Bartholomew County Rural Electric Membership Corporation (BCREMC), headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, is a member-owned electric cooperative that has supplied electric power to member-owners in Bartholomew County since its incorporation on May 19, 1937. Bartholomew County REMC also serves portions of Jennings, Jackson and Decatur counties.
The cooperative is wholly-owned by the members it serves and is governed by a board of directors elected by memberowners in each of the 7 voting districts. There is a staff of 33 employees to serve the many residential, small farm, business and industrial accounts.
Bartholomew County REMC has 1,240 miles of line, serving its member-owners and 12,030 active metered services as of 12-31-22.
Bartholomew County REMC remains committed to the cooperative spirit and continually strives to go beyond the members’ expectations to provide the best electric service possible.
Dear Cooperative Members, Cooperatives are collective problem solvers, community assets and hold a distinct place among electric utilities – powering more than half of the country’s landmass and owned by the 42 million Americans they serve. Powering homes and businesses is becoming more complex every day. At Bartholomew County REMC we create solutions –cooperative solutions. 2022 proved to be a challenging year for the energy industry. A combination of global and national issues severely impacted supply costs, creating one of the most volatile environments for fuel and power prices in the last 20 years. However, Bartholomew County REMC met these challenges head on with cooperative solutions. Proactive strategies to give back to members smoothed the cost pressures on rates, protecting against the volatility of wholesale power cost increases for our members. Capital credit refunds totaling $2.2 million and implementing the Utilities Receipts Tax (URT) repeal relieved most of the rising costs of power for our members. With cooperative solutions, the 17% increase in wholesale power costs was mitigated for our members.
2022 was a solid year financially for the co-op, with operating revenue at $47.9 million and $299,000 in margins. We stayed under budget in both capital and controllable expenses and held equity at 58.2%.
Our employees experienced great strides in furthering their education, job training, and professional development. Nearly 40% participated in continuing education, and others returned to school for personal growth. We had four employees graduate from the HEATS (Hoosier Energy Apprentice Training and Safety) program, while several others earned certificates and completed leadership programs throughout the year. See page 16 for more of our 2022 accomplishments and achievements.
In 2022, we held our second drive through member appreciation event, in addition to a food drive. We had 625 cars visit us and handed out 1,300 Chick-Fil-A cards, and 1,400 bags of kettle corn! With help from our members, we delivered over 1,200 pounds of food to local food pantries. Thank you for your generosity. We also hosted our 3rd virtual annual meeting and grew our in-person day at the fair event. It was good to see you at these events.
In 2022, we stayed focused on our mission to exceed in overall performance and execution in member satisfaction, safety, reliability, and cost control, meeting all 8 of our corporate goals. We continued to offer exemplary service to our members and received an ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) score of 88. We maintained consistent reliability numbers, while our average outage duration per customer improved to just 54 minutes (excluding major events). More than a third of our members did not experience an outage throughout the year, as our average number of outages per member was .6. Further, our focus on employee engagement and satisfaction resulted in an all-time high score of 8.3 (out of 10) in the Employee Satisfaction Index.
With continuous investments in vegetation management and system grid upgrades, our average restoration time reached a new record low of just 88 minutes. Our line workers work diligently to maintain a quick response time by moving to any outage in less than 9 minutes and are proud to provide that level of service to our members.
Over the past few years, we’ve risen to meet new challenges and strengthen safety practices at our coop. We have strict safety measurements and goals. Ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees and members remains our
highest priority. In 2022, we surpassed our goals with no injuries and no days away or restricted duty.
We know that our core job is to keep the lights on, but our passion is the community. BCREMC directors and employees play an active role in providing cooperative solutions within our community. BCREMC contributed to programs and efforts, giving more than $27,420 in Operation Round Up grants and $22,000 to the United Way in payroll deduction and corporate gifts. See pages 10-11 for more details on our community giving.
Having energy efficient appliances and features in your home can directly impact your bill, which is why we continue to offer an incentive program to help members where it counts. In 2022, we rebated over $72,600 to our residential members and $20,700 to our commercial/industrial customers through our incentive program, provided by our wholesale power provider, Hoosier Energy.
At Bartholomew County REMC, our employees are committed to the membership, offering cooperative solutions to complex issues that come our way. Providing safe, reliable, and affordable energy is always part of the cooperative solution, and what we will continue to deliver. Thank you for the privilege to serve you now and into the future.
Curt Burbrink President, Board of Directors
Courtney Metzger Chief Executive Officer
Since 1997, Operation Round Up has provided grants to help organizations, as well as individuals, in Bartholomew County REMC’s service territory.
Bartholomew REMC Membership Community Trust, Inc. oversees Operation Round Up, a voluntary initiative, allowing BCREMC members to donate funds to help those in need by rounding up their electric bills to the nearest dollar.
The program’s success relies on members’ support and the dedication of the Bartholomew County REMC Membership Community Fund’s Board of Trustees. The Trustees’ primary duty is to evaluate applications quarterly and determine how to best distribute the money. Operation Round Up grants awarded — from Bartholomew County REMC members rounding up electric bills to the next highest dollar — reached a grand total of $930,000 since the program started in 1997.
Gary Dismore, Chair
Tammy Hege, Vice-Chair
Kim Speaker, Secretary/Treasurer
Jill Forster
Bartholomew County REMC employees and directors have been United Way supporters for many years. The total contribution in 2022 to the United Way of Bartholomew County campaign including payroll deductions and other contributions was $22,000.
Brett Ferry
Jason Schroer
Leighton Turner
Bartholomew County REMC proudly supports “Wreaths Across Bartholomew County” organized by the Sons of the American Legion, Post 24. This initiative strives to cover all veterans’ grave markers with a Christmas wreath in December.
In conjunction with our member appreciation event in October, members donated 1,200 pounds of food. BCREMC employees sorted and delivered the items to the local food banks: Hope Community Center, Salvation Army and Love Chapel.
In 2022, Bartholomew County REMC awarded three scholarships that are administered through the Heritage Fund. The recipient for the traditional BCREMC scholarship of $1,500 was Eliza Whiteside, a 2022 graduate of Columbus East High School. Her intended major is Business Administration at Indiana University.
The second recipient, a non-traditional student going back to school, was Kathleen Whipker, currently pursuing a major in American Sign Language Interpretation at IUPUI.
The recipient of the $5,000 BCREMC Alex Barkes Memorial Scholarship was Karissa Miller, also a Columbus East High School graduate. She is pursuing a degree at Indiana University in Sports Management & Marketing.
Columbus East High School students, Owen Hebert and Mason Whipker represented Bartholomew County REMC on the 2022 Indiana Electric Cooperative Youth Tour to Washington, D.C., in June. The Indiana delegation of 69 students representing 24 Indiana electric cooperatives joined more than 1,800 other students from 42 other states on the Youth Tour.
Students visited the Flight 93 and Pentagon 9/11 memorials, Gettysburg National Military Park, Arlington National Cemetery, the Smithsonian museums, the National Mall memorials, the National Museum of the Marine Corps and more.
Delegates also spent a day on Capitol Hill where they met with members of Indiana’s congressional delegation.
Upon establishing a login with SmartHub, we can deduct your monthly bill from your credit card, checking or savings account. Login with your account information or register at bcremc.smarthub.coop.
Online. Or Through SmartHub App.
Simply go to bcremc.smarthub.coop/PayNow to pay your bill without registering. You can pay online directly using your credit/debit card, or checking or savings account. Payments can also be made through our SmartHub app. Download our app by searching SmartHub in your app store.
Office. Stop by Our Office to Pay.
You may stop by our office Monday through Friday during the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to make your payment at 1697 W. Deaver Road. There is also a drop box at this location to drop off payments any time.
Call our automated payment number anytime 24/7 to pay over the phone. We accept MasterCard, Visa, Discover, American Express and bank account information over the secure phone line. Automatic payments may also be set up with these methods.
Downtown Location. Drop off at Horizon Bank. You may drop your payment off at Horizon Bank located at 655 Third St. A drop box is located on the far right lane of the drive through, specifically for BCREMC payments.
USPS. Mail your Payment via U.S. Postal Service. Mail your payment with your remittance to our lock-box service located on your bill remittance or mail to P.O. Box 467, Columbus, IN 47202. Please allow time for payment to be received before the due date to avoid a late fee.
If you are not able to pay your bill, a short term arrangement may be set up. This must be done online or in the office prior to the disconnect date on your bill. $50 or 10% of your total bill (which ever is more) is due when signing an arrangement. If an arrangement is broken, you will not be allowed to set up another for 12 months.
Get on-the-go access to your account information, pay your bill, see your usage, or report an outage through our mobile app for iPhone®, iPad® and also Android™ phones and tablets. Search SmartHub in your app store.
BCREMC offers a number of options to help members manage electric bills. Consider the time-of-use rate, levelized billing or pre-pay option.
We offer cash incentives for discount LED lighting, heat pumps, geothermal systems and heat pump water heaters. See our website or incentive program brochure for complete details.
Meter base surge protection is available to protect surges from entering your home through power lines.
Connect your generator at the meter base with this connector and control your backup power through your breaker box. No need for a transfer switch or additional wiring.
Register or login with SmartHub to receive a variety of notifications that provide information about your account and payment activity.
Let us know if you have specific life-support equipment powered by electricity at your residence. Written and signed documentation from your doctor is required stating that loss of power would be a serious and immediate threat to the health or safety of the designated person.
Show your card at any participating business or pharmacy and receive the discount. It’s that easy! And it’s FREE! Cards are available at the BCREMC office or can be mailed to you.
My
Bartholomew County REMC is excited to offer My Solar, a cooperative solar program. Invest in solar energy by buying a panel for $500 and receive the credit for what the panel produces or pay an extra 1¢ per kWh for a green energy option.
40% of employees participated in continuing education
Refunded $2.2 million in capital credits to mitigate rising wholesale power costs
4 apprentices earned Journeyman status
5 statewide or local leadership certificates achieved
Achieved ACSI score of 88
Implemented the Utility Receipts Tax repeal
Maintained adequate stock of materials necessary to serve our members
District 1
District 5
Committed to county-wide Broadband initiative
Opened our EV workplace charging lab
Larry Hoeltke
District 2
Dr. John D. Harker, Vice President
District 3
Dan Fleming, Treasurer
District 4
Completed a Hope and German Township line build project to provide redundancy to members
Brett Glick
Ron Arnholt
District 6
Curt Burbrink, President
District 7
Janet Anthony, Secretary
