CONSUMER UPDATE

June 2006 Consumer Newsletter

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

• GEUS Board Names New General Manager
• Digital Video Recorder (DVR) In Stock
• High Definition TV
• Welcome Caprock Energy Customers
• GM Notes
• Self-Managed Metering Update
• Additional Channels & Rate Increase
• Local Channels on GEUS 34
• GEUS Board Members Past & Presents

GEUS Board Names New General Manager

The GEUS Board recently chose David McCalla to replace retiring General Manager Tom Darte. McCalla has been employed by GEUS since 1988, having held the position of Assistant General Manager since 1998.

McCalla received his BSEE from Texas Tech University in 1980 and becomes only the second General Manager since the autonomous GEUS Board was formed in 1989.

Digital Video Recorder (DVR) In Stock

We are very excited to announce we now have digital video recorders (DVRs) available.

High definition customers have enjoyed these recorders since GEUS launched that service in 2005. Now all GEUS digital customers have access to this state-of-the-art recorder. DVRs are quickly replacing VCRs as THE choice for recording television programs. No tapes to buy or to store.

Welcome to the 21st century as your favorite programs are stored in a computer hard drive contained in your digital receiver. Would you like your favorite show to record every time it comes on? It’s as easy to select as going to your GEUSdigital guide. Want to record two shows at the same time? Dual tuners allow you to do it. Would you like to pause your favorite show when the door bell rings? Just pause it and come back later. How much will it hold? It holds up to 90 hours of standard definition programming.

So what would this exciting piece of electronics cost/month? This DVR service is only $9.95/\month in addition to your regular digital package charges.

How do you get one of these DVRs? Just call 903-457-2800 and an appointment will be set to replace your current digital receiver with a DVR.

“The DVR service lets you maximize the packages you are paying for by allowing you to record your favorite shows and then watch them when you care to watch them”, said Jimmy Dickey, GEUS Consumer Services Manager.

High Definition

If you have never seen the quality of high definition TV, then you need to treat your eyes to the best thing since color TV.

GEUS has offered the HD service for over a year now with very good response. The demand has been so high that GEUS has had difficulty keeping the converter set top boxes in stock.

The HDTV’s are wider, giving the eye a more natural view. Not only are the colors more crisp, but the sound quality of HDTV is better. The HD converter set top box used is also a digital video recorder. This recorder will allow you to record your favorite show with a touch of the remote. This is not like trying to record through a VCR; an on-screen guide will assist you.

If you are interested in seeing how clear this new technology is, stop by our office at 6000 Joe Ramsey. We will also be at the Hunt County Fair from June 9th-17th. Come see what you are missing.

Welcome Caprock Energy Customers!

GEUS is in the process of acquiring a portion of Caprock Energy’s territory. The majority of this service area is west of Highway 34 on FM 1570. GEUS and Caprock Energy have both agreed to make the transfer and are awaiting approval from the Public Utility Commission. Approximately 100 Caprock customers will be involved in the transfer.

GM Notes

It is a privilege and honor to serve as the new General Manager of GEUS. Tom Darte, who retired in February, set a high standard of accomplishment during his 18 years of service and left GEUS in a very strong and stable condition. I appreciate Tom’s dedication to GEUS consumers during his tenure. Our challenge is to pick up where Tom left off and maintain and extend his legacy of service.

In working closely with Tom, I observed his zeal for and belief in the benefits of public power. Some of that zeal has hopefully rubbed off on me.

Public power has totally different objectives than those of investor-owned electric utilities. Instead of being managed by a Board of Directors focused on stock price, GEUS is managed by a Board of Trustees made up of a group of dedicated, citizen-volunteers who have your interests in mind. We never want to lose sight of the fact that we work for you, our consumer-owners. Your Board demands it! Our mission is to be responsive to you, our consumers, in providing high quality, reliable services that you want and need at affordable and competitive rates.

Senior staff at GEUS, during our first few meetings, identified improving consumer service throughout the organization as one of our foremost short-term objectives. Employees of GEUS get real satisfaction from providing you service, whether it be in restoring power after a storm, assisting consumers in signing up for new services, or repairing cable and Internet problems. We look at consumer service as neighbor helping neighbor. After all, we are your neighbors.

With summer temperatures around the corner, electric bills will soon be higher as the air conditioners come on. We are proud of the fact that our rates are significantly lower than most surrounding utilities – even in areas open to competition.

Let me mention a few programs that you may wish to take advantage of to help you better manage your account. The sign up period for our equal payment plan has just ended, but keep it in mind for this Fall. The equal payment plan allows you to levelize your electric bill throughout the year so that higher summer bills won’t shock your budget. That sign up period is September through April.

We also offer bank draft, which automatically pays your bill on the due date so that you don’t have to worry about driving in to pay your bill or worry about delays in the mail.

And, this summer we plan to launch a new program - self-managed metering. This service will allow a consumer to purchase electricity through an encoded swipe card. You will be able to buy however much electricity you want whenever you wish.

If you want to learn more about any of these optional programs, please drop by our offices or contact a consumer service representative at 903-457-2800.

For cable and Internet consumers, we will soon be launching new services which are described elsewhere in the newsletter. We also offer discounts for annual pay consumers and for multiple services.

For those of you in a position to help less fortunate consumers, please consider donating to Project Care. These funds, managed and distributed by the Salvation Army, are used to assist needy individuals in paying utility bills. There is a line item on your statement which allows you the option to donate funds for Project Care. Some GEUS consumers round their bill up to an even amount each month with the extra funds going to Project Care.

If you have any suggestions for ways that we can provide better service, please call, come by, or send an email. And, thank you very much for the opportunity to serve you!

Self-Managed Metering Update

GEUS customers will soon have the option of buying a little electricity at a time throughout the month as opposed to finding out how much they have consumed and then paying for it all at one time. Self-managed metering will allow customers to pre-pay for electricity as they have money, thus eliminating potential late and disconnection fees. Since these meters will not need to be read on a monthly basis, some customers may choose this service to avoid GEUS meter readers from having to enter their yard.

Additional Channels and Rate Increase

Beginning June 1st, GEUS cable customers will be getting additional channels and increased picture quality in many of the channels already being received. At that same time, GEUS is being forced to increase its cable TV packages due to increased programming cost from the networks and government-mandated equipment upgrades.

The Economy package will increase by $1 each month and Economy Plus and Digital customers will see an increase of $2 and $3 respectively. “The major off-air networks have set a bad precedent by beginning, for the first time, to charge cable and satellite operators across the nation to retransmit their signal”, said David McCalla, GEUS General Manager. “This could have a dramatic impact on the cost of cable TV and satellite service across America,” he added.

McCalla was referring to the fact that some of the major off-air networks that are tunable through an antenna, are now charging to have their signal retransmitted on cable and satellite systems. Many feel that Americans should never be charged for programming coming through these government-owned frequencies even if it is a retransmission.

GEUS has seen, and will continue to see, added equipment cost from the federal government mandating the move from analog signals to an all digital format in 2009. At that time, all TVs in America will require a digital receiver. It is expected that the government will set aside money to pay for some converters for analog television sets.

GEUS Internet was not affected and no rate change will be necessary.

GEUS customers will see the following new networks and upgrades to their lineup:

Economy Tier - City of Greenville Channel w/ audio from National Public Radio

Economy Plus Tier - Texas Cable News(TXCN) and ESPN Classic America One programming is also being added to GEUS 34 when local shows such as Greenville Crime Time and Let’s Get Cookin’ aren’t being aired. Stay tuned to GEUS 34 for more local programs to begin airing very soon.

Digital Tier - Customers in this tier will soon find that the majority of the channels from the lower tiers are being simulcast in a digital format with improved picture quality. This is a first step in the government-mandated move to have all programming broadcast digitally by 2009 to free up the government-owned analog frequencies. Weather channels KXAS 5.2 and WFAA 8.2 are being added in addition to the regrouping of many of the channels to group them in themes such as children or sports programming.

Digital Video Recorder (DVR) Service - Many have asked for this and it is now available. The monthly cost is only $9.95/month. See details in another article of this newsletter.

Premium Channels - HBO is the only premium package seeing a price change as it will increase by $1/month. Ten new channels will be added to the premium packages including HBO HD East, The Movie Channel HD East, Cinemax HD East, Showtime Next East, Showtime Family East, Showtime Women East, Showtime HD East, Starz Cinema East, Starz Kids & Family East and Starz Comedy East.

High Definition (HD) - The above mentioned premium channels designated as HD will now be available if the HD consumer is also subscribed to that premium package. GEUS also has a verbal agreement with CBS HD for its carriage and expects CBS HD to air very soon.

Diversion Greenville - This Spanish tier package will be seeing a slight increase of $.20 bringing it to $5.95/month.

Local Channels on GEUS 34

Local channels give us a chance to put the ‘home town touch’ to our Cable. We never lose sight of the fact that we are all about community.... OUR community. With this in mind, we are adding more local shows hosted by local people, someone you know and will recognize as they bring you something of interest that’s right here in Greenville.

Do you like to cook? Watch James Horan on Let’s Get Cookin’. New recipes, new ideas and new guests bring a growing audience to this favored program. Would you like to be in the audience for the filming? There’s limited seating so call and reserve your seat for a future production.... maybe you can even sample some of the food!

Hear the rest of the story.... learn how our local law enforcement serves our community. Join Joe Knight for ‘Greenville Crime Time’. Joe gives us a look at life behind the badge by interviewing a cast of folks such as (but not limited to) officers from different agencies, legal representatives, elected county officials and judges. Officer Chris McCaslin brings us a ‘crime of the week’ to help Crime Stoppers solve. The Campus Crime Stoppers reenact campus calamaties to help keep their school safe. No doubt, you will be enlightened and maybe even surprised at what you will learn. Help them keep us safe and make our community a better place.

More?

Local programs will soon be listed on the program guide on channel 19. Find out when these shows are airing. Family programming from America One will fill the time the locals are not on. New shows are being added to the line-up. Whatever comes to GEUS 34, if you can’t wait to see what’s next, there’s a clue in this newsletter - see if you can
figure it out. Maybe you will get to be a guest on the show.

Thank you to the sponsors of Let’s Get Cookin’ and Greenville Crime Time: A&B Tire, Active Wealth Mgt., Circle Full Service Car Wash, Glenn’s Photography, Office Solutions, Service 1st Credit Union,Texas Gold Connection, and Travel Dreams.

GEUS Board Members - Past & Present

Present Board Members

• Sue Ann Harting - Chairman
• Randy Hall - Vice Chairman
• Don Bolin - Secretary
• James W. Adams
• Howard Winans

Past Chairmen

More Variety & More Video on GEUS Cable TV