PLYMOUTH, NH – Despite the economic downturn that slowed growth and pinched revenues in 2008, New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) is in the best financial shape of its 70-year life, company officials reported at the 2009 Annual Meeting of Members.
Speaking to approximately 200 members and guests at the Plymouth Regional Senior Center, NHEC President/CEO Fred Anderson said a year of storms – both natural and financial – resulted in declining kilowatt-hour sales and expensive system repairs. The December 2008 ice storm and July 2008 tornado caused a combined $3 million worth of damage to the Co-op’s electrical distribution system, he said, 75% of which was recovered from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“Despite all the difficulties, NHEC’s equity to assets ratio is as good as it’s ever been and we’ve been able to weather the downturn with no impact on service. In fact, we achieved our highest-ever equity – 25% by 2009,” Anderson said.
A strong equity position means the Co-op can rely less on the need to borrow money to finance operations and can become financially independent, remarked NHEC Board member and Treasurer Dave Talbot of North Woodstock.
“If we can’t avoid nature’s storms we can at least minimize the effect of storms created by an economy in turmoil,” he said, noting that NHEC still realized a 3.9% margin in 2008 on operating revenues of $145,439,000.
NHEC Board Chairman Earl Hansen of Holderness offered members a vision of NHEC’s future, detailing the company’s plans to take advantage of sweeping technological changes happening now in the electric industry.
NHEC is in the midst of a multi-year effort to install Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), he said, which is essential if NHEC is to bring the benefits of “smart grid” technologies to its members.
When the AMI project is completed, every electric meter in the Co-op system will have two-way communications with Co-op headquarters. Meters will report their own readings as well as outages, he said, and give members a better understanding of how much electricity they are using, when they are using it and what they are using it to power. With AMI in place, NHEC can explore different rate structures that offer members incentives to use electricity during off-peak hours, saving them money and reducing peak demands on the New England electrical grid.
In the wake of huge outages during the 2008 ice storm, Hansen said NHEC is actively reviewing new ways to communicate with members, including using Twitter, Facebook and other Internet based options.
Hansen also touted NHEC’s Social & Environmental Responsibility programs that are offering rebates to members who install renewable energy systems. NHEC is also “committed to ensuring that our power supply purchases include as much renewable energy as is feasible because it is the right thing to do,” he said.
“Renewable costs are on the decline while fossil fuels are on the incline. We will pursue a more aggressive approach to obtaining a cleaner/renewable power supply in the coming years. While striving to diversify our power supply, we will do so prudently so that the cost of Co-op Power remains affordable for members,” Hansen added.
Also announced at Annual Meeting were the results of balloting to elect four members of the NHEC Board of Directors. A total of 10,447 ballots were cast by members, who re-elected four incumbent Board members who were running unopposed. Re-elected to three-year terms on the 11-member Board were Charles “Chuck” Braxton of Meredith, Kenneth Colburn of Meredith, Sharon Davis of Campton and Dave Talbot of North Woodstock.
Also announced at the Annual Meeting was the winner of a vehicle that was awarded to one member who returned his or her ballot to the Co-op. John Howe of Jackson was selected in a drawing to receive the Jeep Cherokee Sport that is being retired from the Co-op fleet.
