The meeting was opened by Chairman Michael Brelage. Brian Scheidler kept the minutes of the meeting.

All board members were present. Also present was CEO Brett Abplanalp, and employees Rachel Sullivan and Crystal Greathouse.

Upon motion made by Steve AmRhein, seconded by Dale Wernke, and carried, the agenda was approved. 

Annual Meeting 

Rachel Sullivan presented the task and timeline for our election and drive thru annual meeting on June 11. 

The meeting was moved to executive session per SBS’s request at 6:42 p.m. with the nominating committee and the board. Survey & Ballot Systems presented its secure election process.

The meeting was then moved out of executive session at 7:23 p.m. 

Sullivan and a representative from Inside Information spoke about its role as our survey provider. 

The nominating committee was on the agenda for comments or suggestions but had no comments.

Complaint Letter to Chairman of the Board 

The letter was reviewed and the complaints were addressed by Chairman of the Board Michael Brelage.

Safety Minute and Cool Moment 

Brett Abplanalp discussed that DCREMC hosted Oldenburg Academy’s Environmental Sciences class. It is currently learning about how electricity is generated and transmitted. Students were given a tour of the substation and visited the solar array. 

Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes 

Upon motion made by Steve AmRhein, seconded by Jason Barnhorst, and carried, the minutes for the March 25, 2021, board meeting were approved with amendments. 

CEO Update 

The CEO report was reviewed as presented in Call to Order. The new manager of accounting and finance will start May 3. Brett Abplanalp gave updates on his team’s strategic projects including two completed projects: priorities six and 11. The company metrics were reviewed including: March was 2.5 degrees warmer than the five-year average which drove energy and demand purchased down by three percent and three percent over the five-year average. There were no major storms in March, but we did have a high wind event on March 26 that drove outages up over the five-year average. 

Financial Update 

The financials were reviewed as presented on Call to Order. Brett Abplanalp gave an update including: very little movement in the balance sheet, revenue is down for the year by -5% with power cost following, expenses are down for the year to budget mainly due to timing and labor resulting in an operating margin favorable to plan, cash on hand continues to grow as planned for our capital credit retirement later in the year as well as funding our construction projects.

Quarterly Risk Management Report Out (Q1) 

Brett Abplanalp reported out on Q1’s risk management work. One new risk was added and two risks were mitigated and closed during Q1. Abplanalp reported that we have mitigations in place to operate at an acceptable risk level.

Education

Brett Abplanalp reported out on the completion and changes made for strategic project priority six: Member Design Communication Process.

Policy/Bylaws Reviews & Report Outs 

Rules and Regulation change redlines were reviewed as presented in Call to Order. 

Upon motion made by Carl Riedeman, seconded by Steve AmRhein, and carried, the redlines were approved with amendments.

Affiliated Organizations

Hoosier Energy Board/Committee Update – Jason Barnhorst 

Barnhorst gave the Hoosier Energy update stating it is in the process of revising the wholesale rate. The rate design will be presented at the October meeting with action to be taken at the November meeting and implemented in April 2023. 

Upon motion made by Carl Riedeman, seconded by Steve AmRhein, and carried, the meeting was adjourned at 9:08 p.m. to executive session with Jeff Lawrence choosing not to attend.