News & Events

2012 Nominating Meetings

Valley REC’s service area is divided into nine districts. One member from each district is chosen to serve on the co-op’s board of directors for a three-year term. This year, directors for districts 2, 4, and 6 are up for election.

District 2 Nominating Meeting

Mon., Feb. 6 – 6 p.m.
Newton Wayne Banquet Hall, 9 Front & Market Streets, Newton Hamilton

The current director for District 2 is James Stauffer.
District 2 includes members from the following townships and borough:
Huntingdon County – Brady, Henderson, Juniata, Smithfield, Union, Mill Creek
Mifflin County – Granville, Oliver, Wayne

District 4 Nominating Meeting

Tues., Feb. 7 – 6 p.m.
Three Springs Fire Hall, 8416 Ashman Street, Three Springs

The current director for District 4 is Corey Brumbaugh.
District 4 includes members from the following townships and boroughs:
Huntingdon County – Cass, Clay, Cromwell, Shirley, Springfield, Cassville, Saltillo, Three Springs

District 6 Nominating Meeting

Thurs., Feb. 9 – 6 p.m.
Freedom Township Fire Hall, 139 Cream Hollow Road, East Freedom

The current director for District 6 is Leroy Barnes.
District 6 includes members from the following townships:
Blair County – Freedom, Greenfield, Juniata
Bedford County – Kimmel, Pavia

Valley REC mailed notification letters to members in these districts at the beginning of January 2012. Reservations may be made by completing and mailing the postage-paid return card that was provided with the letter. The deadline for receipt of reservations is Thursday, January 26, 2012.

DON’T FORGET THE ANNUAL MEETING ON FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2012.

Announcing pay-by-phone option for paying electric bills

October 3, 2011

A green telephone

As of October 1, 2011, members may now pay electric bills securely over the phone by calling 800/432-0680 and following the automated prompt for phone payment (option 5). There will be a delay of about eight seconds while the call is transferred into the payment system. Payments can be made by credit card, debit card, or bank draft from a checking account anytime of the day or night, not just during normal business hours.

For privacy and security reasons, Valley’s employees are not permitted to process payments directly over the phone. Members wishing to pay by phone must use the automated phone system.

Recruiting businesses for discount card program

August 2011

Valley Rural Electric Cooperative is currently recruiting local businesses to enroll in the Co-op Connections® Program. Along with other Touchstone Energy® cooperatives across the nation, Valley REC developed this discount card program to deliver more value to cooperative members and promote participating businesses. The program is available free-of-charge to both members and businesses.

Interested businesses do not need to be members of the cooperative, but they must agree to offer a discount or discounts of their choosing for a minimum of one year to all Co-op Connections cardholders. Cardholders will include all of Valley’s approximately 22,000 members as well as consumers served by other participating cooperatives. Co-op members will be encouraged to shop at participating businesses through promotions in Valley’s statewide magazine, Penn Lines, as well as in co-op newsletters, ads, bill inserts, website and other materials.

If you have a business in any of the counties served by Valley REC and are interested in taking part in the program, download and print the participating business contract or contact Valley for a copy of the form. Complete and return the form to the cooperative. For more information, contact Susan Penning, Director of Member Services, at 814/643/2650 ext. 163 or toll-free at 800/432-0680.

Participating Business Contract Form (PDF, 29 KB)

Valley Rural Electric Cooperative is a member-owned utility that serves homes, farms and businesses in Bedford, Blair, Centre, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata and Mifflin counties in Pennsylvania. The cooperative has delivered electricity safely and reliably for more than 70 years.

Advanced metering infrastructure project continues

March 16, 2011

Valley Rural Electric Cooperative is continuing to replace all of its meters with new automated versions as part of its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project. The AMI project is proceeding on a substation-by-substation basis. Co-op employees and technicians from Joseph T. Berrena Mechanicals, Inc. of Huntingdon, contracted by Valley, have been working primarily in the Huntingdon and Martinsburg districts. They will finish the project in the co-op’s Shade Gap district in 2012.

Consumers will receive notification via door tag when their meters have been replaced and the automated features are activated. At that point, they will no longer need to read their meters. Members are urged to continue reading their meters until notified otherwise.

For more information, please read these answers to commonly asked questions about Advanced Metering Infrastructure (PDF, 87 KB).

What Electric Choice means for co-op members

January 6, 2011

Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, along with the other rural electric co-ops in Pennsylvania, has allowed its members to choose their power suppliers ever since 1999. However, in order for power supply choice to work, alternative electric suppliers (also called electric generation suppliers or EGSs) must agree to serve co-op territories.

There are currently no electric generation suppliers for co-op members to choose, because no EGSs have chosen to serve in Valley’s service territory or, for that matter, the territory of any other rural electric cooperative in Pennsylvania.

If any EGSs decide to serve Valley consumers, the cooperative will immediately notify all members and will also offer more detailed information and instructions on how consumers can make the switch. It’s important to remember that consumers who choose an alternate generation supplier will still have their power delivered by Valley REC and will remain co-op members.

Given that no EGSs have chosen to serve co-op territory, a likely conclusion would be that there are sound business reasons for that decision. In other words, the “price to compare” or cost per kilowatt-hour between the EGSs’ rates and Valley’s rates is extremely competitive. In addition, the cooperative’s rural areas consist of mostly residential accounts rather than large industrial or commercial accounts that would be more profitable to serve.

The electric utility market is constantly changing under deregulation. Some electric generation suppliers may wait for the market to mature before investing in new service territories. Initially, most suppliers competed in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas, where electricity prices were much higher than elsewhere in the state. More recently, EGSs have been cropping up in other more urban and suburban areas of Pennsylvania, particularly since rate caps have come off for numerous private power companies.

Want more information about electric generation suppliers, deregulation and customer choice? Read this excerpt from the common pages of the December 2010 issue of Penn Lines magazine, provided by Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association. The Top 10 things you need to know about Electric Choice (PDF, 125 KB).

The following websites may offer helpful information as well:

Please note that these sites will open in a new browser tab or window. Valley Rural Electric Cooperative is not responsible for the content of these sites.

Co-op begins AMI meter installation

October 20, 2009

The cooperative is currently replacing all of its meters with new automated versions as part of an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project. The AMI project will proceed on a substation-by-substation basis. Work has begun in the Center Union Substation area of Huntingdon County, which includes locations in or around Alexandria, Center Union, Donation, Huntingdon, and Petersburg. From there, crews will primarily finish work in the Huntingdon district. They will then move to the Martinsburg district and, finally, to the Shade Gap district. The project is expected to take up to three years to complete.

Consumers will be informed when their meters have been replaced and again when the automated features are activated. Members are urged to continue reading their meters unless notified otherwise.

For more information, please read these answers to commonly asked questions about Advanced Metering Infrastructure (PDF, 87 KB).

Fraud Alert!

September 22, 2009

Watch out for people posing as co-op personnel on the telephone.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association recently reported that co-op consumers in various states have been receiving phone calls from fraudsters posing as co-op personnel and asking consumers to provide credit card or other financial account information and personally identifiable information over the phone. (Cooperatives have not been the only target; this is hitting utilities of all types.) There are at least two variations of this scam.

  1. The fraudster states that the consumer owes money on an account and will have service disconnected unless payment information is provided immediately.
  2. The caller claims the consumer can receive federal stimulus dollars to pay utility bills but must first provide personal information such as a Social Security Number and utility account number. (This scam appears aimed more specifically at seniors.)

All Valley Rural Electric Cooperative personnel remain vigilant in protecting member and consumer information and will follow current identity theft procedures.

If you receive a call from a person claiming to be a cooperative employee and asking for credit card, financial, account, or social security information, and you suspect fraud, do not give that information to the caller. Instead, ask for the caller’s name and then call our office at one of the numbers listed on this site or on your bill. You can then verify whether the call was from one of our employees before supplying any information.