Last month, energy specialist Michael Hinde led a day-long group session at Shakopee High School on the ins and outs of Electric Vehicles.
Hinde and engineer supervisor Daniel Turner gave students the chance to see MVEC’s two EVs — a Tesla Model 3 and a Ford Lightning — up close and personal and provided rides for students in Shakopee’s environmental studies pathway, which allows kids the opportunity to focus more on those subjects.
“We cover electric and gas vehicles and some of their impacts on the environment in class, so this is really great for the kids to see these cars up close and experience what they have to offer,” said chemistry and environmental studies teacher Matt Johnston.
Prior to students riding in the EVs, Michael went over some of the programs and benefits MVEC offers for electric vehicles. Currently, MVEC offers EV24, a 24-hour, Time-of-Use (TOU) Electric Vehicle charging program where members can charge their vehicle whenever needed, with electric rates that fluctuate by the time of the day. The times and charges are a reflection of power supply, power demand, and wholesale power costs – passing along the savings during non-peak times. By recording EV usage with a dedicated electric meter on a member’s home, EV usage is separated from the home’s general usage and is tracked over fluctuating time-based rate periods.
When enrolled, members can save money on charging EVs by utilizing the EV-Wise time. To ensure sufficient charging time, this rate starts at 10 p.m. and ends at 5 a.m. seven days a week. By joining, members will also help MVEC with managing the reliability of our grid. MVEC can help reduce its wholesale electric bill, and the savings are passed on to the members with lower rates.
Jordan Safety Day
‘How do you get the bucket up there?’ ‘What are the cones for?’ and ‘What if we don’t know the number to 911?’ were a few of the hard-hitting questions our MVEC experts were asked at a safety and hot-line demo for Jordan and St. John the Baptist School kindergartners. A pair of co-op engineers, Kyle Neal and Daniel talked electrical safety during their hot-line demo while linemen brought a bucket truck to show how high in the air MVEC linemen sometimes have to work to keep the power on.
Touch-A-Truck
It was all smiles for the kids (and linemen) as Joe McKernon and Dylan Peterson showed off our digger and bucket trucks at Shepherd’s Flock Preschool Touch-A-Truck event. The utility trucks were a big hit for children to check out, along side area firetrucks, police vehicles, school buses and a delivery truck.
Jordan Middle School
MVEC recently sent apprentice linemen Beau Kaske and Dylan, along with Member Engagement Specialist Jessica Heinz, to Jordan Middle School for career day. They spoke to students about the education needed to get a job in their industry, and what they liked most about it. The students gained insight into the linemen’s tools and gear used to climb electric poles and to stay safe while working with energized power lines.
