We've missed seeing you!
Our annual meeting of the members will look a lot different this year, after COVID put a stop to in-person meetings for the past three years. Since 2019, Buckeye Rural Electric has held virtual meetings, shared recordings of the significant business through our website, and provided the meeting remarks in Ohio Cooperative Living magazine. We were still providing the necessary information to our members but lost the valuable face-to-face interaction that came with in-person meetings.
With the pandemic emergency officially past and after much discussion, the board of trustees has determined we will hold a scaled-down, business-only meeting for 2023. Rising costs have required your co-op to increase rates to maintain the reliable electric service on which you depend. Your board of trustees has weighed the annual meeting options — from remaining virtual to returning to a full-scale, half-day event — and for this year has decided on somewhere in the middle. We will focus on making sure our members have an opportunity to hear first-hand, in person about how their co-op performed in 2022. During this meeting, the board president,CEO, and cooperative attorney will present information regarding the Cooperative in 2022. In an effort to control costs, a bill credit of $5 will be applied to the accounts of members who attend, but there will not be a breakfast, entertainment, gifts, health fair, or door prizes. We hope to find other means to show our appreciation to our members in the days ahead.
We invite you to the meeting, to be conducted at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, in the truck garage behind the Rio Grande office, 4848 State Route 325 S, Patriot, Ohio.
Everyone at Buckeye REC hopes you will join us for the annual business meeting. This is a scheduled opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas with your cooperative directors and staff. We look forward to seeing your faces again. It’s been a while.
OFFICIAL NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS OF
BUCKEYE RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC.
Annual Meeting of Members
Saturday, August 12th, 2023 at 10 a.m.
Members are invited to attend the meeting which will be held at:
The Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative, Rio Grande office,
located at 4848 State Route 325 S, Patriot, Ohio 45658
Order of Business:
Commencement/Call to Order
Reading of "Notice of Meeting" and proof of publication or mailing
Reading of 2022 Annual Meeting Minutes and action thereon
Board, Office, Committee, and Management Reports
Unfinished Business
Adjournment
2022 Annual Meeting Minutes
Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative, INC.
2022 Annual Meeting of Members Minutes
Rio Grande, Ohio
August 13, 2022
On August 13, 2022, Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc. (BREC), conducted a virtual annual meeting. All abided by the Ohio
Department of Health social distance and large gathering guidelines.
Board President Paul Berridge called the Annual Members Meeting of BREC to order at 10:00 a.m., welcoming all the members. He began with a tribute to former board member Roy Sprague, who passed away in February. He began the meeting with an invocation.
The 2022 BREC Youth Tour winners led the members in the Pledge of Allegiance with a video recorded in Washington, D.C.
Attorney Robert R. Miller read the Official Notice of Meeting from page 20E in the August 2022 issue of Ohio Cooperative Living magazine and the Certificate of Mailing.
In the July 2022 Ohio Cooperative Living magazine, members were instructed to submit any corrections or additions to the published 2021 annual meeting minutes. No changes were brought before the board, therefore a motion was duly made, seconded, and carried by voice vote to waive the reading and to accept the 2021 Annual Members Meeting minutes.
President Berridge recognized the current board of trustees. He also recognized Nanette Gill, who is retiring from the board after 37 years of service. He spoke with the members about the governance of the board, our non-profit status, and payment of capital credits.
In 2021, BREC returned more than $1.5 million in cash back to the members through general and estate retirements of capital credits. Over the years, we have
returned more than $26 million to the member-owners.
Tonda Meadows, executive vice president and general manager, recognized the cooperative scholarship recipients, students from South Gallia High School who shadowed lineworkers, and Youth Tour winners. Veterans and members of the military and their families were also honored.
Ms. Meadows reported on the issues the cooperative faced in 2021. In February, a devastating ice storm led to power outages lasting several days in our service territory. More than 150 poles were damaged and over 640 miles of power lines had to be repaired. Cooperatives that were able sent crews to our aid, resulting in over 100 cooperative employees, line contractors, and right-of- way crews working 16-hour days over a two-week period.
As a result of the storm, Governor DeWine declared a state of emergency in Ohio. Following the storm, Jason Stephens and others in Lawrence and Gallia counties helped the cooperative secure a grant through the Ohio Emergency Management Agency for $9 million for storm restoration and rebuilding.
Another grant was received in 2021 from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative to install fiber in unserved and underserved parts of our service territory. The aim for this grant is to improve power reliability, therefore BREC is using this award to build broadband infrastructure to our substations for communications. By introducing fiber to the service territory, it will also provide opportunities for internet service providers to deliver “last mile” service to those living in the area.
Other improvements to the cooperative during 2021 included upgrades to substations that affect reliability and will improve restoration times.
The August 2022 issue of Ohio Cooperative Living magazine includes articles from the cooperative’s president and general manager as well as financial and departmental reports for 2021.
Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives (OEC) provided a video summarizing various ways cooperatives throughout the state have upheld cooperative principles. On a statewide level, Buckeye Power, Inc., President and CEO Pat O’Loughlin, spoke about reliability and a diversity of resources to provide power. Mr. O’Loughlin also spoke about the Central Ohio Lineworker Training (COLT) Center and ways the training center meets the needs of cooperatives across the state.
There was no unfinished or new business.
A motion was made, seconded and carried by voice vote to adjourn at 10:30 a.m.