2023 Annual Report

FOCUSED

ON THE ROAD AHEAD

Randy Suess

President Jasen Bronec

PRESIDENT & CEO LETTER

AtInland Power and Light, our mission is our members. These words are more than just a phrase on a poster or letterhead. It’s a way of life and is ingrained in everything we do.

While our primary focus is providing you the electricity you use every day, the energy world continues to expand and we continue to learn to navigate ever-changing government mandates and new technologies. As a result, innovation, strategy and member experience remain our focus as we strive to effectively serve our members.

Since 1937, Inland Power has brought electricity to those who were passed over when investor-owned utilities began building their infrastructure at the beginning of the last century. OUR FOUNDERS SAW THE VALUE OF OWNING THEIR UTILITY PROVIDER AND WE PROUDLY CONTINUE THAT TRADITION TODAY. Your membership gives you ownership of your cooperative.

One of the perks of being a member-owner of your cooperative is Inland’s CA$H BACK program. Unlike investor-owned utilities that generate profits on behalf of shareholders, nonprofit electric cooperatives return any profits earned to their members in the form of capital credits. Each year the board evaluates

the financial condition of your cooperative to determine whether a refund is warranted.

These funds provided by our members are an important source of financing. They help pay for equipment and system maintenance and upgrades to provide you with the safe, reliable and quality service that you expect. By using these funds, we can avoid borrowing from other lenders.

While this report is a look back on 2023’s accomplishments and events, we are focused on the road ahead. Our energy landscape is ever-changing and we are poised to develop and grow right along with it.

As a utility of the future, we know that in order to provide the best experience possible for our members, it is imperative that we provide a positive and productive culture for our employees. Over the course of 12 months, a team of Inland Power employees, representing each department, embarked on a journey to identify the values that drive us to be there for all our members every day.

What resulted were six values known as the Inland Way. At Inland Power, we BAND TOGETHER, SHOW UP, BELIEVE IN THE GOOD OF OTHERS, GIVE GOOD VIBES ONLY, COMMIT TO UNCOMMON CANDOR, AND DEMONSTRATE EXTRAORDINARY CARE. These values are the code each employee strives to live by. We hold each other accountable and try to be the best we can for our members and each other.

Resiliency and dependability remain top of mind and importance to Inland Power’s leadership and employees. We continue to make strides on our long-term work

plan, which includes critical updates and expansions to substations and other infrastructure improvements. In addition to our annual work plan, it was another banner year for completing new service requests and managing our inventory, while achieving other goals highlighted throughout this annual report.

Maintaining a reliable system continues to grow increasingly costly. As an Inland Power member, your electric rates have long been amongst the lowest in the region. OUR GOAL IS TO MAINTAIN LOW RATES WHILE CONTINUING TO SUCCESSFULLY PROVIDE ALL OUR MEMBERS WITH SAFE AND RELIABLE ELECTRICITY. We understand the need to be proactive in our efforts to keep rates affordable, while improving our system infrastructure and distribution.

Although rate increases are never popular, they are necessary at times. Over the last two years, Inland Power has experienced elevated power supply cost, increased regulatory obligations and rising material/equipment costs. Not only are we facing unprecedented costs, but supply chain issues continue to plague operations. In some cases, major items like trucks and transformers can have a four-year wait list.

In this report, you will find examples of milestones we’ve achieved, a look at our financial situation plus much, much more. It is our pleasure to serve you as members of Inland Power. Always feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or to suggest a way that we can serve you better. We are focused on the road ahead and we look forward to continuing to make INLAND POWER YOUR TRUSTED ENERGY PROVIDER.

INLAND POWER BOARD PRESIDENT

INLAND POWER CEO

THE INLAND WAY

tHeSe vAlueS ARe tHe coRe to ouR co-op And HoW We SucceSSfully SeRve ouR MeMbeRS And eAcH otHeR.

ouR WHy:

becAuSe We cARe foR eAcH otHeR And tHoSe We SeRve. AlWAyS HAve, AlWAyS Will.

GRASSROOTS IN MOTION

As your electric cooperative, Inland Power takes pride in the ability to offer reliable and affordable electricity to its members. WE VALUE YOUR INTEREST AND THE INTERESTS OF THE COOPERATIVE AS A WHOLE, and that is why we continue to focus our time and resources towards fighting for you in Olympia and D.C.

Our government affairs team is focused on the road ahead and committed to developing and strengthening relationships with lawmakers to help influence sensible energy legislation and ensuring that your interests as a member are protected. In 2023, your Inland team had a contingency in Olympia and DC to fight on your behalf. The team emphasized the increasing carbon fees brought to our members through I-937, the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) and the Climate Commitment Act (CCA). They also emphasized the importance of protecting our power supply to avoid future blackouts and protecting the Lower Snake River Dams.

plAy A Role And StAnd WitH youR coopeRAtive!

ScAn HeRe to SiGn up foR tHe GRASSRootS Action teAM.

Our main focus remains - helping utilities keep rates affordable, helping protect our Pacific Northwest power supply and keeping you informed on important issues, like the threat to hydropower.

As an Inland Power member, we invite you to get involved and let your voice be heard. We have partnered with EveryAction, which is a platform to communicate with our membership. TOGETHER WE CAN HELP MAKE AN IMPACT ON THE ENERGY ISSUES AND THE CHALLENGES THAT OUR REGION AND NATION currently face.

We encourage you learn more and join the fight. Please take a moment to visit INLANDPOWER.COM/GRASSROOTS-ACTION Once you sign up, you will become a valued member of our Grassroots Action Team as we work together to advocate for our business, industry and way of life.

electRic coopeRAtiveS WeRe built on tHe iMpoRtAnce of people HelpinG people.

to leARn MoRe viSit, inlAndpoWeR.coM/coMMunity-foundAtion.

It’sOUR MISSION IS OUR MEMBERS

really very simple - our mission is our members! At Inland Power we understand the importance of people helping people and serving our membership. THROUGH THE INLAND POWER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION WE ARE ABLE TO NOT ONLY HELP MEMBERS, BUT THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT GIVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITIES WE SERVE.

In 2023, the Inland Power Community Foundation provided support to nearly 30 different organizations like West Plains Safety Alliance, YMCA Youth Sports, Second Harvest of the Inland Northwest, 4-H Palouse Area Robotics, and Habitat for Humanity, just to name a few.

In addition to various donations and sponsorships, each year the Inland Power Community Foundation distributes 15 - $1,000 college

scholarships to Inland Power members and their children. The Foundation also provides close to 100 livestock support requests from area 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) livestock show participants.

Inland Power is also a proud partner with Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners (SNAP) and in 2023 provided 585 grants for a total of $470,503 to Inland Power members participating in their program. In addition, Inland Power provided $83,000 to 278 families in 2023 through its own internal energy assistance program.

This giving is made possible through your donations and WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!

INLAND BY THE NUMBERS

38,239 MeMbeRS

46,841 MeteRS

15,407 MeteRS peR Mile of line

nuMbeR of tRAnSfoRMeRS nuMbeR of poWeR poleS

7,713 MileS of line 6.07 102,669 34,652

MeMbeRS enRolled in AutopAy

MeMbeRS enR in SMARtHub

23,685

eMployeeS

1,058

nuMbeR of SociAl MediA folloWeRS

MeMbeRS GivinG to tHe inlAnd poWeR coMMunity foundAtion

4,149

AnnuAl nuMbeR of MeMbeR SeRvice cAllS

13 ountieS SeRved

2,791

AveRAGe Weekly pHone cAllS

47,719

918

2023 FINANCIALS

learn where the numbers land.

nuMbeR of MeteRS

Revenue

2023 expenSeS

WHeRe doeS A dollAR of youR poWeR Go?

statement of revenues and margins

how our rates stack up

INLAND

POWER

IS A COOPERATIVE,

WHICH

MEANS

YOU

HAVE PARTIAL OWNERSHIP IN

YOUR UTILITY. That means you have a say in how your cooperative is run and a share in the profits. In 2023, our revenue outpaced our expenses. It is our goal to operate our cooperative in a progressive and efficient manner to meet the needs of all our members. After setting aside the BPA Prepayment transaction, total assets are $304,009,000, long-term debt is $85,934,000 and net margins were $1,828,000 in 2023. Your cooperative was also able to return $2 million in CA$H BACK (capital credits) to the membership.

RESIDENTIAL RATES FOR 2023

lucky to

WILDFIRE AND FIRE SAFETY MODE

Overrecent years, wildfires have taken a devastating toll for many Pacific Northwest communities and have become a reoccurring season for our region. Like many utilities, Inland Power has taken significant measures to combat the threat of wildfires through the development of a wildfire mitigation plan.

DEVELOPMENT OF OUR A DEDICATED VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IS ONE KEY ASPECT TO MITIGATING WILDFIRE RISK. Our team is consistently assessing areas of concern throughout our service territory. Strategic tree pruning and removal to keep lines clear can make a significant difference to ensure public safety and security of the grid.

We need our members to play a role in prevention as well. If you have a dead or dying tree or trees that you are concerned about on your property please reach out to our Vegetation Management team at (509) 789-4299.

let’S All do ouR pARt to keep ouR coMMunitieS SAfe. conSult youR locAl lAnd MAnAGeMent AutHoRitieS foR MoRe infoRMAtion And GuidAnce on WildfiRe RiSk MitiGAtion.

Inland Power closely monitors our region for high-risk wildfire area during warm and dry months. If necessary, we will place these areas on non-reclose or “fire safety mode” when necessary. When operating in fire safety mode, this automatic restoral of power functionality is disabled (non-reclose) in areas with elevated wildfire risk. This means that any service disruptions that would have normally been a momentary blink are instead sustained and require a crew to manually inspect and restore. Once activated, fire safety mode will remain in effect throughout the dry season and will be deactivated as burn bans are lifted and the cool weather returns.

We continue to make efforts to ENSURE SAFETY AND REMAIN VIGILANT in everything we do to prevent wildfires and protect our members and the communities we serve.

you cAn plAy A pARt in keepinG ouR RAteS AffoRdAble And ouR poWeR Supply pRotected.

ScAn HeRe to leARn MoRe.

HYDRO IS OUR POWER

The Pacific Northwest is fortunate to receive over 85 percent of its energy from numerous hydroelectric dams situated along area rivers. OUR DAMS HELP PRODUCE THE CLEAN AND AFFORDABLE ENERGY THAT HEAT OUR HOMES, LIGHT OUR BUSINESSES AND KEEP OUR ECONOMY GOING.

In 2020, Washington state passed the Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), which requires all state utilities to become carbonneutral by 2030 and 100 percent carbon-free by 2045. These are lofty mandates and Inland Power understands and it is committed to this law and a carbon-free future.

Pursuing and achieving this measure has created a focused action plan on protecting, maintaining and investing in our hydroelectric

system. While wind and solar are also beneficial renewable energy sources, their reliability is intermittent causing a limited amount of energy production. As a result, hydroelectricity serves as a clean, dependable and economical 24/7 source of power.

We remain determined in our mission to keep the hydroelectric dams of our region intact and we look to our membership to help us in this call to action. The Inland Power Board and leadership continue to explain the importance of protecting our power supply to legislators and in Olympia and Washington D.C. We encourage to you to learn more and take part in our Grassroots Action Team.

To learn more about how you can help and have a voice, visit INLANDPOWER.COM/GRASSROOTS-ACTION.

2023 OPERATIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

InlandPower is proud to serve as the largest electric cooperative in Washington state to nearly 47,000 meters. Our service territory includes 7,713 miles of line, with 102,669 power poles and 34,652 transformers throughout 13 counties of eastern Washington and northern Idaho.

Our region continues to see growth with close to 1,100 new Inland Power members in 2023. This number includes residential, commercial and irrigation members.

With over 38,000 members, Inland Power continues to expand and grow.

our infrastructure to ensure that we continue to meet the needs of our members. We have invested significantly in upgrading our systems. These improvements include:

• Transitioning lines in high-outage areas from overhead to underground.

• Automating re-closers that will allow for enhanced data and alerting to field crews.

• System hardening and installation of fault indicators that will trigger proactive maintenance to vulnerable materials.

RELIABILITY

Inland Power is committed to providing safe, reliable service. From time-to-time events beyond our control create outages. As demand for electricity continues to grow, we recognize the need to upgrade

• The continuation of modernizing substations to ensure we can meet our capacity needs as we experience ongoing growth and as we continue to be subjected to extreme weather events.

Our goal is to limit the number and length of outages for our membership. In 2023,

a full bReakdoWn of tHe leading cauSeS of outageS in 2023 We expeRienced tHRougHout ouR SeRvice teRRitoRy.

our overall system average interruption duration index (SAIDI) was 158 minutes. This is a significant decrease from our overall average of 246 minutes in 2017. Since 2020, we continue to see a reduction of this number and are focused on hitting an overall average of 120 minutes within the near future.

PROJECTS

In 2023 Inland Power’s operation and engineering departments focused on several major projects:

• The replacement of 189 transmission poles that span from Pomeroy to the Snake River substation.

• Added fire wrap to all transmission structures in the Inland Power system, along with a detailed inspection of all transmission lines to ensure all are in good working order.

• The removal of 2,109 hazardous trees throughout our service territory in October and November of 2023.

EQUIPMENT

• Emphasis on completing work orders for those members affected by the Gray Road and Oregon Road fires. At the end of 2023, Inland Power completed 71 out of the 99 work order requests for those rebuilding their homes.

• Completed the rebuilds of the Chambers substation, just west of Pullman, and the Moab substation, near Newman Lake. These rebuilds included upgrades to the voltage regulators, transformer connections and other vital components of the substation structure.

• Replacement of laminated wood pole failures between our Egypt and Larene substations, along Highway 25, north of Davenport. These prematurely failed poles were replaced in December with little interruption. Teamwork and assistance from our members to reduce loads to ensure work could be completed quickly helped make this planned outages short in length.

Our goal is to provide our crews and substation teams with everything they need to keep your power on and to have the materials needed to strengthen and harden our system. Our purchasing and warehouse team carefully assesses the needs of our operations and engineering teams to forecast material and purchasing needs for current and future years. As we continue to face unprecedented costs of materials, we also battle long supply chain wait times. In some cases, our team is preordering transformers three to four years out. Careful consideration and thoughtful planning allow us to make informed purchasing decisions. INLAND

2023 boARd of tRuSteeS

GALE RETTKOWSKI

diStRict 1

boaRd of tRuStee WilbuR, Wa

GARRY ROSMAN

diStRict 2

boaRd vice pReSident davenpoRt, Wa

CHRIS DAVIS

diStRict 3

boaRd of tRuStee colbeRt, Wa

KRISTINA BAHR

diStRict 4

boaRd tReaSuReR Spokane valley, Wa

RANDY SUESS

diStRict 5

boaRd pReSident Spokane valley, Wa

JIM KROLL

diStRict 6

boaRd SecRetaRy colfax, Wa

BRIAN SLAYBAUGH

diStRict 7

boaRd of tRuStee pomeRoy, Wa