77TH ANNUAL MEETING RECAP

BY DAVID CHURCHWELL GENERAL MANAGER

Ithank all our members who attended K.C. Electric Association’s 77th Annual Meeting in Stratton. I know this is a busy time of year for our membership and I’m grateful for the members who could attend the meeting. It was a pleasure to see everyone as we presented an update on 2022 and the business of the association was conducted.

David Churchwell General Manager dchurchwell@kcelectric.coop

Bo Randolph Office Manager and CFO brandolph@kcelectric.coop

Darren Fox Operations Manager dfox@kcelectric.coop

George Ehlers Member Services Specialist and IT Manager gehlers@kcelectric.coop

Our employees are our greatest asset, and in June, K.C. Electric had two valued employees retire. Paul Norris, operations manager, retired after 31 years of service and Don Malone, meter technician, retired after 44 years of service to K.C. Electric. We wish both of these men the best in the next chapters of their lives.

We did not have any contested races for board positions this year. Incumbent directors who will serve another three-year term are Kevin Penny and Dan Mills from Kit Carson County, and Robert Bledsoe from Cheyenne County.

DAVID CHURCHWELL

than $1.29 million. Over the past five years, we have returned more than $7.2 million in capital credits to our members. Receiving capital credits is one of the many benefits of being a member of an electric cooperative.

ph 719-743-2431 tf 800-700-3123 fax 719-743-2396 web kcelectric.coop

I’m proud to say that K.C. Electric employees worked all of 2022 without experiencing a lost-time accident. Not only did they work the entire year without a lost-time accident, they also worked the entire year without any medical reportable incidents. This is quite an accomplishment considering the extreme weather and dangerous conditions they work in to keep the lights on.

K.C. Electric went another year without the need to implement a retail rate increase. In fact, K.C. Electric has not increased any of our electric rates since 2017. We have been fortunate that our wholesale power costs have remained stable. Our dedicated board and employees continue to make it a priority to keep costs down without impacting system reliability.

K.C. Electric continues to remain in sound financial condition and in 2022, the K.C. Electric Board of Directors approved a 4% December bill credit and general and estate capital credit retirements of more

Last year our wholesale power supplier, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, formed a rate design committee consisting of one representative from each of its 42 member systems. The rate design committee met 14 times and recently recommended a new rate to the Tri-State board. The Tri-State board has reviewed the rate committee’s recommendation and submitted a new rate to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in June. The new rate will result in a rate increase for all Tri-State member systems, likely beginning January 1, 2024. Increased regulation and inflationary pressures have caused upward rate pressure for Tri-State to the point that a rate increase is necessary.

Our annual cost of wholesale power is typically 70%–75% of our total annual expenses. Any increase in our cost of wholesale power will put upward pressure on the rates we charge you. We hired a rate consultant to conduct a cost of service study for K.C. Electric. A COSS analyzes our cost to serve each rate class and the cost components within each rate class and determines if the revenue generated by each rate class is covering its cost of providing service.

As an electric cooperative, we have cost considerations instead of profit motives when we design and implement rates. We design our rates to cover all expenses with a small margin left over. These margins are then distributed back to you, our memberowners, each year. The COSS will be completed in a couple of months. It is too early to know what impact this rate increase will have on each of our rate classes, but we will keep you informed as the year goes by.

During the meeting, K.C. Electric Board President Kevin Penny announced our 2023 scholarship recipients:

• Makayla Brossman — Cheyenne Wells High School — $1,000 from K.C. Electric

• Joseph Shean — Stratton High School — $1,000 from K.C. Electric

• Ty Scheler — Scheler Homeschool Academy — $750 from K.C. Electric

• Camden Bledsoe — Arriba-Flagler High School — $750 from K.C. Electric

• Daniel Tanner — Stratton High School

— $750 from K.C. Electric

• Allison Daly — Arriba-Flagler High School — $1,000 from Basin Electric

• Whitney Cure — Burlington High School — $500 from Tri-State G&T

• Jhoany Juarez — Burlington High School — $500 from Tri-State G&T

Congratulations to each of these scholarship recipients. We wish them good luck in their future endeavors.

Also at the annual meeting, Brianna Echols from Kit Carson entertained the crowd prior to our stretch break. It was a pleasure to have her sing a few songs throughout the meeting — she is a talented singer and songwriter.

As usual, we gave away a lot of door prizes throughout the meeting. Once again, the grand prize of $1,500 went unclaimed since the person whose name was drawn was not in attendance. Instead, five members in attendance each walked away with $100.

As the meeting ended, President Penny announced that the 2024 Annual Meeting will take place on Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Cheyenne Wells. We hope to see you there.

The electric industry in Colorado and throughout the entire nation is changing at a very rapid pace, and we must continue to adjust to these changes. I can assure you we will keep working hard to deliver the highquality service you expect and deserve from your cooperative.

Claim Your Savings

Each month, K.C. Electric Association members have a chance to claim a $20 credit on their next electric bill. All you must do is find your account number, call the Hugo office at 719-743-2431 and ask for your credit. The account numbers are listed below. How simple is that?

You must claim your credit during the month in which your name appears in the magazine (check the date on the front cover).

• Jess Solze, Hugo — 1111116000

• Michael Grinnan, Burlington — 1103460004

• Michelle Nestor, Hugo — 1111114301

• Laura Stone, Flagler — 533200001

In May, three members called to claim their savings: John F. Vavra, Burlington; Jonathon Brandon, Stratton; and Nicki Lueck, Stratton.