 Hello, I'm Bramble Jack Scorby, Commander of Navy Region Southeast, and with me is Master Chief Mack Ellis, the Command Master Chief for Navy Region Southeast. And we're here today to give you an update on the Resident Energy Conservation Program or RECP, as we get ready to start the next phase of the program. By now, you should already be aware of this program. Over the past few months, all of our residents in PPV housing have had a chance to learn about RECP through letters, resident utility meetings, newspaper articles, and from websites and Command Facebook pages. Some of you may have missed this information, while others may not clearly understand what the RECP is all about. And I want to emphasize that if you have any questions or concerns, please contact your housing office, and they will be happy to talk to you about how the program works. Good mates, we're ready. Beginning with the new year to start the next phase of RECP, which is a three-month-long mock billing phase. Over the past year, local utility companies have installed meters on family housing. These meters measure the amount of energy each house uses. This information will be translated into a statement, which will look a lot like a utility bill you will receive in your home in a civilian housing market. You will start receiving these statements in February, showing your energy usage for the previous month. It will show how your energy usage stacks up with those in similar housing units. Our housing office calls it like-type groups. Even though it may look like it, this is not a bill, at least not for the months of January, February and March. Once this mock billing phase ends and beginning in April, billing will go live. This means you will receive a document that looks like the mock bill, but it is an actual statement reflecting your utility usage. So what does all this mean to you? Well, if you fall within a range of energy usage, you're the baseline in your like-type group, it means nothing. You won't be charged for excess usage and you won't need to take any action other than continuing to monitor your use of energy. However, it'll be a different story for residents who exceed the normal usage ban. Once live billing begins, the statement received will actually be a bill they will need to pay. On the other hand, residents whose energy use is below the normal usage ban will be earning a dividend, their reward for being good stewards of our environment. Remember, January through March is the mock billing phase. Those statements won't have to be paid. And this is being done to give you a chance to adjust your energy usage habits before actual billing begins in April. Everyone will receive a statement. If your usage is high, you might want to consider setting aside a little extra money every month for utilities. Or even more importantly, adjust your use accordingly. It's a good opportunity for you to set some personal goals, which could possibly lead to earning a rebate every month on your utilities. The mock billing statement is not the only two at your disposal that will help in tracking energy use. Our PPV partners are working with the utility companies to develop websites that will allow residents to track their usage online, sometimes in real time. The details are still being worked out. And once we have that information, we will pass it along to you. Bringing the PPV partnerships' utility costs in line with reasonable usage for the local area is critical to the proper operation of the PPV project. When the PPV partnership is paying for utility costs that are out of line with the local area, the project can't generate funds that are necessary to recap the last project over time. Savings will be reinvested back into the PPV community where our service members and their families reside. The overall quality of your experience in PPV housing will be improved by these reinvestments through housing renovations, community-centered upgrades, and playground replacements. Now is the time to start looking closely at how you and your family are using energy in your home. Look for ways to continue saving energy in water, from shortening showers to washing clothes in cold water to replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. It's important that we all do our part to conserve energy. I know that our family housing residents want to do their part too. RACP starts us on the road to accountability and acts as an incentive to conservation. Thank you for your time, and if you have any questions, please contact your local PPV housing office and look for future communications about this all-important project. Thank you and have a great day.