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2011 Annual Meeting Cool breezes and a sea of cars surrounded a jovial crowd as members of Clay Electric Co-operative, Inc. gathered at Charley Brown Park Fairgrounds for the 67th Annual Meeting. John Meng, executive vice president and general manager for the rural electric cooperative gave members a brief but thorough update of the advances made to better their service. He explained how Clay Electric’s wholesale power supplier, Southern Illinois Power Cooperative (SIPC) entered into a partnership with seven partners to construct a generating plant at Marissa, Ill. known as the Prairie State Energy Campus. It is a combination of two generating units with the coal supply connected to the plant by a conveyor from the Lively Grove mine. He stressed to members that this new plant is the “cleanest burning coal-fueled plant in the United States.” The first unit of the facility is expected to begin producing electricity by the end of the year with the second unit operational by mid-year 2012. The good news is that 4,000 construction jobs were created during the peak construction of the plant. A total of 547 permanent jobs will result. The reality of the advances, however, is that wholesale power to the members of SIPC will result in increased rates for Clay members. Clay, Meng said, has been working with the engineering department at the AIEC, the statewide association representing rural electric cooperatives, to do a cost of service study. It has been calculated that the increase will be no more than 7 percent. “It is felt that this increase will be sufficient to take care of the increased cost in wholesale power rates for 2012 and 2013,” Meng said. To help members understand impact on their bills, he said with average usage of 800 kWhs, the average bill will see an increase of approximately $8 per month. Meng also thanked members for their efforts a year ago when they contacted Congress to encourage them to consider the impact of “cap and trade” legislation on members. “I believe this is one of the many reasons the U.S. Senate took no action last year on any of the bills that were under consideration for climate legislation.” The Environmental Protection Agency is also attempting to put new climate regulations in place. Meng said SIPC will be faced with these as early as January 2012, and that compliance will lead to increased costs to members. He assured members that as soon as the cooperative learns the costs from the new regulations that the information will be passed on to them. Members will be notified through Illinois Country Living Magazine if timing allows. “The first bill you receive with the adjustment of rates will be about the middle of February,” Meng said, apologizing to members for not having answers, but explaining that nothing is conclusive to date. Meng expressed gratitude to members for their patience and kindness during inclement weather in 2011. A spring ice storm and several wind storms have caused outages. Meng said members couldn’t have been nicer, many sending cards of encouragement and thanks and also providing treats to help linemen and others who worked consistently to restore power. “We are encouraged and uplifted by your acts of kindness and your words of appreciation,” Meng said. Other business included:
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