According to the National Weather Service, lightning strikes the United States 25 million times every year, and every strike is a potential killer. Thirty-seven people die each year, and almost a dozen are killed indirectly through fires started by a lightning strike. To keep your family safe, it is important to know what actions to [...]

A properly selected and planted tree can add beauty, value and energy efficiency to your ­landscape. On the other hand, a poorly selected and planted tree can become high ­maintenance, expensive, dan­gerous and short-lived. The Energy Education Council has advice to help you select the tree that is best for your yard. Spring is a [...]

Water is what makes our planet unique in the cosmos. Water is essential to life, and is used for everything from cooking to industry to recreation. Just like Goldie Locks we want our water to be just right. It’s bad enough when we have too little like last summer, but too much causes flooding. And [...]

Unlike a tornado dropping from a spring thunderstorm, there is usually more time to prepare for a winter storm. Paying attention to the National Weather Service and local media can help keep those in the path of a winter storm aware of impending severe weather. Hopefully steps have been taken to winterize homes, get emergency [...]

Sometimes conventional wisdom, even if it comes from a trusted source can be deadly—especially if it pertains to electrical safety. This is one time that checking facts just might save your life. Since you probably won’t be in a position to fact check in an emergency situation, now is the time to learn the difference [...]

Each year the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC) trains hundreds of ­cooperative employees how to respond to health-related ­emergencies, ­specifically how to do cardio pul­monary resuscitation (CPR), administer first aid, and how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED). Each of these areas is crucial in offering a chance of survival to a person [...]

Earlier this year, on a cold January morning, fire officials determined that an electric space heater claimed the lives of 5-year-old and 9-year-old sisters in Grantville, Ga. in a fire that destroyed the family’s home. Despite repeated search and rescue efforts, smoke and flames from the fire ­prevented the ­location and rescue of the two [...]

The United States Fire Administration reports there are an average of 28,300 residential electrical fires each year, ­causing 390 deaths, 1,000 injuries, and nearly $1 billion in direct losses. The National Fire Protection Association notes that 41% of those fires were related to home wiring, cords or lighting. Safe Electricity wants con­sumers to be aware [...]

Unfortunately the old saying, “Lightning never strikes twice,” is not true. Even more unfortunate, it only takes one strike of lightning to change a person’s life forever. Tamara Pandolph-Peary of Chatham, Ill. learned the dangers of lightning the hard way. She describes herself as a hard worker who was on the move from the moment [...]

During the first quarter of 2012, electric co-ops, the members of Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange, have experienced 21 public contacts with five fatalities. The most recent public contact fatalities were the result of three vehicle-into-pole incidents, a line contractor contact, and a CB antenna contact with an overhead line. Federated Rural Electric Insurance Exchange [...]