Happy 2025! // January 2025 CEO Column
Happy 2025! The holiday season remains the perfect time to focus on what really matters and we hope all our members stayed safe, warm, and were able to slow down and take some time to celebrate with those they love.
The beginning of a new year also allows us an opportunity to reflect on the previous 12 months as your cooperative and share some good news that supported our commitment to delivering affordability in our rates and consistently reliable service.
During a recent Board meeting, data presented by our lender, the Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), showed that LREC’s total cost of delivering service to our members ranks among the 10% lowest in the country. In addition to matching that stat, our administrative and general cost per consumer is the lowest in the state, an area that has helped us provide some of the lowest energy rates in our peer group. Simply put – collaborating with your Board of Directors to act as good stewards of your dollars helped contribute to a stable cost of service over the past year for you and your family.
On the reliability front, we increased our investment in vegetation management to $2.3M to help drive better results in both the frequency and length of outages caused by trees/fallen branches. We’ve completed the last of the original projects included in our strategic Distribution Grid Improvement Plan (DGIP), and will continue to utilize data analytics to identify and address recurring issues within our service area. And, as communicated in last month’s newsletter, the Board’s approval of a new four-year Construction Work Plan in October will provide the funding and resources needed to modernize our grid and prepare for the increased demand for energy we’ll likely face in the near future.
Speaking of the future, January is a great time to share our first look ahead into the coming months. Our final 2025 budget was approved in November; it includes a wholesale power cost increase from Great River Energy (GRE) passed on to our members in the form of a combined power cost adjustment (PCA). This will appear for the first time on your February statement for January usage. We anticipate this additional charge to remain at 6.5 mills (or $.0065/kWh) for the foreseeable future. For example, if a member uses 1,000 kWh/month, the additional charge passed on would be $6.50 ($.0065 x 1,000). As always, any change in this new PCA will be communicated in as timely a manner as possible.
In what may be top of mind for many, we’ll share any updates regarding the New ERA program – federal funding announced by President Biden to help rural cooperatives transition to renewable forms of energy – as soon as they’re available, including our plans for continued partnership with GRE in the development of wind and solar power. And, later this year, we hope to introduce a pilot smart thermostat program that will help members avoid peaks and adjust when energy is used to maximize savings.
Again, we wish you and those closest to you a happy and prosperous new year. We’re grateful for the opportunity to have served as your co-op in 2024 and look forward to sharing the challenging, yet exciting, months to come.
