I would like to thank the members who participated in the 2023 annual election. We received nearly 1,200 member votes through mail-in or online ballots. Offering these options for the first time last year dramatically increased the number of members who were able to participate in the election process, and that number continued to grow this year.

The results of the election and bill credit winners are listed on page 6. I encourage you to view the annual membership meeting on our Marshall County REMC YouTube channel. During my speech, I give a high-level view of things that are happening in the electric industry. Those topics include the rapid shift toward increased electrification and decarbonization, our aging electric grid and the anticipated increased demand for clean energy sources like wind and solar, maintaining grid reliability, and of course, the rising costs and supply chain constraints we continue to
face daily.

I also discuss our new Marco substation, which is a multimillion-dollar substation located south of Argos on 18th Road. This new substation will relieve existing capacity constraints and provide the needed capacity to meet future needs. This substation will also give us much greater switching capabilities for power restoration during outage events and increased reliability. 

Lastly, I touch base on the work plan that will be completed over the next four years. This work plan addresses constraints within the system that need to be corrected to be able to handle future growth. This includes new three-phase tie lines, the replacement of old and undersized wire, and the continued utilization of our advanced metering infrastructure and smart grid fiber network to take advantage of the latest technology advancements for monitoring and controlling critical devices within our grid. We are also implementing new technologies to fight the ever-present threat of cyber security attacks.

I would like to thank you for not only being a member but also for taking the time to be a part of this year’s annual meeting. As a token of our appreciation, I invite you to join us this year on Wednesday, July 19, at the Marshall County 4-H Fair for our member appreciation day. More details will be provided in the July issue of Indiana Connection.