Regular meeting of the Board of Directors of Decatur County Rural Electric Membership Corporation held Feb. 26, 2025, at the headquarters facilities on 1430 W. Main, Greensburg, Indiana, at 5:30 p.m.
Call to order
Chairman Steve AmRhein called the regular meeting of the Decatur County REMC Board of Directors to order at 5:30 p.m. Steve Nobbe recorded the minutes. All board members were present, with the exception of Suzanne Parmer, who attended virtually. Also present were CEO Brett Abplanalp and employee Matt Raver.
Approval of agenda
Dale Wernke moved to approve the agenda as presented. Jason Barnhorst seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.
Safety moment and cool moment
Abplanalp presented the safety moment, focusing on ladder safety. For the cool moment, Paul Trenkamp and Collin Crabtree shared their experiences participating in Project Indiana in Guatemala.
Approval of previous
meeting minutes
Wernke moved to approve the minutes of the Jan. 22, 2025, regular board meeting and the Jan. 31, 2025, special board meeting. Parmer seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.
CEO update
Abplanalp provided an overview of the 2025 strategic projects and shared his high-level strategy and vision for the company in the upcoming years.
Brian Scheidler moved to approve the 2025 strategic projects. Wernke seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.
Abplanalp also presented company metrics, which included the following:
The median temperature for January was 26.2% cooler than the five-year average.
Wholesale purchased energy increased by 3.2%, and demand rose by 6% compared to the five-year average.
Year-to-date energy sales were 5.76% above budget.
No major storms occurred in January.
Financial update
Raver presented the financial update for January, noting the following:
The net utility plant increased by $93,622 compared to the previous month.
Year-to-date revenues were $166,579 above budget.
Power costs increased by $168,749 due to sales, resulting in a gross margin under budget by $2,170 year-to-date.
Controllable expenses were under budget by $138,487.
The ending cash balance for the month was $937,663.
Updates to the rules and regulations
Abplanalp presented changes aimed at clarifying certain aspects of the rules and regulations. The board discussed the proposed changes and decided to table the discussion until the next meeting.
DG-TOU tariff
Abplanalp explained that the current DG-TOU rate does not align with the current wholesale power costs or avoidance costs, and allowing a member to be placed on that rate would result in unfair pricing. He recommended that the board formally rescind the DG-TOU tariff and it was noted that no member was on this rate and never has been.
Wernke moved to rescind the DG-TOU tariff. Barnhorst seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.
Complaint report by a sitting board member in 2022
Barnhorst made a motion to rescind the board’s prior action designating the March 7, 2023, report by an independent attorney engaged by this board to investigate a June 28, 2022, complaint of sitting DCRMC director as confidential and also to authorize the report to be disclosed as and when directed by the board. Wernke seconded the motion. A vote of 6-0 approved the motion. Carl Riedeman abstained from the vote.
Adjournment
Scheidler moved to adjourn the meeting into an executive session. Wernke seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m., and the board proceeded into executive session.
