Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the membership of Jackson County Rural Electric Membership Corporation
July 18, 2024
The 86th Annual Meeting of the Jackson County Rural Electric Membership Corporation was held at the Jackson County Fairgrounds, State Road 250 East in Brownstown, Indiana, on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
The members’ portion of the Annual Meeting was held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Jackson County Fairgrounds, which included a drive-thru meeting where members could vote for the open director positions and obtain ice cream and other gifts.
The business meeting portion of the Annual Meeting and the election of directors were held at the Jackson County Fairgrounds, beginning at 7:30 p.m., and were open to the members. Director Walter Hunter gave the invocation.
President John Trinkle called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Jerry Kelley, secretary/treasurer, provided the Proof of Quorum. Kelley reported that 1,396 members had registered by mail, electronically, or personal registration at the drive-thru meeting. This figure substantially exceeded the required quorum.
Kelley stated that written notice of the Annual Meeting had been mailed to each member of the cooperative on June 28, 2024, as required by the Bylaws. The secretary/treasurer filed a “Certificate of Mailing of Notice of Annual Meeting to Members” and attached it to the meeting minutes as Exhibit “A.” Trinkle declared a quorum present and that notice had been properly issued and officially opened the meeting.
Kelley presented a summary of the minutes of the Annual Meeting of July 20, 2023, as contained in the materials mailed to the members on June 28, 2024. Trinkle asked for a motion approving the minutes as distributed by publication. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the minutes of the 2023 Annual Meeting were approved as published. Trinkle directed the secretary to attach a copy of the minutes of the 2023 Annual Meeting to the minutes of this meeting as Exhibit “B”.
The secretary/treasurer presented the Treasurer’s Report for the year ending December 31, 2023. Kelley stated that this Financial Report was mailed to the members on June 28, 2024. As there were no questions or comments from the members, upon motion duly made, seconded, and passed, the detailed reading of the 2023 Financial Report was waived, and the report was approved as published.
Trinkle then introduced the directors serving current terms: John Hackman (District 1), Walter Hunter (District 2), John Trinkle (District 3), Paul Elliott (District 4), Jerry Kelley (District 5), Mark Trisler (District 6, who was absent for medical reasons), Curt Wischmeier (District 7), David Hall (District 8), and John Miller (District 9). The Attorney for the Cooperative, Bill Braman of Seymour, Indiana, was also introduced.
CEO Mark McKinney then presented his annual report. McKinney first reported as to the cooperative’s electric division. In April 2023, the cooperative adjusted its retail rates to align with the wholesale power costs from Hoosier Energy. In 2023, the cooperative’s costs averaged $90.84/megawatt hour. In 2024, costs have held relatively steady, averaging $90.94/megawatt hour. Based on a recent meeting at Hoosier Energy, it is expected that wholesale power costs should remain stable; however, given the uncertainty of the global environment, nothing is guaranteed. In addition to the new wholesale power rates, McKinney noted that a monthly charge is incurred for $578 million in unrecovered plant investments at Hoosier Energy’s coal-fired generation plant, Merom Station. Hoosier Energy’s 18-member cooperatives are required to cover these costs, and the cooperative’s portion of these costs will be $2.36 million per year through 2038. To recover this monthly fixed charge, the cooperative added a charge to members’ electric bills called the Merom Tracker. Ultimately, the closing of the Merom Station should result in more stable wholesale power costs, especially considering the new EPA rules on coal-fired generation that were recently issued. Otherwise, some of the inflationary pressures and supply chain challenges the cooperative has faced over the last few years seem to be easing. While material and vehicle costs have not decreased, otherwise prices are stable, and lead times have improved compared to a year ago. The cooperative’s primary challenge remains with bucket trucks and digger trucks. These trucks are used every day and, after 10 years of service, they need to be replaced. The estimated cost of these trucks is $350,000 to $450,000 per truck. The cooperative ordered a digger truck in 2021 and expects to receive it early in 2025. Two bucket trucks were ordered in 2022, and the smaller truck is scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2024, with the larger truck being delivered in mid-2025. In the meantime, the cooperative has been able to keep the older bucket trucks and digger trucks on the road. As for reliability, in 2023, the cooperative spent $5.3 million on improvements, including replacing almost 1,000 poles, and $3.5 million on right-of-way maintenance. The cost of the cooperative’s right-of-way program has increased to $4,750 per mile from $2,650 per mile pre-COVID. With nearly 3,000 miles of power lines and required trimmings over a four-year period, this is a major operation undertaken by the cooperative’s employees; however, this proper maintenance directly minimizes outages and improves the reliability of the members’ electric services. With respect to the cooperative’s fiber division, the fiber network now reaches 95% of the cooperative’s members. The cooperative has installed 2,200 miles of fiber-optic cable and serves nearly 13,000 broadband accounts. The cooperative also now offers telephone service and currently has over 400 telephone service subscribers. The cooperative’s broadband services use the most future-proof technology available today and include no hidden fees, router rentals, managed Wi-Fi fees, support fees, or member contracts. In addition, fees have not changed since the cooperative started offering broadband services six years ago. Final construction of the fiber-optic mainline will begin in Jennings County in August 2024, enabling the cooperative’s remaining members to connect to the fiber-optic high-speed network. Since 2017, the cooperative has invested $130 million in its broadband network, and no electric revenue has been used to fund this undertaking. The broadband project has been funded with loans, grants, and revenues collected to date. This first-class fiber-optic broadband network underscores the cooperative’s commitment to its members. Next, McKinney noted the cooperative has created a new subsidiary, Jackson Solutions LLC, to offer tailored products to its members. Jackson Solutions LLC now offers a generator transfer switch and a residential monitoring system. The GenerLink generator transfer switch simplifies connecting a portable generator safely behind the electric meter. The Honeywell monitoring systems include a comprehensive home security and monitoring system and a system for specialized medical alert monitoring. McKinney invited the members to call the office or visit the website for more information on these products. Finally, McKinney noted that the cooperative is guided by a dedicated board of directors and a committed workforce. Everything the cooperative does focuses on its mission statement, “to deliver the advantages of electricity and essential services to our members reliably, economically, and responsibly.”
A video produced by Hoosier Energy was then shown to the members attending the meeting.
Trinkle then proceeded to give his annual report to the membership. Trinkle stated that the cooperative has done its best to keep prices down and reliability stable during this period of many changes. In the 1990s, the cooperative purchased its power from Duke Energy. The cooperative’s board subsequently decided to purchase its own electric power, but needed to join Hoosier Energy in order to do so. The cooperative joined Hoosier Energy in 2003, which has been a very good partnership. However, Hoosier Energy has also experienced its share of change in the last few years. Two coal-fired power plants owned by Hoosier Energy have been closed, as it is now cheaper to buy electric power from other sources, particularly given the Federal government’s regulations pertaining to coal and its requirements of using alternative energy sources for which some of the technology does not even yet exist.
Another major change that has occurred over the past few years is the arrival of high-speed internet. The availability of high-speed internet for members is a service that is as essential now as was the availability of electricity to members in the 1940s. When the cooperative decided to offer high-speed internet to its members, it searched for a partner to assist it in providing high-speed internet, but ultimately could not find a partner that would be able to provide these services any better than the cooperative could do itself. Trinkle stated that the cooperative is in good shape and can handle the changes that are occurring and that will be coming in the future. The cooperative is financially sound and has the people with the knowledge to offer services to members reliably and efficiently. And Trinkle believes that the cooperative is getting better and is in a position to meet the changes that are happening so as to produce positive results for the members in response to those changes. Trinkle then announced that he would step down as board chairman following the meeting. Trinkle stated that he has enjoyed serving as board chairman over the past several years.
Trinkle then reviewed the capital credit distributions that have been made to members since 2014. All capital credits from 1949 to 1992 have been retired. Over $26,160,834 of capital credits have been distributed during this period. This year’s capital credit distribution, scheduled for November, of $3,349,920.13 will be for patronage accumulated in 1993. Those checks will be mailed in November. Also, Trinkle announced a special capital credits retirement of 10% of the capital credits for patronage accumulated in 2023, as a special retirement. This special retirement is in the total amount of $932,834.82 and will be distributed in over 19,500 checks to be mailed in November.
Trinkle then announced that Jerry Kelley is retiring from the board after 42 years of service. District 5 was represented initially by Hugh Richey, who retired from the board in 1982. Kelley was elected to the board in 1982 and is only the second representative from District 5 who has served on the board. Kelley was elected secretary/treasurer of the board in 1986 and has served in that capacity ever since. Trinkle thanked Kelley for his years of service to the cooperative and presented Kelley with a mounted electric meter lamp in recognition of his years of service.
Trinkle then conducted the election of directors and announced that the nominating committees appointed by the board of directors were: District 2 — Jay Fox, Brandon O’Brien, and Mark Miller; District 5 — Daniel Robbins, Shannon D. Allen, and Rodney Craig; and District 8 — Casey Ritz, Steven McCory, and Jason Fee.
Trinkle announced that these committees had nominated the following candidates: District 2 — Walter Hunter (unopposed); District 5 — Ryan Fleenor and John Broadus; and District 8 — David Hall and Brad Hoene. The reports of the nominating committees are attached as Exhibit “C” to the minutes of this meeting. No nominations by petition were filed. Notice of these nominations was published in the mailing to members on June 28, 2024. Trinkle thanked the nominating committees for their efforts.
The members of the election and credentials committee appointed by the board of directors were introduced. These members were Scottie Martin, Ben Thompson, Jane Martin, Jeffrey Anderson, and Cody Wolka. This committee supervises the election of directors during the Annual Meeting. Trinkle expressed his appreciation to the committee for these efforts.
The election and credentials committee then collected the ballots submitted by mail, electronically, and from members present at the drive-thru meeting. Trinkle then called upon Attorney Braman to report the election results of the directors. He announced that, out of 1,322 ballots cast, Walter Hunter of District 2, Ryan Fleenor of District 5, and David Hall of District 8 had been elected as directors. The election report is attached to the minutes of this meeting as Exhibit “D.”
Trinkle then asked if there was any further business to be placed before the membership. As no further business was presented, a motion for adjournment was made, seconded, and approved by voice vote.
