Capital holds annual MAC meeting

Eleven Capital Electric members braved 45-degree below

Member advisory committee members Ed McCarty (left), Milton Brown and Gary Ternes listen intently to reports on power supply and rate structures.

wind chills to attend a Member Advisory Committee meeting Jan. 29 at co-op headquarters. In spite of the blustery conditions, members seemed to appreciate the opportunity to learn about issues the co-op faced over the past year, including the service area agreement between Capital Electric and Montana-Dakota Utilities,
the building addition, power supply and heat rate updates, and more.

Lars Nygren, general manager, opened the meeting by presenting a map detailing the newly approved service area agreement. He said the locations Capital Electric will serve were chosen based on the locations of existing substations.

Doug Mork, member services manager, said the building addition is progressing nicely. If the weather allows construction to continue, he says workers are on target to complete the project by Sept. 15.

Nygren then discussed Capital Electric’s power suppliers, including Basin Electric Power Cooperative, Central Power Electric Cooperative and Western Area Power Administration. After discussing the impact of the drought and the need to invest in more generating plants and transmission lines, Nygren reported that Capital Electric had hired a company out of Minnesota to perform a rate study. He said the coop is also considering the option of whether or not to become a consolidated member of Central Power.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—the honeymoon is over,” Nygren said. “The members of Capital Electric have not had a general rate increase since March of 1985. That’s, unfortunately, about to change.”

Ron Lipp,manager of engineering and operations, then discussed the need to build a substation in Lincoln. He also detailed the work the line crews performed over the past year.

The co-op thanks Quirina Schmidt (left) for serving two consecutive three-year terms on the Charitable Trust board of directors. After serving one three-year term, member Edwin McCarty was unanimously reelected to serve another term. Patricia Ryberg will fill the position vacated by Schmidt.

Wes Engbrecht, director of communications and public relations, held an informal election to fill two positions on the board of directors for the Charitable Trust. The directors meet twice a year to review grants for the Operation Round Up program. Engbrecht thanked Quirina Schmidt, who had fulfilled two consecutive three-year terms and was not eligible to run again. The Member Advisory Committee nominated Edwin McCarty unanimously to serve a second term, and after a close vote, Pat Ryberg to serve her first.

To close the meeting, Nygren discussed the past year’s annual meeting and gave details about the June 3meeting. After serving piping hot pizza to all the participating members, the meeting was adjourned and they headed back out into the cold.