Holmes-Wayne Electric Co-op hosts annual meeting
More than 600 members and guests attended this year’s annual meeting of members for Holmes-Wayne Electric Cooperative on June 27 at West Holmes High School in Millersburg.
More than 600 members and guests attended this year’s annual meeting of members for Holmes-Wayne Electric Cooperative on June 27 at West Holmes High School in Millersburg.
Dinner awaited members after a health and information fair, where Holmes-Wayne Electric staff shared energy-efficiency tips and details about the co-op’s various programs. Reports on the state of the cooperative were announced, as well as results of the board of trustee elections.
Three incumbents were re-elected to the organization’s board of trustees. William Grassbaugh, Barry Jolliff and David Mann were elected by Holmes-Wayne members, representing Districts 2, 8 and 9, respectively.
Additionally Holmes-Wayne members approved an amendment to the cooperative’s code of regulations, stipulating that no person shall be hired as a co-op employee who has been a trustee of the cooperative within three years of the date of hire or whose close relative has been a trustee of the cooperative within three years of the date of hire.
Randy Sprang, chairman of the Holmes-Wayne board, announced the cooperative returned $1.193 million in capital credits to members living on co-op lines in 1998 and 1999. Capital credits, a distinguishing characteristic of membership in an electric cooperative, are margins remaining after all expenses have been paid that are returned to members in proportion to their use in a given period of time.
Sprang informed Holmes-Wayne members of the many ways the cooperative empowers its members to use energy efficiently and safely and how members can manage their account conveniently with the SmartHub application.
“With today’s busy lifestyles, members can report an outage or pay their bill from a mobile phone or tablet. Are you traveling out of town for a few weeks or month? No problem; you can schedule your payment,” Sprang said.
Holmes-Wayne’s community involvement also was highlighted, including the cooperative’s coordination of an annual honor trip to Washington, D.C. for local veterans, in partnership with Shreve American Legion Forest Post 67 and Rolling Thunder Ohio Chapter 2.
“The funds raised for this event are through employee payroll donation, potluck safety meals, board donations and community donations,” Sprang said. “This is a wonderful example of the power with a purpose.”
In his annual address to members, Glenn Miller, president and CEO of Holmes-Wayne, detailed the cooperative’s accomplishments.
“2018 was a busy year,” Miller said. “We introduced a new website, rebuilt 19 miles of lines, replaced 403 poles, trimmed trees for 385 miles and sprayed vegetation control on 983 miles of rights-of-way, all while adding 191 new services.”
Miller thanked the Holmes-Wayne board for approving a four-year, $23.1 million work plan, which will maintain the cooperative’s investment in line rebuilding, substation testing, pole replacements, and other equipment replacements and upgrades.
The cooperative also will spend $1.85 million for tree trimming and dead-tree removal in order to minimize outages.
Miller attributed the cooperative’s accomplishments to its staff and to cooperative members for their engagement.
“Our staff are hard-working, dedicated and loyal in providing your electric service and being good members of our community,” Miller said. “Also, our members are key to our success. We appreciate your valuable feedback, not only to help us improve service, but to provide us with information on outages and vegetation management.”
Doug Miller, vice president of statewide services at Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives, briefed Holmes-Wayne members on their power supplier and statewide services association.
“Buckeye Power, your member-owned generation and transmission cooperative, generates its power from a variety of resources including coal, natural gas and renewable sources including solar, hydropower, and landfill and methane gas projects,” Miller said. “As Holmes-Wayne members, you have a stake in these generation facilities.”
Miller reported Buckeye Power’s assumption of management of Cardinal Power Plant from American Electric Power, which occurred in 2018, has gone smoothly. Under cooperative management, the plant is operating more efficiently than ever, ensuring power costs will remain stable for years to come.
“Buckeye Power is fulfilling its mission to deliver competitive, stably priced and reliable wholesale power to our 24 electric distribution systems serving 400,000 meters in Ohio,” Miller said.
To close the meeting, 10 local high school graduates were recognized for receiving $15,000 in HWEC scholarships. Holmes-Wayne Electric has given over $220,000 in scholarships over the history of the program.