Teresa Wilson, manager of Progress Energy’s Smith Energy Complex of Rockingham, was a speaker at the Woman’s Club of Hamlet’s recent meeting.
She emphasized her role in helping her company to deliver energy more efficiently. She said that coal-fired plants were being phased out and replaced with natural gas energy production, to meet increased needs (from 1645 kw in 1975 to 2592 kw today) in communities throughout the state and nation.
The Rockingham complex is a “base-load plant” which runs all day, and delivers energy to the six states which Progress Energy serves. The facility is located near Hamlet. Wilson listed residential programs which her company offers as customized home energy report; home energy improvement; neighborhood energy report; appliance recycling; and residential lighting programs. All of these, she said, could save energy costs, which are going up in the near future.
According to club member Robbyn Sumpter, present at the meeting along with 16 others, members were able to ask questions. The meeting was interactive.
“We had a lot of questions,” said Sumpter. “One thing Teresa asked us was to guess what in the residence uses the most energy, so that was kind of fun. We named all kinds of stuff but it was the AC and the kitchen appliances. She said the computer only uses about five percent of the household’s energy.”
To conserve energy use, Wilson suggested that water heaters be set for 120 degrees, that showers are better than baths, washing clothing in cold water, and checking the energy guide on all new appliances to make sure they are energy-efficient.
“We also talked about how many gallons a dishwasher uses,” said Sumpter. “I knew that, it was 15 gallons.”
Wilson has recently relocated to Rockingham from South Carolina, and is a graduate of Clemson University.
Historically, the Woman’s Club had a social/society component which no longer applies, and the work which they did was primarily with child welfare, schools and education, and women’s health.
“Our interests are much more widely dispersed nowadays, but those are still our main focus,” said Sumpter. “The Woman’s Club of Hamlet is 80 years old, and established the Hamlet Library in the thirties, as well as funding free lunches and milk for needy children during that same time period. We own a club house on Oak Street in Hamlet, and are a non-profit organization. When we were the only game in town for civic-minded women, our membership was greater. When other civic clubs abandoned their males-only membership requirements, our membership lessened, but we haven’t thus far seen any reason to abandon our own requirements.”
— Staff Writer Dawn M. Kurry can be reached at 910-997-3111, ext. 15, or by email at dkurry@civitasmedia.com.
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