Students failed to let clouds ruin solar car race

They built car bodies from shoe boxes, 12-pack Coke containers, cardboard and egg cartons. They stripped tires from toy race cars. They recycled jelly jar tops and even fashioned wheels from compact discs.

In the end, Bartlett High and White Station Middle teams dominated the third annual 2015 MLGW’s A-Blazing Solar Car Race. Both grabbed first place honors in speed and best use of materials. East High STEM Academy and Houston Middle won for best notebooks in their respective divisions.

Unfortunately, the sun hid behind the clouds and prevented racers from showing their true top speeds. For the first time, Memphis Light, Gas and Water partnered with the University of Memphis and its Engineering Day events and activities on Oct. 23. The race attracted 19 teams from local schools and homeschoolers. Some schools had three separate teams to compete.

“We built six cars and brought our top three,” said Collierville Middle School teacher Shelley Pitts. She lamented about the sun’s refusal to shine. One of their teams won the first middle school heat with the Dominator. The day before the race, she said, “It was a speed demon.”

Havenview Middle School teacher Tanja Owens knows she will push her students to put in extra work next year: “We need to do some research on how to get our solar cars to work on cloudy days. They tested on sunny days. I don’t think we ever tested it on cloudy days.”

MLGW solar car race coordinator Kerry Roy considers the race a success especially in partnering with U of M’s E-Day. By hosting the race during a school day instead of the summer, she said, “We had a much larger turnout than in previous years.”

 In all, 22 volunteers assisted with the event. Plans are already underway for next year’s race. “We are talking about adding a battery component to the vehicles or having artificial lights on hand to use in inclement weather,” Roy added.

 The race was the brainchild of MLGW CEO and President Jerry R. Collins Jr.  The idea is to attract the attention of students early on so that they will consider a career in engineering. 

Teens rev up engines with sun’s rays in A-Blazing Race

As a part of a fun-filled E-Day, 22 local high school and middle school teams are harnessing the sun’s rays to see who has the fastest and coolest solar-powered car on the track.

MLGW’s A-Blazing Race is a part of the University of Memphis’ Engineering Day set for Friday, Oct. 23.  One past winning team fashioned a miniature car from a Girl Scout cookie box to claim first prize.  The teams are racing in a series of head-to-head competitions with double elimination.

Dozens of high school and middle school students are expected to compete at various events and activities like the Egg Drop contest and FIRST Lego League, a robotics competition, at E-Day, hosted by Herff College of Engineering.

What: E-Day & A-Blazing Race Competition

When: Friday, Oct. 23

·        Car Race: 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  with 17 middle school teams competing

·        Car Race: 12:40 p.m. to 1:20 p.m.  with five high school teams competing

Where:  Race in the U of M parking lot at Zach Curlin and Norriswood

Parking: Central Avenue lot or Zach Curlin parking garage near Campus School. Call 901-678-2212 to get an advance parking pass or for any parking questions.

Who’s competing: Arlington, Bartlett and East High schools; White Station, Collierville, Sherwood, Germantown, Houston and Millington Middle schools and Memphis Homeschool Tutorial. (Some schools have three separate teams made up of two to eight students on each team.)

Prizes awarded for speed, best design and best notebook for the A-Blazing Race. To see a past solar race go to http://www.mlgw.com/community/ablaze

Surplus Auction Rescheduled

Due to the anticipated inclement weather forecasted for October 24, 2015, the MLGW Surplus Vehicle and Equipment Auction has been rescheduled for Saturday, November 14, 2015.

MLGW Named an “Environmental Champion” in Customer Survey

The 2015 Residential Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement survey by Cogent Energy Reports named MLGW one of the top three combined energy providers in the South for environmental dedication.

The survey, according to Cogent, measures “operational satisfaction, product experience and brand trust” among utility customers across the country. One hundred twenty five of the largest utility companies are included. MLGW was the only three-service utility company among the environmental category’s top performers.

Barbara Vergetis Lundin of Smart Grid News said that the rankings in that category were based on “the extent to which consumers believe providers are supporting environmental causes, committed to environmentally friendly energy sources, encouraging green initiatives and offering tools to help consumers save energy.”

Earlier this year, MLGW’s J.D. Power Score was reported as 114 points higher than in 2008, making MLGW one of the nation’s most improved utility companies for customer satisfaction. Both of these survey results indicate a positive trend in customers’ overall perception of MLGW.

“Customer confidence is an important measure of how well we’re performing as a company,” said Jerry Collins Jr., president and CEO of MLGW. “Earning and keeping that trust is one of our top priorities, and we’ll continue our focus on customer service to do just that.”

Customers can learn more about MLGW’s environmental initiatives by visiting http://www.mlgw.com/community/greeninitiativesreportcommunitysection.

MLGW Awarded for Company Fleet: Named in 100 Best Fleets in North America

MLGW was recently announced as one of the 100 Best Fleets in North America. The utility was named 46^th in the Government Green Fleet Awards for 2015, scoring higher than its previous honorable mention award in 2014. 

The Government Green Fleet Award is open to all federal, state and local government fleets in North America. The rating criteria is based on hundreds of sources of green fleet planning and methodology. The evaluation standards are divided into several key categories: fleet composition; fuel and emissions; policy and planning; fleet utilization; education; executive and employee involvement; and supporting programs.

           
MLGW owns and operates a diverse fleet of alternative fuel vehicles used by employees for service calls, field inspections and project deployments. The portfolio includes:

• Flex-fuel: More than 200 on-road light-duty vehicles which utilize unleaded gasoline or ethanol (E-85) fuel.
• Compressed Natural Gas: 36 on-road light-duty ½ ton series trucks, 56 on-road heavy-duty ¾ ton trucks and a one ton series truck.
• Hybrid: Twenty-four (Ford Prius, Ford Escape and Ford Fusion) vehicles powered by unleaded gasoline and a lithium battery.
• Plug-In Electric: Four Nissan Leaf vehicles powered 100 percent by lithium ion batteries which are charged by electricity from Level 2 EV charging stations. MLGW has five charging site locations.
• Plug-In Hybrid Electric: One Odyne on-road heavy-duty bucket truck used in electric line repair and installations.

“This award shows we are committed to making our community a better place to live for everyone,” said Jerry Collins Jr., president and CEO of MLGW.

To view more MLGW Green Initiatives, take a look at the 2014 Green Initiatives and Community Report.

Smart Talk: One Pleased Customer’s Experience

Robert Gallaher says he was a little skeptical of smart meters. He’d heard the rumors, but hasn’t had one complaint after his meter was upgraded. The new electric meter was installed on his Midtown home last year. An analysis of Gallaher's consumption shows that his household’s electric consumption for the 12-month period starting in May 2014 (an electric smart meter was installed in April 2014) was 10.4 percent less than in the 12-month period starting May 2013. (In comparison, the average residential customer's electric consumption system-wide for the 12-month period starting in May 2014 was only three percent less than in the 12-month period starting May 2013.)

Gallaher’s reduction is consistent with the results of MLGW’s 1,000 smart meter pilot. The findings show customers with smart meters consume less energy than customers who do not have smart meters. For whatever reason, smart meters appear to make customers more energy efficient.

There are other advantages seniors like Gallaher and his wife Sylvia can enjoy. The remote meter reading capability means they don’t have to leave their gate open for MLGW to measure their consumption for billing, nor do they have to report an outage. The two-way communication of the smart meter tells MLGW when there’s a problem.

When Gallaher was asked about the perception of some seniors that smart meters are a threat, he replied, “People are afraid of change.” He added, “My wife and I are very well pleased.”

MLGW Observes Public Power Week Oct. 4 - 10

MLGW observes Public Power Week, Oct. 4-10, along with more than 2,000 other utilities that collectively provide electricity on a not-forprofit basis to 47 million Americans.

“As a municipal-owned utility, MLGW strives to do what’s in the best interests of our customers. Public Power Week enables us to showcase that commitment to the community,” said Jerry R. Collins Jr., president and CEO of MLGW. “Our rates are among the lowest in the nation and we appreciate being able to provide the best service that our customers deserve.”

Public Power Week is a national, annual event sponsored in conjunction with the American Public Power Association (APPA) in Washington, D.C. APPA is the service organization for community- and state-owned electric utilities. MLGW is a member.

“MLGW is a driving force for the community’s economic vitality, and it’s important for us to remind residents how valuable we are as a local resource,” said Collins.

A great way to observe Public Power Week is to continue to prepare for colder temperatures. Here are a few tips to help conserve energy:

• Set your thermostat at 68 degrees or lower when you’re home during cold months (78 degrees in hot months). Every degree below 68 can save four percent on your heating bills.

• Wear layered clothing and thick socks to keep warm, then set your thermostat even lower.

• At bedtime, lower your thermostat even more and add extra blankets.

• Lower or turn off thermostat when leaving your home for four hours or more.

• Close garage doors, cover foundation vents, and close off vents and doors to seldom-used rooms.

Happy Public Power Week!

MLGW celebrates Public Power Week October 4-10. Public utilities deliver reliable service at the lowest rates. We exist to serve our fellow citizens with responsive service, local control, customer ownership and involvement in our communities. MLGW is the largest three-service public utility in the U.S., and a national survey shows that MLGW has the lowest combined rates of comparable utilities in the country.

Here's a look at some of our hardworking employees...

Smart Talk: Why apartment managers support smart meters

Some apartment managers have voiced their concern about smart meters to MLGW — they can’t be installed soon enough! From the standpoint of owners and managers, the updated meters will help protect their tenants and property. According to the National Multifamily Housing Council’s website, there are 250,553 occupied housing units in the Memphis metro area. One apartment manager shared, in their own words, why they think moving forward with smart meters make sense to keep families living in Memphis and Shelby County's apartment communities safe:

Smart meters would alert MLGW the minute the meter is pulled. If MLGW can notify us {apartment managers/owners} by email that the meter has been tampered with, we {could} look into the situation quickly. I believe owners and MLGW can work together to stop a very dangerous situation that occurs almost daily at multifamily properties.

We found the problem shown below because of a chance visit to a property. Our tenant shows how easy it would be to put your hand into the open meter box.

Smart meters provide apartment owners and tenants with a real solution to prevent illegal tampering and potential electrocution and fire hazards.

MLGW Ending Relaxed Rules for Deferred Payments

As fall arrives, MLGW has ended the “relaxed rules” program for deferred payments that began to help customers in the midst of extreme summer temperatures. The program ended September 30. The "relaxed rules" for a deferred payment are the bill has to be for more than $250 and the upfront money required is 25 percent of the money owed or $250 which ever is less.

The program resulted in 671 reconnections with $649,000 setup on the deferred billing plan. Including the reconnections, 4,101 customers were setup on deferred billing, totaling $3.6 million, since July 14 when the program started.

So far, customers have paid back $219,000 on the deferred billing plan.

MLGW to Host Third Annual Solar Model Car Race

MLGW is hosting the A-Blazing Race on Friday, Oct. 23 in conjunction with the University of Memphis Herff College of Engineering E-Day. The race will be held in the college’s parking lot at the corner of Zach Curlin Street and Norriswood Avenue. The A-Blazing Race promotes MLGW’s interest in solar energy and introduces children to different engineering-related professions.

The object of the race is to design and build a vehicle that is powered strictly by solar power to compete in races with similar cars as well as to compete in a design competition. This year’s event will be divided into two divisions: grades six through eight and grades nine through 12. Teams can consist of two to eight people.

Teams will use a kit (available through MLGW) containing a solar panel and motor. Using any other ma­terials, competitors will design and build a solar-powered vehicle that will race on a 20-meter race course.

“We are excited about the A-Blazing Race being a part of the E-Day and look forward to even more students being involved,” said MLGW President and CEO Jerry Collins Jr. “It gives MLGW a wonderful opportunity to interact with local students through a fun activity and teach them about engineering and the importance of solar power.”

For more information about the A-Blazing Race, contact MLGW’s Community Relations Department at (901) 528-4820 or commrelations@mlgw.org. You can also visit the A-Blazing Race Website to register online.