BACK IN 1998 I attended my first SEC Annual Meeting as an employee. It was April 7th - the same date as this year's Annual Meeting.

I won't step down as CEO until July 31 but I did want to use this space to repeat a vitally important message that I shared in my remarks at this year meeting. It's about something that has not changed since I started here and is unlikely to change in the future: That is, wholesale power costs, the single greatest factor in your bill, continue to rise dramatically. Your co-op does all it can to hold down operational costs but the cost of the power that we buy on behalf of all members, and resell to you on a not-for-profit basis, is out of our hands. Our wholesale power costs rose from $94.5 million in 2013 to $98.3 million for 2014.

Please do all you can to properly seal and insulate your home, to use energy wisely and to take advantage of the many resources that SEC offers you. We're just a phone call or email away.
 

Hitting the highlights

If you couldn't attend this year, or didn't stick around for the business meeting, allow me to recap for you:

• The co-op registered 3,827 members in attendance. Even with this turnout, registration went smoothly - a credit to SEC employees and to the truly cooperative members who attended. Thank you all!
  Members re-elected incumbent Trustees Walter L. Sanders (District 1), Don E. Coker (District 2) and Andy D. McKnight (District 3).

• We were pleased to announce that your co-op is returning $1.1 million in capital credits this spring. Capital credits, representing our extra revenues above operating expenses, are returned to members when it is feasible - another benefit of the cooperative way to doing business.

The opportunity of a lifetime
For the last 17 years, we have employed a combination of technology and talent at Santee Electric. You can rest assured that, whoever follows me as CEO, they'll have a great group to support them. I'm especially proud of my co-workers at SEC.  I sincerely thank the membership, including your member-elected Board of Trustees, for granting me the opportunity of a lifetime.

At next year's Annual Meeting, I'll be equally proud to stand among your ranks as a member of Santee Electric Cooperative. 

Floyd L. Keels
President and Chief Executive Officer