Midwest Electric holds annual meeting
ST. MARYS — More than 500 Midwest Electric members and guests attended the 85th Annual Meeting on June 4 at St. Marys Memorial High School. Director elections were held in May by mail and online, with results announced at the meeting. Incumbents Jim Wiechart (Mercer/darke), Kathy Brake (Van Wert), and Steve Bauer (Auglaize/shelby) were reelected. Members also approved a change to the cooperative’s Code of Regulations, updating director qualifications pertaining to conflicts of interest.
St. Henry native Austin Watercutter also received a $1,000 scholarship, which was drawn at random from those in attendance. He will be attending Bowling Green State University.
Midwest Electric CEO Matt Berry expressed concern about government energy policies. He cited industry experts who say the move to wind and solar power are leading to electricity shortages and higher prices because renewables are intermittent and not capable of providing a consistent supply of power.
Berry said coal power in the U.S. accounts for less than 3% of global CO2 emissions.
America’s CO2 reductions are having no benefit, but come at great cost, he noted. Berry added that coal and nuclear are exponentially more efficient than renewables when it comes to land use.
He also addressed a record high score — 92 — that Midwest Electric earned this year on the
American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), “placing us in the top 10% of America’s 900 electric cooperatives.”
Berry recognized employees for their talent and dedication. He also pointed to other features that helped drive the high score: community involvement, patronage cash back, billing and payments technology, high power reliability, member service programs like rebates and energy audits, and stable electric rates, with the cooperative’s last rate increase being 12 years ago.
Berry said thanks to employees’ dedication, along with the cooperative’s commitment to training and development, Midwest Electric has not struggled with many of the workforce issues that other companies have dealt with in recent years.
He said in 2021 the average Midwest Electric member had power available 99.98 percent of the time thanks to an average $3 million each year invested in distribution system upgrades and maintenance.
On another subject, with homeowners across Ohio being duped by unscrupulous solar dealers, Berry encouraged members to contact the cooperative first before signing anything with a solar dealer.
Board President Larry Vandemark said the co-op remains financially sound with an equity level of 49%, which is in the standard and healthy range for electric distribution cooperatives. “Having an equity level at our range helps us to minimize our cost of capital while still having flexibility to invest in our electric system and still return patronage cash back to you over time.”
Vandemark said total revenue rose slightly in 2021, with increasing kilowatt-hour sales, to $32.5 million, and the cooperative’s total assets stand at $71 million.
Vandemark thanked the 700 members who belong to Co-op Owners for Political Action, the grassroots legislative action group for America’s electric cooperatives.
Tom Alban, vice president of power generation for Buckeye Power, discussed how unifying our power supply needs in 1965 under Buckeye Power has allowed Ohio’s electric coops to own and operate our own power generation resources.
These portfolio moves have allowed Buckeye Power to provide competitive and stable whole power costs to the nearly 1 million Ohioans that depend on their electric cooperative. Alban said Ohio’s electric cooperatives are committed to a future that includes coal power, for the sake of power availability and affordability.
“We cannot commit to a carbon reduction goal until there is a technological path that allows us to understand when and at what cost those goals are achievable,” Alban said. “And Buckeye Power will advocate for policies that support the need for baseload generation that is clean and reliable as well as technically feasible.”