Recap of District Meetings Held in January // CEO Column February 2024

Our district meetings were held on January 4^th and 5^th for LREC Districts 1, 4, and 7 in Pelican Rapids, Dent, and Fergus Falls, respectively. In District 1, incumbent and current Board Vice Chair Kurt Krueger was nominated as a director candidate. In District 4, Lee Mindemann and David Pawlowski were nominated as director candidates to fill the vacancy that will be left by Earl Rydell, who will be retiring from the board after serving in that capacity for 15 years. In District 7, incumbent and current Board Chair Tom Jennen was nominated as a director candidate. It is so great to see leadership come from the grassroots efforts or our members. I greatly appreciate all those who expressed a desire to run for a seat at your cooperative’s table. In total, there were approximately 170 people who attended the meetings in person or virtually.

One of the best things about electric cooperatives is their grassroots nature.This allows all of us to take an active role in making important decisions to ensure LREC is the best cooperative it can be. As members of LREC, one thing we all have in common is our right to be active in the election process by nominating and electing other members to serve on our board of directors. It allows us to nominate and elect our friends and neighbors to serve as LREC directors, and it allows us to stay connected with those directors in ways that drive the cooperative spirit.

At the recent district meetings, I shared a presentation covering member engagement opportunities, the growth of our cooperative, member feedback from our annual survey, transmission and distribution upgrades that continue to improve our reliability, investments in our local grid, projects happening around our service territory, innovative technology being utilized by our employees, vegetation management, rate strategy, our productive employees, the positive impact of members participating in load management programs, the desire to create new revenue streams, the value of electricity, the financial strength of LREC, and the passion our co-op has for being involved in the communities it serves.

The 87^th LREC Annual Meeting will be held on April 18, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. Like years past, there will be three in person meeting location options for members: Life Church in Fergus Falls, Frazee Event Center in Frazee, and the Prairie Event Center in Parkers Prairie. The Annual Meeting will also be livestreamed for members who are unable to attend in person.