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

All board members were present. Also present were CEO Brett Abplanalp and employees Matt Raver, Crystal Greathouse, Jeanne Loechle, and Sam Ruf. Special guests from Hoosier Energy, Donna Walker, CEO, and Rob Horton, COO, were in attendance.

Dale Wernke moved to approve the agenda. Suzanne Parmer seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

HOOSIER ENERGY PRESENTATION

Hoosier Energy personnel gave an update on events at Hoosier Energy, including patronage for DCREMC. There was also a question-and-answer session.

APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES

Parmer moved to approve the minutes from the December 27, 2023, board meeting. Clay Nuhring seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

CEO UPDATE

Abplanalp updated the board on strategic projects and then covered the company metrics as prepared by the CTO. December’s median temperature was 5.4% warmer than our five-year average. Hoosier purchased energy was down -4.1% when compared to our five-year average, with demand -4.6% lower than our five-year average. Year-to-date (YTD) energy sales ended -2.41% under budget. There was no major storm for the month of December. Lost consumer hours were 409 compared to our 5-year average of 3,783. The number of outages was 37 compared to our five-year average of 57.

FINANCIAL UPDATE

Raver gave the financial update. Net utility plant increased $361,299 in December and our current equity is 62.45%. Revenues are over the YTD budget, and power costs are over, resulting in a gross margin under the budget of $1,697,589 YTD. Controllable expenses are under budget by $299,239. The cash flow statement shows a beginning balance of $1,823,490, and we ended the current month with a net decrease in cash of $1,235,932, resulting in an ending cash balance of $587,558.

The board moved to an executive session at 7:33 p.m. to discuss fiber.

The board came out of executive session at 9:31 p.m.

NEW BUSINESS

Redlines were presented to policy 10-03: sick leave.

The board moved to an executive session at 9:36 p.m. to discuss the policy.

The board came out of executive session at 9:40 p.m.

Parmer moved to approve the redlines after the changes were made to policy 10-03, which would value unused sick time after the age of 65. Steve Nobbe seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Nuhring announced that he will not be running for re-election this June in District 8. With a board member stepping down, the Bylaws state board districts will reduce the board and the nominating committee from eight (8) to seven (7) members.

Parmer moved to adjourn the meeting. Nobbe seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 9:57 p.m.