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FEC Annual
Meeting June 10, 2008 The Annual Meeting for 2008 was held Tuesday, June 10 in the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center in Chillicothe. This year’s meeting marks the first time the event will be held on the second Tuesday in June. For over 20 years, the meeting was held on the first Tuesday in June. Click here to see all our 2008 photos! Nearly 1,000 people of all ages attended the 70th Annual Meeting of Farmers’ Electric Cooperative Tuesday night at the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center in Chillicothe. The member-owners of Farmers’ Electric re-elected three members to the cooperative’s board of directors, heard reports on the cooperative’s activities in the previous year, as well as information pertaining to the recently failed Norborne power plant project and several new programs that are being initiated locally, regionally and nationally.
Re-elected by acclamation to the cooperative’s board of directors were
LeRoy Kern, representing Caldwell and Clinton counties; Arzy (Butch) Bisbee, representing Ray County; and W.D. Richards III,
representing Chariton County. “I was extremely disappointed, and so was your board of directors, in Continuing a theme that Farmers’ Electric members have been hearing since the 2004 annual meeting of the cooperative, Cornett noted the board was doing everything it could to hold rate increases to a minimum, but rates would continue to increase. Farmers’ Electric CEO Mike Sanders focused his remarks on FEC’s new Operation Round Up program; Take Control & Save, a new energy efficiency program; and the “Our Energy, Our Future,” campaign which is currently underway nationwide.
“For example,” said Sanders. “If your bill was $71.50, and you participated in the Operation Round Up program, your bill would be ‘rounded up’ to $72. The 50-cents would be contributed to the AYBF.” The average cost per year per member would be about $6. The most a member could contribute would be $11.88 a year, while the least amount a member could contribute would be just 12-cents. “All of the round up funds would be transferred to our charity, the AYBF (Area Youth Benefit Fund) to help pay medical bills for children in the area,” said Sanders. Sanders said the new Take Control & Save program, which is being promoted in Missouri, southern Iowa and northeastern Oklahoma by FEC’s power provider Associated Electric Cooperative, is designed to save electric cooperative members money on their monthly bills, while at the same time delaying construction on new power plants for as long as possible. Take Control & Save promotes the use of Energy Star appliances, the latest in energy efficiency lighting and insulative materials to make your home or business more energy efficient. The program also focuses on changing an individual’s energy lifestyle through the wise use of electricity. Sanders explained to the members what they could do to save energy and the importance on not using appliances during the peak hours of the day on the hottest and coldest days of the year, because their use impacted their electric rate. As members entered the Gary Dickinson Performing Art Center they were
handed three letters by
At the conclusion of the annual meeting over 70 prizes were given away. Paul and Roberta Jones, Chillicothe, won the grand prize, which was their choice of a big screen television, a side-by-side refrigerator/freezer, a double oven or a front loading washer-dryer.
A total of 538 members registered at the meeting. Next year’s annual meeting will be held June 9. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. with the Annual Meeting being called to order promptly at 7 p.m. Notice of Regular Meeting of Members of Farmers’ Electric Cooperative A regular meeting of the members of the above Cooperative will be held in the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Theater, located at the Chillicothe High School, 2801 Hornet Drive, in Chillicothe, Missouri, at 7 o’clock p.m., Daylight Savings Time, on the 10th day of June, 2008, to take action upon the following matters: 1. The reports of Officers, Directors and Committees; 2. The election of three (3) Directors of the Cooperative; 3. The election of a Committee on Nominations (one member from each of the seven (7) Cooperative districts); 4. Any resolutions presented to the meeting by the Resolutions Committee appointed by the Board of Directors. In connection with the election of three (3) Directors scheduled for this meeting, the following members have been nominated for Director by the Committee on Nominations elected by the membership present at the 2007 Annual Meeting, pursuant to the Bylaws: from District No. 2 - LeRoy Kern, 5634 SW Rt. T, Polo, Missouri, 64671; from District 3 - Arzy Bisbee, 17839Hwy. A, Norborne, Missouri, 65261; from District No.7 - W.D. Richards, III, 24968 Hwy. 24, Keytesville, Missouri, 65261. No nominations were made by petition. Additional nominations for Directors may be made at the meeting, but any such nominees must be actual residents within the District for which a vacancy occurs. Nominees at this Annual Meeting must reside within the following Districts: District No. 2 - Caldwell and Clinton County, Missouri, District No. 3 - Ray County, Missouri, District No. 7 - Chariton County, Missouri. Said regular meeting of the members of the Cooperative has been called by a resolution duly adopted by the Board of Directors of the Cooperative at the regular meeting of the Board of Directors held on the 28thday of June, 2007.LeRoy Kern, Secretary Dated: May 12, 2007 Complete Annual Meeting Details (PDF) You Could Be The Lucky Grand Prize Winner! Enjoy These
Special Events! Kids Fun Zone
Rules!
Last year my message to you was “Be Wise...Economize.” It is still very important for us to “be wise in 2008.” All energy costs are up and it appears that energy prices will continue upward. Gasoline may hit $4 a gallon by mid-summer, which makes fuel companies billions of dollars in profits. Electricity is up at the cooperative, but profits are down. We dislike telling you rates have to increase, but we have no choice. Associated Electric Cooperative had to raise their rates to us and us to you. Even with the increased cost of electricity it is still a bargain compared with all other energy costs. We all need to become more efficient in how we manage our use of energy. It’s better for you and it’s better for your cooperative if you take advantage of the energy saving opportunities that are now available to you. Keep reading your Rural Missouri magazine each month for energy saving ideas and tips. The decision to abandon the Norborne power plant project was a surprise to us at FEC and the N.W. area, especially in light of the need for additional base load generation in the near future. The current trend in base load generation for the cooperatives is not positive. If these trends continue we will run out of power in the next decade. Come to your June 10 Annual Meeting to see when we expect this to happen.
On June 10, Farmers’ Electric Cooperative will have its 70th Annual Meeting at the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center, located with the Chillicothe High School. We will be reviewing the major issues your cooperative dealt with over the past year and discuss several new programs initiated by your cooperative - The Co-op Connections Card and Operation Round Up. We will also talk about issues that will impact your cooperative for the next several years - rates, energy efficiency, power supply and climate change legislation. These are important topics that we have been writing about in recent issues of the Rural Missouri magazine, and we will continue to inform you on the latest developments on these topics in future issues. We will also ask for your help in contacting your legislators as they consider bills on these issues. More details on this meeting can be found in other areas of this magazine, as well as a list of some of the gifts and prizes that will be given away. We hope that you can attend this 70th Annual Meeting and learn more about what is going on at your Cooperative. FEC’s
Annual Meeting Change of Date 2008 Committee on Nominations will
Meet Tuesday, April 8 A director will be elected from District 2, which consists of all or parts of the cooperative’s service territory lying within the counties of Caldwell and Clinton; a director will be elected from District 3,which consists of all or parts of the cooperative’s service territory lying within Ray County; and, a director will be elected from District 7,which consists of all or parts of the cooperative’s service territory lying within Chariton County. The 2008 Committee on Nominations includes:
In accordance with the rules and regulations set forth for your cooperative, it is necessary to publish the list of the Committee on Nominations so that the members of Farmers’ Electric Cooperative may contact them prior to the April 8,2008 meeting. A board member may also be nominated by petition if 15 or more members nominate an individual ,not less than 30 days prior to the Annual Meeting, to be held June 10,2008, in Chillicothe. Additional nominations may also be made from the floor at the Annual Meeting. No person shall be eligible to become or remain a director of the cooperative who: a) is not a member and bona fide resident consumer in the area served by the cooperative (i.e. such member must actually live in a residence being served by the cooperative), which the office of director exists; or b) is an employee, outside or independent contractor of the cooperative, or has within five (5) years preceding the date of election been an employee, outside or independent contractor of the cooperative; or c) is not at least eighteen (18) years of age; or d) is in any way interested in a competing enterprise or a business selling electric energy or supplies to the cooperative. The official Annual Meeting announcement will be published in the June 2008 edition of the Rural Missouri magazine. Registration for the Annual Meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the business meeting to open promptly at 7 p.m. |
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the decision to cancel the Norborne power plant project,” said FEC Board President Ron Cornett.
“There were a number of people in this area that worked very hard on that project and it was a power
plant that will be needed for its base load generating capacity in the near future.”
Sanders explained the new Operation Round Up
program is one in which members of the cooperative could round up their monthly bill and the
money earned from the program would be used to help pay medical bills for children in the cooperative’s
nine-county area.
cooperative employees. The letters were addressed Rep. Sam Graves, Sen. Kit Bond and Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Sanders explained to the members in attendance the letters were part of the “Our Energy, Our Future” campaign initiated by the National
Rural Electric Cooperative Association, in Washington, D.C. Sanders said the campaign was designed to make congressional members
aware of the expenses involved and what it was going to cost individuals and businesses if existing proposed
legislation is passed, while at the same time asking the members of Congress what they were
doing to fund research to bring about affordable energy to everyone. “We will take your signed letters to our
statewide organization in Jefferson City and they, in turn, will take these letters to the NRECA
in Washington, D.C.” Sanders said. “The people at our national organization will then hand deliver these letters to our senators and
congressman.” “If these pieces of legislation are passed through Congress during
this election year it will have a dramatic impact on everyone’s electric bill,” said Sanders.
Guest Speaker Don McQuitty, CEO of N.W. Electric Power Cooperative,
Cameron, focused his presentation on the Norborne Power Plant project and briefly touched on the “Our Energy, our Future,” campaign, too.
McQuitty took the members through a step-by-step process of why the decision was made not to build the plant. The two biggest concerns,
according to McQuitty, were the significant increases in the construction expense of the facility, from $800 million to $2 billion
dollars, and the potential for congressional legislation that would penalize utilities manufacturing electricity with coal.
FEC attorney Dana Macoubrie conducted the election of the three board
members as well as the election of the 2009 Committee on Nominations. Elected to the Committee on Nominations were Kenneth Lee, Dennis
Farmer, James Waters, April Williams, Charlotte Miller, Judy Holcer and Dennis Widhalm.
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New
Issues and Programs Top this Year’s Agenda