Approximately 500 individuals attended Grundy Electric Cooperative’s 72nd Annual Membership Meeting on Thursday at the South Harrison R-II High School in Bethany.
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Prior to the business meeting, members enjoyed the evening meal served by the Harrison County 4-H members and entertainment by John Green’s Green River Band of Pattonsburg. Members also browsed the information booths and visited with employees of Grundy Electric Cooperative, Mid-States Services, LLC and Mid-West Refined Fuels, LLC. Various booths exhibited products and services available to GEC members. Included were rebates, energy efficiency information, internet, appliances and cell phones. The GEC Community Foundation, Inc. booth included information on grants and Operation Round Up. Associated Electric Cooperative provided information about generation and nuclear energy. Representatives from MySource Meter assisted with MySource Meter member registration.
My SourceMeter is a new web-based program that allows members to monitor their daily electric usage.
Bethany VFW Post 2176 presented the colors and led the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag. Pastor Trent Wilhite of the Blue Ridge Christian Church of Blue Ridge gave the invocation. Peggy Boulware, corporate development manager of the cooperative, introduced special guests and the GEC Board of Directors.
Grundy Electric Cooperative Board President Dan Lentz presided over the business meeting. Members elected three directors to serve a three-year term. Incumbent Tom Ewing, representing Area #3 (Ringgold, Decatur & Wayne counties); incumbent Richard Moore of Princeton, representing Area #4 (Mercer County) and incumbent Marvin Harding of Ridgeway, representing Area #5 (Harrison and portions of Daviess and Gentry counties) were re-elected. Members approved the proposed by-law amendment eliminating director tenure as recommended by the Board of Directors.
Lentz welcomed and thanked members for the attendance and participation in their cooperative’s annual business meeting. President Lentz discussed key industry ratios. Lentz shared comparisons between Grundy Electric and cooperatives nationwide. In 2010 the average outage duration for all cooperatives in the United States was 188.64 minutes. Grundy’s average was only 126.35 minutes. Out of 40 cooperatives in Missouri, only 4 had a shorter outage duration that GEC.
Lentz also stated that during the past three years Grundy’s service availability index was 99.99 percent. Lentz invited members to attend the October Member Appreciation Days to be held Oct. 25-27.
General Manager Scott Wilson updated members on three specific programs to help lower their monthly electric bills. The Peak Alert Notification program informs members to use one large appliance at a time of peak periods during extreme heat and cold weather. He thanked members that heard these notices and reduced their electric consumption. Wilson discussed the Cooperative’s Take Control and Save Program. This program includes Grundy’s rebate program and the promotion of compact fluorescent light bulbs. Wilson also introduced the new MySource Meter program, a free online application that members can use to view their daily energy use. This tool can help members determine the effects of extreme weather and/or the installation of energy-saving measures such as caulking and adding insulation.
Grundy Electric Cooperative Directors held a re-organizational meeting in which the following officers were elected: Dan Lentz, President; Joe Hartley, Vice President; Lewis Jones, Secretary; Richard Moore, Treasurer; Marvin Harding, Assistant Secretary. Other board members include: Tom Ewing, Jack Clark, and Eric Woodard.