing of these units has indicated they work very well, provided quality phone service is available  Should the unit fail to perform properly, it can be returned at any time for a complete refund.

Sorry, but these units work only in conjunction with SouthEastern’s Outage Management System and will not work on other utility systems.

If you are interested in an RPM unit, please give Robin Holloway or Dustin Tripp a call at 1-800-273-2611, Extensions 164 and 166, respectively.