MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE MEMBERSHIP OF JACKSON COUNTY RURAL ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP CORPORATION | July 20, 2023
The 85th Annual Meeting of the Jackson County Rural Electric Membership Corporation was held at the Jackson County Fairgrounds, State Road 250 East in Brownstown, Indiana on Thursday, July 20, 2023.
The members’ portion of the annual meeting was held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Jackson County Fairgrounds. The members’ portion of the meeting was conducted as a hybrid meeting, which included a drive-through meeting where members could vote for the open director positions and obtain ice cream and other gifts.
The business meeting portion of the Annual Meeting and the election of directors was held at the Jackson County Fairgrounds, beginning at 7:30 p.m. and was open to the members. Director Walter Hunter gave the invocation.
President John Trinkle called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Jerry Kelley, Secretary/Treasurer, provided the Proof of Quorum. Kelley reported that 3,103 members had registered, either by mail, electronically or by personal registration at the drive-through meeting. This figure substantially exceeded the required quorum.
Secretary/Treasurer Kelley stated that written notice of the Annual Meeting had been mailed to each member of the Cooperative on June 20, 2023, as required by the Bylaws. A “Certificate of Mailing of Notice of Annual Meeting to Members” was filed by the Secretary/Treasurer and is attached to the minutes of this meeting as Exhibit “A”. President Trinkle declared a quorum present and that notice had been properly issued and officially opened the meeting.
Kelley presented a summary of the minutes of the Annual Meeting of July 21, 2022, as contained in the materials mailed to the members on June 20, 2023. President Trinkle asked for a motion approving the minutes as distributed by publication. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the minutes of the 2022 Annual Meeting were approved as published. President Trinkle directed the Secretary to attach a copy of the minutes of the 2022 Annual Meeting to the minutes of this meeting as Exhibit “B”.
The Secretary/Treasurer presented the Treasurer’s Report for the year ending December 31, 2022. Mr. Kelley stated that this Financial Report was mailed to the members on June 20, 2023. As there were no questions or comments from the members, upon motion duly made, seconded and passed, the detailed reading of the 2022 Financial Report was waived, and the report was approved as published.
President Trinkle (representing District 3) then introduced those directors serving current terms: John Hackman (District 1); Walter Hunter (District 2); John Trinkle (District 3); Paul Elliott (District 4) (who was absent due to a farming injury); Jerry Kelley (District 5); Mark Trisler (District 6); Curt Wischmeier (District 7); David Hall (District 8); and John Miller (District 9). The Attorney for the Cooperative, Bill Braman of Seymour, Indiana, was also introduced.
Vice President Hunter conducted the election of directors. Vice President Hunter announced that the Nominating Committees appointed by the Board of Directors were: District 3 – Mark Rosenberry, Bob Lewondowski and Samuel H. Haley; District 6 – Robin D. Depp, Sarah Webster and Mary E. Deringer; and District 9 – Travis Heltman, Todd D. Brumfield and Chad A. Rouse.
Vice President Hunter announced that these committees had nominated the following candidates: District 3 – John Trinkle – unopposed; District 6 – Mark Trisler and Race Henderson; and District 9 – John Miller – unopposed. The report of the Nominating Committees is attached as Exhibit “C” to the minutes of this meeting. No nominations by petition were filed. Notice of these nominations was published in the mailing to members mailed on June 20, 2023. Vice President Hunter thanked the Nominating Committees for their efforts.
The members of the Election and Credentials Committee appointed by the Board of Directors were introduced. These members were: Denver Hackman; Ben Thompson; Jane Martin; Jeffrey Anderson; and Scottie Martin. This committee supervises the election of directors during the Annual Meeting. Vice President Hunter expressed his appreciation to the Committee for these efforts.
CEO Mark McKinney then presented his annual report. McKinney first reported as to the Cooperative’s electric division. McKinney noted that there is much uncertainty in wholesale power prices today given supply chain issues and increases in fixed and variable production costs. Hoosier Energy’s average wholesale power cost in 2022 was $79 per megawatt hour. That cost increased to $82 per megawatt hour at the beginning of 2023 and stood at $84 per megawatt hour based on the pro forma adjustment for mid-year 2023. Last month’s bill to Jackson County REMC from Hoosier Energy was billed at $94.65 per megawatt hour. Retail rates also have increased – at a rate of 7.2% in 2022 and 6.5% so far in 2023. No relief from these high rates is expected anytime soon. Jackson County REMC’s expenses have also increased substantially. A KVA pad-mounted transformer that cost $1,450 in 2021 costs $2,092 today, a 44% increase. A 40-foot pole that cost $171 in 2021 costs $262 today, a 53% increase. A bucket truck that cost $250,000 in 2021 costs $390,000 today, a 56% increase. McKinney also noted the importance that Jackson County REMC places on the reliability of electric service provided to members. In 2022, Jackson County REMC spent $5.7 million for maintenance of its distribution system. $3.9 million of that amount was for right-of-way maintenance costs. The expense of right-of-way maintenance has also increased substantially over the past few years – going from $3,322 per mile in 2020 to $4,528 per mile in 2023, a 36% increase. However, these expenses are necessary for providing safe and reliable electric services to Jackson County REMC’s members. Also, with respect to reliability, McKinney noted the increase in outages recently due to faults with transmission lines (which are not Jackson County REMC’s responsibility). In 2022, 36% of the outages incurred by Jackson County REMC members were transmission-related. Despite this number, the reliability of Jackson County REMC’s distribution system was 99.95%. This is because Jackson County REMC has made significant investments in distribution maintenance so that power can be more quickly restored when transmission outages occur. McKinney also noted that representatives of Jackson County REMC recently met with representatives of Hoosier Energy and Duke Energy to express concern about transmission issues. Only time will tell if transmission-related issues improve as a result of this meeting. With respect to the Cooperative’s fiber division, McKinney noted that in May 2017 the Board decided to provide fiber optic broadband service to members and construction on the fiber optic project began six months later. Today, 96% of Jackson County REMC’s members have access to the fiber optic broadband network, with 2,150 miles of fiber optic cable serving 12,000 fiber optic broadband accounts and 350 telephone accounts. There is still a small area in Jennings County where the fiber optic cable will be installed soon; once that happens, 100% of Jackson County REMC members will have access to its fiber optic broadband system. McKinney noted that no electric revenue has been used to fund the fiber optic broadband project. McKinney stated that the fiber optic broadband project is further evidence of Jackson County REMC’s commitment to meet the needs of its members and build stronger, more connected communities. Next, McKinney noted that Jackson County REMC has created a new subsidiary – Jackson Solutions LLC – which will offer products and services that are not part of the core business functions of Jackson County REMC. The first two products to be offered by Jackson Solutions are Honeywell residential security systems and GenerLink generator transfer switches. More information on these products, as well as other products to be offered, will be coming soon on the Jackson County REMC website, social media and in the Jackson Connect magazine. Finally, McKinney noted that everything that Jackson County REMC does is a result of the collective efforts of REMC’s dedicated employees and Board members and that Jackson County REMC will continue to pursue its mission of delivering the advantages of electricity and other essential services to members on a reliable, economical and responsible basis.
A video produced by Hoosier Energy was then shown to the members attending the meeting. President Trinkle then proceeded to give his annual report to the Membership. Trinkle then reviewed the capital credit distributions that have been made since 2014. $23,455,784.93 of capital credits have been distributed during this period of time. This year’s capital credit distribution scheduled for November of $2,705,049.90 will be for patronage accumulated in 1992. Those checks will be mailed in November.
The Election and Credentials Committee then collected the ballots submitted by mail, electronically and from members present at the drive-through meeting. President Trinkle then called upon Attorney Braman to report the results of the election of directors. He announced that, out of 2,889 ballots cast, John Trinkle (District 3), Mark Trisler (District 6) and John Miller (District 9), had been elected as Directors. The election report is attached to the minutes of this meeting as Exhibit “D”.
President Trinkle then asked if there was any further business to be placed before the membership. As no further business was presented, a motion for adjournment was made, seconded
