NOTE: All board meeting minutes are available on our website, dcremc.com, once approved.
APRIL BOARD MEETING
Executive Session (5 p.m.- 7 p.m.)
NRTC Broadband Feasibility
General Session (Starting at 7 p.m.)
The meeting was opened by Chairman Steve AmRhein. Brian Scheidler kept the minutes of the meeting.
All board members were present. Also present: CEO Brett Abplanalp and employees Matt Raver, Crystal Greathouse, Sam Ruf, Aaron Morgan and Chris Galloway. Brian Garrison from Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP was also present.
Upon motion made by Dale Wernke, seconded by Jeff Lawrence, and carried, the agenda was approved.
Safety Minute and Cool Moment
Brett Abplanalp gave the Safety Minute and Cool Moment. The Cool Moment was recognition for Lineman Appreciation Day and Administrative Professionals Day. The Safety Minute was around tornado awareness and shelter locations.
Meter Pole Project Discussion
Lineman Aaron Morgan presented some real world scenarios with photos of meter pole issues that DCREMC faces today.
Upon motion by Jason Barnhorst, seconded by Dale Wernke and carried, the Rules and Regulations redlines were approved with amendments with a 6-2 vote.
Member’s Request to Address the Board
Steve AmRhein moved the meeting to executive session at 8:15 p.m. and out of executive session at 8:26 p.m.
Meter Tech (Portable Meter Tester)
Crystal Greathouse asked the board for a budget update to purchase a second tester.
Jeff Lawrence made the motion to approve the budget update, Suzanne Parmer seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
RC3 Report Out
Sam Ruf reported out the work that has been completed around cyber security and the RC3 program.
With the work completed, our RC3 score has been improved by 23% over baseline.
Comcast Internet Services SLA Upgrade
Sam Ruf discussed the need to update our internet service and asked to update the budget to include the increase.
Suzanne Parmer made the motion to approve the budget update, Brian Scheidler seconded, and the motion passed unanimously.
Education
Brett Abplanalp presented the work DCREMC has done around engagements that aligned with the 2018 strategic plan.
DCREMC was acknowledged as a leader in the industry and Brett Abplanalp had the honor to present our success story at the InSights Conference.
DCREMC went from roughly 13 engagement opportunities in 2015 to 170,000 in 2021.
Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Upon motion by Jason Barnhorst, seconded by Jeff Lawrence, and carried, the minutes for the March 24, 2022, board meeting were approved with amendments.
CEO Update
Brett Abplanalp reported out the following:
Team completed Q2 quarterly risk management review, participated in the Hoosier Energy key accounts seminar, presented at InSights Conference, and completed the candidate dinner. Operations hired Meter Technician Chad Scudder. Lots of time has gone into annual meeting preparation.
Updates were given to strategic plan projects, including purchasing more transformer inventory.
Three phase transformers have seen an average of 40% increase due to material cost and roughly 12-15% due to the market.
March’s median temperature was 6.8% warmer than our five-year average with heating degree days 14.5% below our five-year averages.
Our Hoosier Energy purchased energy was down 3.2% compared to our five-year average with demand 2.6% lower than our five-year average.
Year to date energy sales went from -4.4% under budget to -3.3%.
There were no major storms for the month of March but we had a few storms that caused our lost consumer hours and number of outages to be up.
Lost consumer hours were 313% above our five-year average. The number of outages was 80 compared to our five-year average of 31.
Outage causes for the month were “trees – not in ROW”, then “power supplier.”
Line loss is in line but much different than March last year due to billing days in March 2021.
Our 30-, 60- and 90-day past due AR continue to be well under our five-year averages.
Financial Update
Matt Raver reported out on March’s financials.
Revenues are under YTD budget by $338,439 but power costs are also under by $257,185, resulting in a gross margin under budget of $81,254 YTD.
Controllable expenses are under budget $3,290, mainly due to ROW timing.
At the end of March, total operating margins are $399,256 or $68,077 behind budget.
We ended the current month with a net increase in cash of $10,203 YTD resulting in an ending cash balance of $1,506,774.
The board had a discussion around the CFC loan that is repricing on April 29.
Management’s plan was to complete the repricing for 17 years on April 8 at 4.595%.
We had an objection to move forward and will now reprice for 17 years at 4.87% on April 29.
NCSC Delegate
Upon motion by Clay Nuhring, seconded by Dale Wernke and carried, Jeff Lawrence was elected to be the NCSC voting delegate by unanimous decision.
Policy/Bylaws Reviews & Report Outs
a. Policy 3-1: Organizational Policy
Upon motion by Dale Wernke, seconded by Brian Scheidler and carried, the redlines were approved unanimously.
b. Policy 4-4: Safety Deposit Box
Upon motion by Jason Barnhorst, seconded by Jeff Lawrence and carried, the policy was rescinded and approved unanimously.
c. Rate RE-IND
Upon motion by Dale Wernke, seconded by Suzanne Parmer and carried, the redlines were approved unanimously
Affiliated Organizations
Hoosier Energy Board/Committee Update
Jason Barnhorst discussed Hoosier Energy’s annual meeting. He also gave an update on the power tracker moving from negative to positive due to market conditions. Mitigation measures in process include accelerating the timing of scheduled 2022 patronage retirements and a special retirement of 2021 margins.
EC Board/Committee Update
Steve AmRhein gave updates at IEC’s board meeting. There was an audit report out and it came back with a clean opinion. Brett Abplanalp was asked to participate in a panel discussion at the board meeting around the work DCREMC has done around professional development.
DCREMC has focused efforts on this topic and has dedicated dollars to professional development.
accord telecom
Abplanalp also gave a quick explanation about Accord Telecom and he plans to have a speaker at next month’s meeting.
other
Discussion of email from Carl Riedeman’s legal representation regarding election.
adjournment
Upon motion made by Jeff Lawrence, seconded by Clay Nuhring, and carried, the meeting was adjourned to executive session at 10:14 p.m.
MAY BOARD MEETING
The meeting was opened by Chairman Steve AmRhein. Brian Scheidler kept the minutes of the meeting.
All board members were present, with Jeff Lawrence attending virtually. Also present: CEO Brett Abplanalp and employees Matt Raver and Crystal Greathouse. Guests: Erin Borissov with Parr Richey Frandsen Patterson Kruse and James Tanneberger with SCI REMC.
Upon motion made by Suzanne Parmer, seconded by Jason Barnhorst, and carried, the agenda was approved with amendments.
Safety Minute and Cool Moment
Brett Abplanalp presented two events we participated in as community support. The safety minute included the weekend storm restoration.
Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes
Upon motion by Clay Nuhring, seconded by Suzanne Parmer, and carried, the minutes for the April 28, 2022, board meeting were approved.
Accord Presentation
James Tanneberger spoke about Accord LLC and SCI’s fiber project.
CEO Update
Brett Abplanalp reported out the following:
The highlights of this past month are working on the meter pole project, annual member event preparation and strategic team updates. Abplanalp is in process of having one-on-ones with all employees.
April’s median temperature was 2.8% cooler than our five-year average with heating degree days 5.4% above our five-year averages. Our Hoosier Energy purchased energy was up 1.2% compared to our five-year average with demand 2.2% lower than our five-year average. Year-to-date energy sales to budget went from -3.35% under budget to -3.53%. There were no major storms for the month of April. Lost consumer hours were 80% below our five-year average. The number of outages were 36 compared to our five-year average of 47. Outage causes for the month were “trees – other”, then “trees – not in ROW.” Our field disconnects continue to trend down for the year as our collar and prepay disconnects are trending up. Our 90-day past due AR is trending up as normal this time of year, but at history lows.
Financial Update
Matt Raver reported out on April’s financials.
Revenues are under YTD budget by $410,661 but power costs are also under by $324,877, resulting in a gross margin under budget of $85,784 YTD. Controllable expenses are over budget roughly 2.5%.
At the end of April, total operating margins were $306,092 or $124,676 behind budget. We ended the current month with an ending cash balance of $885,484.
Broadband Next Steps
Brett Abplanalp presented the board with options on how to move forward with exploring the feasibility of broadband. After some discussion the board went into executive session at 8:31 p.m. and resumed general session at 8:50 p.m.
Dale Wernke made the motion to approve the engineering work needed to apply for grant dollars and the dollars for grant writing. The motion was seconded by Clay Nuhring and passed with a 6-2 vote.
Q1 Risk Management Report Out
Brett Abplanalp presented the report out of the Q1 risk register.
Delinquent Write Offs
Crystal Greathouse presented 2021 delinquent write offs as $11,837.63.
Jason Barnhorst made the motion to approve the write off of the stated amount. The motion was seconded by Suzanne Parmer and passed unanimously.
Financial Management Plan Discussion
Matt Raver discussed his recommendations for what would be included and the ranges he felt were appropriate.
The Retirement Security Plan and the 401(k) Pension
Brett Abplanalp presented the resolution that is required every five years for restatement of the retirement plans. Dale Wernke made the motion to approve the restatement of the retirement security plan and the 401(k) pension. The motion was seconded by Suzanne Parmer and passed unanimously.
Policy/Bylaws Reviews and Report Outs
Chairman Steve AmRhein reported out compliance to Policy 1-7: Director Education. The board discussed noncompliance.
Policy 3-3, 1-7, 1-16, 1-10, 1-14, 1-5, 1-7, and 10-1 were reviewed and presented with redlines.
Dale Wernke made the motion to approve the redlines. The motion was seconded by Suzanne Parmer and passed unanimously.
Affiliated Organizations
Hoosier Energy Board/Committee Update
Brett Abplanalp discussed updates from the Hoosier Energy board meeting, including tracker changes and MISO capacity.
Election and Ballot
Suzanne Parmer brought it to the board’s attention that the ballot does not state that there will be onsite voting at the annual meeting. Brett Abplanalp stated that voting is an option onsite. Members received information with the ballot and through normal communication channels that on-site voting was an option.
Parmer also asked if management was promoting and providing election information for certain candidates to employees of the REMC. Abplanalp stated that we do not promote any candidates. All election propaganda that is discovered is sent to all employees weekly, per employee request, so employees are aware and know what is being communicated.
Email from a Director
An email was sent to the board from Chris Tebbe, legal counsel for Director Carl Riedeman, wishing to document his opinion that the board has violated certain bylaws and policies. Board members asked Carl Riedeman if there was anything the board needed to do or address, nothing was brought up by any board member.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion made by Dale Wernke, seconded by Brian Scheidler, and carried, the meeting was adjourned to executive session at 9:41 p.m.
