87 years as YOUR Cooperative
Taylor Electric Cooperative held its 87th Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 27, at the Centennial Community Center in Stetsonville with 216 registered members in attendance.
In board elections, there were three open seats and four candidates running. Incumbents Donald Everhard and Charles Zenner were both re-elected, and newcomer Paul Woods won the final seat.
Members also voted to pass three bylaw amendments related to board director tenure, filling a vacant board seat, and the process of setting per diem. The approved changes include extending the consecutive number of three-year terms a board director may serve from five to six, and ensuring members have the opportunity to review and modify changes to per diems.
The board thanked outgoing director Patricia Waldhart for her 16.5 years of service to the board. After serving five terms, Waldhart was not eligible to run again.
President/CEO Ken Ceaglske began his presentation by reporting sales increased 4% in 2022, compared to 2021, and more than 50% of the co-op budget went to pay for wholesale power. Due to an increased cost of wholesale power, the co-op had $140,000 in power cost adjustments over the year. Members received capital credits totaling nearly $350,000, bringing the total to-date to more than $8.9 million.
On rates, the co-op implemented an increase to the fixed charge in January 2023, and is doing a cost-of-service study this summer that may lead to overall changes to the rate structure in 2024, according to Ceaglske’s report.
Ceaglske addressed the membership with the five main issues that members bring up, including how rates are determined and how they compare to the rates of nearby municipalities, what demand charges are and how they affect the cooperative, how the co-op prioritizes which outages to restore first, what capital credits are and how they get allocated and the viability of electric vehicles in Taylor’s service territory and how to prepare for it.
In his report, Chairman Hallgren thanked directors, co-op employees, and members, saying, “Our members are the reason our cooperative exists. Thanks to each of you for your support. It is an honor and a privilege to serve you.”