The Supplier

WESTERN UNITED is again #1 in SALES PER EMPLOYEE

The Electrical Wholesaling magazine’s June edition has named Western United as the top electrical distributor in the country for sales per employee ($3,000,000 per employee), for the second consecutive year.

Western United has been in the top three listing for sales per employee since the magazine first began publishing their listing in 2005. This accomplishment is a testament to the strong loyalty that WUE’s members have shown in purchasing their needed electrical construction and maintenance materials and tools from the company that they own. In addition to the number one ranking, WUE was also ranked #79 in terms of overall sales.

WUE UPDATE

The WUE Board of directors approved the redemption of $1.2M of outstanding patronage capital credits (balance of 2008). Checks were sent to members at the end of May.

The WUE offices will be closed on July 4th for the Holiday.

WUE has been approved as a distributor for the Howard Industries kiosk line. The Kiosks can take checks or cash from coop customers who wish to pay their bills. They can be located in remote locations similar to bank cash machines.

WUE has been approved as a distributor for Wagner Smith a manufacturer of reel and stringing trailers and other specialty trailers. Wagner Smith also leases equipment.

WUE has also been approved as a distributor for Mid Central small KVA transformers (.5KVA through 2KVA). Available in multiple primary voltages and 120V secondary, the transformer cans are the smallest in the industry.

CRC manufacturers an insect repellent that will not damage FR clothing. Made of Permethrin rather than DEET, when the repellent is applied by aerosol directly on the FR clothing, the treatment will last 2 weeks (up to 6 washings). One 8 oz aerosol can will treat 2 complete FR clothing outfits.

WUE has been approved as a distributor for home or commercial solar kits (ground or roof applications) as well as solar garden projects. Today’s Power assembles the 4KW or 8KW kits (which contain all needed panels and inverters) and can ship directly to the rural electric coop utility or to their member. The panels and inverters are manufactured by Ten K Solar and come with a 25 year warranty. Solar gardens are also manufactured by Ten K Solar with a proprietary reflective system. The low voltage systems are safer than those manufactured by other solar companies. US government tax rebates are available for the solar arrays.

Today’s Power

Today, innovations is often a gimmick to introduce consumers to the same old product in a shiny new package. Today’s Power, Inc. (TPI) is owned by electric cooperatives and serves electric cooperatives and their members and as such, recognized that standard solar products are of little value to electric cooperatives in fulfilling their mission. TPI developed a product offering in a manner that helps cooperatives serve load and reduce costs instead of simply adding costs onto the cooperative’s existing cost of service. Better service and lower costs results in happier members.

TPI has partnered with Ten K Solar to offer customized parallel wired solar panels that provide a higher reliability factor for cooperatives. Higher reliability results in better service. TPI also recognized that utility operations requires maintenance and TPI’s product has a much lower maintenance cost than a traditional tracking system because there are no moving parts. TPI also knows that each cooperative has a unique load to serve with unique operating characteristics and unique wholesale power bills. This is why TPI customized each utility - scale project to maximize savings from your wholesale power bill and optimize solar to serve your load. You do not get a “one size fits all” product like most solar vendors offer. TPI has also invested in developing transaction documents to allow for a “Service Agreement” style transaction or a “Lease Agreement” style transaction to best fit the needs of your cooperative. TPI has its own tax equity source and thus does not have to invite outside partners to execute a transaction. TPI is able to efficiently pass on the tax attributes to you, whether your cooperative is a tax-exempt cooperative or taxable cooperative, resulting in lower cost to you and your members.

Recognizing the evolution that is taking place in the electric industry, TPI has developed a “Ready to Assemble” Solar Kit that can be installed behind the meter at costs that are less than most retail rates. The savings flow upstream to your electric cooperative by lowering your power bill. By offering the Solar Kits to your members, electric cooperatives can actually lower the cost of electricity to your member and earn more to your bottom line than selling traditional kWh’s.