Highlights of the CEO’s annual meeting address

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Posted on Aug 25 2017 in Miami-Cass REMC

Rob Schwartz

Each year as Miami-Cass REMC CEO, I have the privilege of addressing you, our members, at our member appreciation day/annual meeting. Here are just a few highlights from my address to those in attendance.

  • State of your cooperative: Miami-Cass REMC has remained stable and statuesque. We are financially strong with an awesome employee base. We have also remained safety conscious. We had no lost time injuries due to accidents, having the lowest cost and time recorded by all the other co-ops in this great state, whether they include equipment or bodily injury. That is a testament to our employees, staff and board leadership. We also recorded a new low for outage time for our membership. The average member experienced just roughly two hours of dark due to outages. Our previous record was two hours and 25 minutes.
  • Director changes: Director Trevor Hughes was tragically taken from us in a farming accident last year and his leadership will be missed. He had been on our board for three years and had spent as much time as he could working for our membership. As a result of his passing, Todd Smith was appointed by the board to take his place. And with the passing of long-time director Charlie Wilson prior to last year’s meeting, Scott Marschand was appointed by the board to take his place.
  • Director elections: In this year’s election, we have Tony Caldwell of District 4 and Todd Smith of District 1 running for re-election. They are being opposed by Rich Percival and Mary Ash, respectively. Beginning next year, you will see some changes in our election process. We are moving away from an election committee and moving toward a petition-based process. Look for more information in future Electric Consumers and elsewhere.
  • Director voting: You may also see some different ways to vote for your director. Senate Bill 376 was passed and went into effect earlier this month. This bill was an amendment to the Indiana REMC Act and allows different ways of voting, such as absentee and electronic voting. The board has not yet made any decisions regarding this yet, but we’ll keep you informed.
  • Capital credits: Miami-Cass REMC will begin retiring capital credits in 2018 for all allocations from 1940 to 1977. Capital credits are any margins, or revenues, remaining after all expenses have been paid. Capital credits are returned to the members in proportion to their use of the co-op’s services. Again, be looking for more information in future Electric Consumers.

So, big changes for us here at Miami-Cass REMC and for you, our members. Your board of directors works hard for you and makes some tough decisions on your behalf. They are members just like you, and some of the time they have to make decisions that may not be in their best individual interests but is best for the co-op as a whole.

Like always, if you have questions about anything, please contact us. We are here for you and enjoy hearing from you.

ROB SCHWARTZ
CEO