Trustees Re-elected at North Central EC Annual Meeting
Donald Willson, Donald Strausbaugh and Ronald Frisch (L-R above) were re-elected to the North Central Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees during the 73rd Annual Meeting of members June 9 at the Seneca County Fairgrounds in Tiffin. A record crowd of nearly 1,450 attended.
Strausbaugh of Chatfield Township in Crawford County has been a cooperative member for 38 years. He has completed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Credentialed Cooperative Director Program and is presently working on leadership courses. Frisch of Eden Township in Seneca County has been a cooperative member for 33 years and is completing his second year on the board. Willson of Eden Township in Wyandot County has been a cooperative member for 49 years and is completing his 10th year on the board. He has earned his Credentialed Cooperative Director Certificate and the Board Leadership certificate from the NRECA.
Board President Richard Reichert focused on federal climate change legislation in his report. He said the cooperative opposes House Bill 2454, known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. He said this federal “Cap and Trade” proposal designed to reduce greenhouse gases, does not mean Ohio electric cooperatives are opposed to clean air or renewable energy. Buckeye Power, the wholesale power supplier owned by Ohio’s electric cooperatives, is spending nearly $1 billion for environmental controls at the Cardinal generating station and by 2011 it will be one of the cleanest coal-fired plants in the world. “Quite frankly, we are being shut out of the process,” Reichert told cooperative members.
Reichert said two board members and two staff members joined electric cooperative leaders from across the country last month in Washington, D.C., to meet with legislators and voice the cooperative’s concerns. He said the current Cap and Trade proposal could raise electric bills as much as $50 per month. He said the board is fighting to protect members’ interests but the sponsors of the bill are from states which burn very little coal for their energy.
“We need to tell Congress and the administration that whatever is to be done about cutting CO2, it must be affordable, it must be sensible and it must be sustainable over time. This country has had enough economic shock and piling on extreme regulatory measures will cripple our nation at a time when people are struggling to stay in their homes and to put bread on the table.”
Reichert said the national campaign Our Energy, Our Future is “a way to have our voices heard by politicians.” He encouraged everyone to sign the Our Energy, Our Future card in a packet given to them upon arrival. He also urged members to sign up for COPA, Cooperative Owners for Political Action, and explained how the money is used to help finance the campaigns of politicians who support the electric cooperatives.
Bryant informed the members about an increase of $5.50 per 1,000 kWh in Buckeye Power wholesale rates coming in July. This is due to the completion of the first scrubber at the Cardinal Generating Station in Brilliant, OH. One half of the second scrubber’s installation cost will be seen in July of 2010, and the remainder in 2011. These scrubbers are designed to meet government-mandated environmental standards to reduce the sulfur dioxide emissions that result from burning coal, Bryant said.
The cooperative is receiving renewable energy from several sources, Bryant said. Buckeye has agreements to purchase power generated from biodigesters on a poultry farm and a dairy farm, receives up to 30 megawatts of power from a wind farm in Iowa and Buckeye also gets power from the New York Power Authority’s Niagara River Project. Together nearly, five percent of Buckeye’s generation comes from renewable sources.
The People Fund report was given by Carolyn Price, who announced it was the 10-year anniversary for Operation Round Up. She introduced other members of the People Fund Board and thanked the past board members.
Price explained how Operation Round Up worked and noted nearly $3,900 is deposited each month into the People Fund account thanks to 80 percent of the co-op members who have their bill rounded up to the nearest dollar. Since the start of the fund, 245 grants have been dispersed totaling $434,400. Last year, 31 grants were issued for a total of $48,051.
North Central Electric Cooperative serves approximately 9,600 members in Seneca, Crawford, Richland, Huron, Sandusky, Hancock, Wyandot and Wood counties.
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