October is National Cooperative Month, a time to celebrate what makes electric cooperatives different. We are owned by those we serve. That means our customers are members of our cooperative, and we want to understand what matters to you and respond to your needs.

Earlier this year, we conducted a member satisfaction survey, and I want to share some of what we heard.

We’re pleased that overall satisfaction with Boone Power increased from 69% in 2024 to 72% this year. The percentage of members who said we are meeting their expectations also increased, from 71% to 74%. Our reliability remains one of our greatest strengths, with 87% of members satisfied with the reliability of their electric service and 82% satisfied with our response to outages.

Turning feedback into action

We also learned that you want greater transparency about rates, growth, and infrastructure investments, and more tools to help manage your energy costs.

I hope you’ve been able to read my columns over the past few months, where I’ve addressed some of these topics of interest. If you missed any, you can find them easily from boonepower.com/news.  

Many of the things we are doing today align directly with what we heard through the survey. We launched our optional time-of-use rate pilot program this summer to give members another way to manage their energy costs, and we introduced prepaid billing last month as an option for members who want more control over when and how they pay for electricity. 

Keeping costs in focus

Another aspect that sets us apart as a cooperative is that we operate as a not-for-profit. So, when our wholesale power costs go down, we pass those reductions onto you, our members. We’re proud to have been able to do that not once, but twice, in 2026.

The first was in May, when the average General Service member using 1,200 kilowatt-hours per month saw a $3.49 decrease on their bill. Across Indiana, the average cost per kilowatt-hour was 18.2 cents at that time, with Boone Power’s average price per kilowatt-hour being 17.2 cents.

In August, we passed along another reduction, averaging $3.76 for the same 1,200 kilowatt-hours, bringing Boone Power’s average price per kilowatt-hour to 16.9 cents.