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Thank You for Your Feedback // December 2024 CEO Column

CEO Column, News

As your cooperative, service to our members is at the center of our mission. Our efforts to fulfill that commitment are driven, in large part, by what we hear from you – what we’re doing well, and where we can improve.

I want to thank all of you who took time to complete our member satisfaction survey last month. I’m happy to report that we were able to match last year’s overall member satisfaction rating of 9 out of 10 – our third consecutive year in reaching that score. 

How did we do it? The feedback we received from the 3,700 members who responded to the survey provided valuable takeaways from the past year and will shape how we act on what matters most to you:

  • Rates and relationships are important:  We’re proud that, in keeping our administrative costs low, we’re able to deliver rates that continue to be the lowest in our peer group. And, whether it’s explaining your bill or solving a problem, we understand the importance of the relationship between you and our front-line employees. To hear that calling our LREC office “is a joy” is a compliment to their level of service. We look forward to building on that in the future.
  • Communication is key. From timely notification of outages to changing energy costs, keeping you informed is critical. We will continue to use a variety of methods to tell the complete story on issues that impact you and ensure you remain as up-to-date as possible.
  • Focus on reliability. Many of you noticed an improvement in the number and length of service interruptions, but there is still more we can do. This includes a continued investment in vegetation management to reduce blinks and outages caused by tree interference. Completion of our Distribution Grid Improvement Plan (DGIP) by year-end – projects strategically created by reviewing outage history data to identify and address recurring issues – will finish the upgrades needed in specific areas to keep future service interruptions to a minimum.
  • New ideas matter. Alerting our members to reduce usage during peak demand times and providing a complete menu of services – including our GoWest solar arrays, standby generator program, and natural gas business – creates a positive rate benefit that we’ve been able to pass on to all of you. With the anticipated announcement of federal funding toward renewable energy coming next year, we’ll partner with Great River Energy (GRE) on wind and solar projects that will act as a hedge against an increase in future power costs. 

Thanks again for your engagement. Using the above as a guide moving into the new year, I’d like to share some exciting news. Last month, LREC’s Board of Directors approved our new four-year Construction Work Plan (CWP), including $35M that will go toward modernizing our grid and preparing areas for new growth. We’re grateful for the support from board members, and feel this decision is an important step toward delivering on our commitment to safe and reliable energy for our members.