Summary of May’s board meeting

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Posted on Aug 05 2024 in Decatur County REMC

Chairman Steve AmRhein opened the meeting, and Brian Scheidler kept the meeting minutes.

All board members except Clay Nuhring, Steve Nobbe, and Jason Barnhorst were present. Also present were CEO Brett Abplanalp and employee Matt Raver.

Suzanne Parmer moved to approve the agenda. Carl Riedeman seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

SAFETY MINUTE AND COOL MOMENT

Abplanalp spoke on tornado safety for the safety minute. The cool moment highlighted the successful member event at the office on May 9 and the Facebook teacher appreciation marketing.

APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

Dale Wernke moved to approve the minutes from the April 24, 2024, board meeting. Parmer seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

CEO UPDATE

Abplanalp updated the board on strategic projects, including a bucket truck replacement and organizational changes.

Abplanalp then covered the company metrics as prepared on CTO. April’s median temperature was 5.4% warmer than our five-year average. Wholesale purchased energy was up 8.7% compared to our five-year average. Demand was up 3% from our five-year average. Year-to-date energy sales ended 1.1% positive to budget. There was no major storm for the month of April. Lost consumer hours were 2,170 compared to our five-year average of 4,305. The number of outages was 40 compared to our five-year average of 41.8.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

Raver gave the financial update. Net utility plant increased $176,071 in April and our current equity is 63.8%. Revenues are over the YTD budget, and power costs are over, resulting in a gross margin above the budget of $100,048 YTD. Controllable expenses are under budget by $417,487. The cash flow statement shows a beginning balance of $908,554, and we ended the current month with a net increase in cash of $117,438, resulting in an ending cash balance of $1,025,992.

NEW BUSINESS

HOMETOWN DIRECTOR

Wernke moved to approve Scheidler as the Hometown Director. Parmer seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

ROUND UP TRUST APPOINTMENTS

Carl Riedeman moved to approve Eric Stone for District 1 and Hope Moore for District 2. Parmer seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

POLICY REVIEW

The following policies were reviewed with no changes: Policy 1–7 Director Education and Policy 1–8 Director Fees and Expenses. AmRhein reviewed the requirements for director education and reported that all directors had met their obligations.

2023 DELINQUENT WRITE-OFF

Abplanalp presented the 2023 write-offs. Parmer moved to approve. Riedeman seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

CEO VISION-STRATEGY PLAN

Abplanalp reviewed his draft of the vision and strategy plan.

Parmer moved to adjourn the meeting, and Riedeman seconded it. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m. when the board moved into executive session to discuss personnel matters.