St. Croix Electric Cooperative holds 81st Annual Meeting April 12

Former Glenwood City resident Todd (TJ) Johnson made his debut as a St. Croix Electric Cooperative employee on April 12 during the Commitment to Community 81st Annual Meeting activities at R&D Catering Banquet Facility in New Richmond, an SCEC member business.

Johnson, who began as Member Services Representative on March 6, was the bingo caller when more than a third of the evening’s 330 registered members and guests had a chance to win cash prizes and small giveaways. The rest of the attendees arrived during the 1 ½ hours a dinner buffet was served.

Diners viewed a slideshow featuring 19 graduating seniors from eight area high schools selected to receive SCEC scholarships this year, including Makayla O’Brien and Kimberly Spaeth from Glenwood City High School. In addition to the $17,000 allocated by the SCEC Board for scholarships in 2018, the cooperative also administered the Wayne Willink Cooperative Leadership Scholarship established in 2018 by former St. Croix Electric Cooperative Director Wayne Willink to be awarded annually for a decade in the amount of $1,000 to a student pursuing a four-year degree in an agriculture-related field. Six of this year’s recipients attended the meeting. 

Members were actively encouraged to show their support of the 7th Cooperative Principle – Concern for Community – by enrolling in Community Cents, a program created in 2017 to increase the impact of St. Croix Electric Cooperative’s Commitment to Community Grant program. Community Cents allows members to round up their monthly electric bill to the nearest dollar. The extra “cents” are added to the annual Commitment to Community Grant allocation the following year. The evening’s effort produced 25 new accounts signed up – one of whom was drawn to win a cash prize from an anonymous donor.

Drawings for $50 bill credits were held hourly preceding the meeting’s Call to Order, with a final drawing held just after the meeting adjourned. Five lucky members went home with certificates to apply to future electric bills.

Some attendees were greeted by LED Lucy^®, on loan through Touchstone Energy^® Cooperatives’ mascot program, who came alive thanks to the teenaged son of a Scholarship Committee member. Two hands-on displays on loan from Dairyland Power Cooperative – a Hand Pedal Power Generator and Lighting Comparison Energy Efficiency Module – allowed a first-hand look at (and, in the case of the generator, FEEL of) the difference in energy required to light LED vs. other types of bulbs.

The 2017 Annual Report highlighted many of SCEC’s programs in the context of the theme Commitment to Community as did the reports given by President/CEO Mark Pendergast and Chairman Bill Peavey at the meeting. 

“Supporting our members and helping build stronger communities where we all live and work isn’t something new for this cooperative,” Peavey said. 

Highlights from the speeches include:

• In 2017, SCEC gave back to members more than $2 million between Capital Credits and refunds from a Nuclear Waste Policy Act settlement with the federal government.

• The rates charged for electricity from SCEC has held steady for five years – with rates lower than Xcel Energy and the lowest winter rates of five neighboring cooperatives.

• Earlier this year two new rates were approved for electric vehicles, and later this year SCEC will lease an electric vehicle to get first-hand experience and information.

• Security of members’ information is a top priority at SCEC, where credit card and banking information is not stored and members are required to give a self-created PIN before receiving any information when calling. All files are encrypted and paper documents are confidentially shredded.

• SCEC conducts mock disaster drills, has an alternate operations location and a mutual aid agreement with other Wisconsin Electric Cooperatives. 

• The opening of the St. Croix River Crossing Bridge in Houlton on Aug. 2, 2017, will have a positive impact on SCEC’s new services and membership growth in the area.

• SCEC spearheaded Sunflower II, the second largest solar array in Wisconsin, which was energized near Roberts in May 2017. 

• SCEC staff has driven nearly 600,000 miles since the last vehicle accident and worked a combined 128,000 hours – nearly 2 ½ years – since the last lost-time injury accident. 

Other business at the meeting included unanimous approval of the Minutes of 2017 Annual Meeting and Election of Directors. The incumbents in all three districts on this year’s ballots were re-elected to 3-year terms: Alan Wilkie (District 2), William Findlay (District 5) and Derrick Oberle (District 8), who survived a challenge from Douglas Faber.

The 2017 Audit Report and coinciding Balance Sheets and Statements printed in the 2017 Annual Report reflect the strategic decision-making by the SCEC Board of Directors over the past number of years. 

“Good policy decisions lead to excellent results,” said Brittany Story, CPA of the firm CarlsonSV, LLP, who presented the Audit Report at the Annual Meeting. “The cooperative is financially sound and effectively managed.” 

About St. Croix Electric Cooperative

St. Croix Electric Cooperative (SCEC) was incorporated on Nov. 5, 1937 as a result of five farmers who were determined to bring electricity to rural St. Croix County. Nearly two years later – May 24, 1939 – electricity was delivered to the first account. Today, the Cooperative operates more than 1,780 miles of distribution lines that serve more than 11,000 member accounts. SCEC strives to positively impact its community through Commitment to Community grants, scholarships, and offering members rebates and solutions to conserve and use energy wisely. Information is shared with members through the April annual meeting; Energy Lifestyles Magazine, which is published 11 times per year; online at www.scecnet.net; and via social media: @StCroixElecCoop (Twitter) and St. Croix Electric Cooperative (Facebook).