Annual Meeting

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NEW DIRECTORS ANNOUNCED AT THE ENERGY COOPERATIVE’S ANNUAL MEETING

Newark, Ohio, May 18, 2010 –Three Directors were elected by mail ballot to the Board and announced May 18th at the 74th Annual Meeting of Members of Licking Rural Electrification, Inc., doing business as The Energy Cooperative, held at C-TEC in Newark, OH.

Elected to the Board of Directors were incumbent Jack Schmidt, Granville, OH; Dustin Buckingham, Howard, OH; and Daniel Dupps, Heath, OH. Buckingham replaces John Horn who was defeated. Dupps replaces Richard Gummer who resigned.

Nelson Smith, Chairman of the Board, opened with the Chairman’s Report. He stated management and the Board have made positive progress over the past year and management has accomplished nearly all the goals set for them by the Board. He mentioned awards received by the cooperative in 2009 and announced that the cooperative will again sponsor Not Just for Kids Day, a fun and educational event for members, on June 13.

In his Manager’s Report, David Potter, President & CEO, answered the most commonly asked questions that members submitted with their ballots. He explained the rising cost of electric rates due to unfunded environmental mandates to clean pollutants from plant emissions. He also explained the pass-through costs from Buckeye Power, the cooperative’s generation and transmission provider, and the losses taken by Buckeye Power in the wholesale power market, due to the tough economy in 2009. Potter also noted that in order to keep cooperative members’ rates as low as possible the cooperative reduced expenses by $500,000 and reduced the capital budget by 5 percent.

Potter explained the cooperative’s Patronage Capital situation, which according to the Code of Regulations, states that the paying out of capital must not harm the financial condition of the cooperative. Currently the cooperative has a negative equity of 10 percent, therefore it cannot retire Patronage Capital. However, the cooperative does continue to allocate capital each year to its members and pay Patronage Capital to estates monthly.

Potter responded to a third question regarding the cooperative’s efforts towards renewable resources and energy conservation. He described the renewable assets held by The Energy Cooperative which include wind, hydro and bio-mass. The cooperative offers the CFL light bulb exchange program, EnviroWatts and Net-Metering for members who install wind or solar generation at their home.

Guest Speaker, Pat O’Loughlin, COO, VP, Engineering and Power Supply with Buckeye Power, said Buckeye Power and Ohio’s cooperatives are not taking for granted the need to supply reliable and economical electricity now and in the future. Buckeye Power has added generating plants and economical renewable wind, solar and bio-mass energy sources along with investing in state-of-the-art environmental controls. O’Loughlin said The Energy Cooperative’s cost to supply electricity has increased as a result of the investments made to meet future electric needs. O’Loughlin also said that proposed government policies will have a tremendous impact on all electric utilities’ ability to meet consumer’s energy needs in an affordable way. Cooperative members can help, O’Loughlin said, by staying informed and expressing their concerns to their Congressional representatives.

Also speaking were Board Secretary/Treasurer, John Klauder, who gave the Treasurer’s Report; Jay Barker, Chairman of the Operation Round Up Foundation, who reported on Operation Round Up and Board Director, Jack Schmidt, to promote COPA (Co-op Owners for Political Action.)

Margy Klein, Executive Assistant, introduced the winners of the scholarship awards. Entertainment was provided by Bryan Lewis and his band.

Pictured from left to right, David Potter, President & CEO; Daniel Dupps, Director-District 4;
Dustin Buckingham, Director-District 7; Jack Schmidt, Director-District 3

2009 Annual Report (PDF)