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FEC Annual
Meeting Draws Big Crowd
CAPTION: Members of Farmers' Electric Cooperative register just prior to the cooperative's 73rd annual meeting Tuesday evening, June 7, 2011, at Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center. Upon registering, members were given a bucket of light bulbs, a barbecue spatula and the opportunity to have their names entered for many prizes that would be given away later that evening in a drawing. Approximately 700 people attended the 73rd Annual Meeting of Farmers' Electric Cooperative Tuesday evening at Gary Dickinson Performing Art Center in Chillicothe. The member-owners of the cooperative re-elected three directors to serve three-year terms. Re-elected to FEC's seven-person board of directors were LeRoy Kern, Caldwell and Clinton counties; Arzy Bisbee, Jr., Ray County; and W.D. Richards III, Chariton County. Board President Ron Cornett opened the meeting thanking the members for taking their time to attend the annual business meeting of the cooperative. He then took the members on a trip back in time, offering examples of prices from 100 years ago. "For example," said Cornett, "for seven cents you could go to a movie. A postage stamp cost two cents and gasoline was seven cents a gallon, but you could only purchase your gas at a drug store." A modest new house cost around $1,500, continued Cornett, with an expensive house costing around $5,000. The average wage was only 22 cents an hour and only six percent of all Americans graduated from high school. "In the 1930's," Cornett pointed out, "electricity cost 20-cents a kilowatt hour, and today the average cost of electricity in this area is around nine-cents a kilowatt hour." Cornett told the member-owners in attendance that FEC's board of directors will be facing a number of tough decisions over the next few years, including that of new base load generation. "Whether it is coal, gas, hydro, wind or nuclear, or a combination of these systems, we have to increase generation to meet the needs of the members of this cooperative," Cornett said. Cornett cited problems associated with each type of generation system. Cornett said coal was safe and economical, but not permitable. Gas was expensive to build and the constant fluctuations in gas prices made gas a financially unfeasible option. Conservationists make hydropower unpermitable, and it is also very expensive to build. While wind is a good system, it is very expensive to build and unreliable in that it only generates efficiently about 25 to 30 percent of the time. "Probably for our future needs, nuclear power is where it is going to be and it is probably what is going to be built," said Cornett. "Here at Farmers', we continue to work hard to be cost efficient and to keep the lights on," Cornett concluded. "We will continue to do our best to provide you with quality service at a reasonable price."
"The good news," Sanders said, "is for the second straight year, I don't have to stand here and explain a rate increase to you. However, it does look like we will have an increase in 2012." Sanders said it would be later this year before the rate increase to the cooperative would be known and then the cooperative would determine how much of that increase would be passed on to the members. "There are a couple of reasons for this increase," Sanders explained. "One, a new natural gas plant is coming on line and, two, a new rail contract for coal is resulting in higher delivery costs." Sanders emphasized to the members the cooperative would do what it could to control costs, but the cooperative was required to maintain certain financial levels, in regard to its lenders, and the need to properly maintain the distribution system to continue to provide reliable power. Sanders also covered other topics, including FEC's Operation Round Up program, which benefits the cooperative's Area Youth Benefit Fund charity, as well as home energy audits, rebates for energy efficient appliances and the need to cut usage from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. during the hottest days of the summer. Sanders concluded his remarks, referring to the possibility of flooding along the Missouri River in the southern part of FEC's distribution area. "The Corps of Engineers expects parts of Missouri to be flooded, but they aren't sure how much due to possible future rainfall amounts," said Sanders. "We will do all we can to keep the power on in the affected areas." Dana Macoubrie, the cooperative attorney, conducted the election of the board of directors, as well as the election of the 2012 Committee on Nominations. Elected to the Committee on Nominations were Charlotte Miller, Kay Saale, Judith Waters, Dennis Farmers, Dennis Widhalm, Kenneth Lee and Michael VanDyke.
Fifty-two prizes were given away at the conclusion of the business meeting. The Grand Prize winner was Jack L. Wood, Chillicothe. Wood has the option of selecting a large screen television, refrigerator, double over or a washer and dryer. Youth winners were also drawn for electric scooters. They were Jaiden Rodenberg, Wheeling, and Wesley Miller, Norborne.
Related News... FEC's Annual Meeting Held on June 7 Click here for detailed flyer!
The 73rd Annual Meeting of Farmers' Electric Cooperative will be held Tuesday, June 7, at the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center in Chillicothe. Registration for the meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Board President Ron Cornett, Pattonsburg, will call the meeting to order at 7o'clock. During the course of the business meeting, three directors will be elected. Board members to be elected are from District No. 2, Caldwell and Clinton counties; District No.3, Ray County; and District No. 7, Chariton County. The business meeting, which normally lasts about 75 minutes, will include presentations by Cornett, Mike Sanders, FEC CEO, and FEC attorney Dana Macoubrie. Registration for the Annual Meeting will again be held on the west side of the Performing Arts Center. We hope to see you June 7. Future Energy Needs Must be Addressed Now It is now 2011 and despite all that has gone bad in the world today, the rural electric business is doing well. We realize electric rates will increase in the future as a result of a variety of environmental regulations and the increased costs associated with our baseload generation. We are facing the issue of having enough baseload generation in the future. The Board and management of Farmers' Electric, as well as most of the other electric cooperatives in Missouri, support a Missouri Senate bill, which will help preserve the option for a second nuclear unit at Ameren's existing Callaway Plant. This plant would meet our future energy needs for many years. At our Annual Meeting, we will talk about these issues that will impact your cooperative for the next several years - rates, energy efficiency, and future power supply. These are important topics that we have been writing about in recent issues of Rural Missouri, and we will continue to inform you on the latest developments on these topics in future issues. The people that set up and started the Rural Electric Administration are our heroes. They started something that has taken rural America to new heights, not knowing how important low-cost reliable energy would be. They started the rural electric program and we must continue to provide reliable, reasonably priced electricity now and into the future. Electricity is a bargain compared to other energy sources. Please come to our annual meeting June 7 to see what we have done in 2010 and what's new for 2011 and beyond. Electricity... affordable energy, it's a bargain.
2011 Committee on Nominations Meet Tuesday, April 12 The 2011 Committee on Nominations will meet Tuesday, April 12, at 11 a.m. at the Farmers' Electric Cooperative office in Chillicothe to propose three candidates for three director positions. The election for the three director positions will be held at the June 7 Annual Meeting of the cooperative. Directors 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; District 3, which consists of all or parts of the cooperative's service territory lying within Ray County; District 7, which consists of all or parts of the cooperative's service territory in Chariton County. The 2011 Committee on Nominations includes: Kenneth Lee, 12030 Ridge Avenue, Winston; Dennis Farmer, 5208 SE Wildlife Road, Cowgill; Judith L. Waters, 17252 Highway JJ, Norborne; Charlotte F. Miller, 14255 CR 291, Hale; Judy Holcer, 31619 Highway W, Meadville; Kay Saale, 6995 Hwy. T, Chillicothe; and Dennis Widhalm, Route 1, Box 144, Brunswick. 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 12, 2011 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 7, 2011, 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 2011 edition of the Rural Missouri magazine. The June 7 annual meeting will be held at the Gary Dickinson Performing Arts Center in Chillicothe. Registration will begin at 5:30 p.m. with the business meeting to open promptly at 7 p.m. The business meeting will usually last about 75-90 minutes. A number of prizes are also given away at the conclusion of the business meeting. |
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FEC CEO Mike Sanders touched on several topics in his
presentation to the membership. (C-T Photo / Catherine Stortz Ripley)
