Intercounty members re-elected three incumbents, passed a bylaw amendment and heard there will be no rate increase in 2014 at Friday’s 78th annual membership meeting at Licking.
IECA member owners re-elected all three incumbents for an additional term to the Intercounty board: Dennis S. Baird of Salem, North District; Tom Fleener of Salem, Central District; and Ted E. Sheppard of Cabool, South District. The proposed bylaw amendment –– Section 2-4 of Article I: Membership –– as passed to allow the cooperative to broaden the definition of joint membership and eliminate the need for membership certificates.
In the board president’s report, Jim White recognized the members for their support of the co-op. He spoke about the two most important aspects of electricity to members: reliability and rates. He assured the membership that the board and staff at IECA take both seriously and announced that as the condition of the cooperative continues to strengthen, there would be no rate increase in 2014. He closed by encouraging the members to get involved in and learn more about their cooperative.
General Manager Aaron Bradshaw acknowledged the presence of employees from Associated Electric Cooperative, Sho-Me Power and the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, who provide training and act as legislative “watchdog.” Bradshaw shared that IECA faced some challenges over the past year, including the extreme cold and unusually long winter. “This year, as everyone struggled to stay warm, Intercounty hit the highest usage peak ever,” Bradshaw said. “However, as a testament to the foresight and planning of your cooperative’s staff, we experienced no major ill effects as a result of the bitter cold and heavy use of electricity.
“IECA’s system was durable enough to handle the load, the rights-of-way were kept up enough to not be an issue and the new Yancy Mill substation worked to balance load and help reliability.”
Bradshaw spoke about how safety continues to be a main focus for the cooperative and its employees. Intercounty, for its efforts in safety over the past three years, received the Safety Achievement Award from the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.
Lastly, Bradshaw encouraged everyone to visit www.action.coop to make their voices heard.
“The EPA is waging a war on coal,” he said. “They intend that we move to other, more expensive technologies. In some instances, they have required that generation firms plan to use technologies that don’t exist at this time.”
Missouri is ranked sixth in the nation for lowest electric rates. This helps bring businesses and jobs to our hometowns; however, if Missouri has to move away from coal, changing to a technology that isn’t even commercially viable yet, the affordable and reliable power we take for granted will be greatly impacted, Bradshaw said.
This year’s guest speaker, Jim McCarty, editor of Rural Missouri magazine and writer of several books on cooperative history, discussed the value of cooperative membership and shared several ways members could get involved to help keep their cooperative strong. He talked about the American dream and how important reliable and affordable power is for rural Americans still today.
“Today, politics plays a big role in the price we pay for electricity,” he said. “We will not return to the days when rural Americans didn’t have power.”
He closed by encouraging everyone to step up to the plate like rural American pioneers did years ago and send a message to the EPA to not raise rates.
Due to the nature of cooperatives, the day was more than just a business meeting. Families gathered for a picnic atmosphere complete with great barbecue, a craft fair and the live sounds of a talented and high energy family bluegrass music group, The Bakers, a family from Birch Tree.
At the health tents, the Texas County Memorial Hospital staff was on hand to provide a service to the membership at a reduced price. Along with them were several other healthcare booths to provide: free eye screens, Saving Sight (a Lions International Partner); hearing tests, Roby Lions Club; and blood pressure tests, Texas County Health Department. Other services and information were provided by Ozark and Tri-County Independent Living, PRIMARIS, AirMedCare Network, Licking area Three Rivers Hospice and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Each registered member received a gift bag and was eligible to win one of the many prizes given away. Rambo Church of Beulah claimed the grand prize, a $600 electric credit. Winners of the $100 electric credits were: Jamie Wilson, Rolla; Charles Alton, Summersville; Carl and Sue Vest, Salem; and Rodney Crewse, Cabool.
The bicycle winners were: Garrett Crocker, Andrew Maek (Voyels), Sarah Wilson and Aleksey Cook. The coloring contest winners were Makenna Skidmore and Aaron McCarthy.