DEC E MB E R
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2021
SECONEWS DEAR MEMBERS, I announced my retirement from SECO Energy earlier this year after 43 years of service. Time has flown, and this major life change is bittersweet and much more emotional than I’d ever anticipated. Much has changed over the last four decades, but growth has been the constant since our founding in 1938. When I came onboard as SECO’s Finance Director in 1979, our meter count totaled 36,823. In my first CEO Report at the 1991 Annual Meeting, I reported our meter count increased to 66,000 – a 44 percent increase in membership. In 1999, we reached the 100,000-meter milestone. At the end of 2017, we surpassed the milestone of energizing our 200,000th meter. As I write this farewell address, the company’s infrastructure value has just surpassed the $1 billion mark. The growth isn’t slowing down. In fact, The Villages recently earned the title as the fastest growing metropolitan area in the nation over the last decade with a Sumter County growth rate of 39%. Lake and Marion counties’ growth rates continue to climb at 29% and 13%, respectively. That kind of growth is rare in a not-for-profit electric utility business model and it’s one of the milestones that I am most proud of as I take my last walk from the building on January 3. Over the course of the four decades, our cooperative’s employee giving campaigns have raised more than $1 million for our local United Ways to improve quality of life for the members in our service territory. Our Pennies from Heaven program is a program whereby
members enroll to have their bills rounded up to the nearest dollar. The extra change is donated to the Pennies fund and the funds are used for bill payment assistance for our members and other worthy causes. The Pennies program has generated millions of dollars in our local area to help SECO members. As a Marine, I’m proud that we annually support the Toys for Tots campaign. We are a company of employees who have made a difference in the lives of others through not only their financial generosity, but also in their commitment to ensuring that you receive the most reliable, affordable electric service possible. Pinnacle examples of member satisfaction with our employees’ efforts are reflected in the three J.D Power awards we earned in 2015, 2016 and 2017. We’ve also been recognized by our members through increasing ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) ratings with a record-high 91 in 2020. We are both a statewide and national frontrunner in ASCI rankings.
DECEMBER 2021 | SECO NEWS
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