Southeastern Electric March 2020 Vol. 20 No. 11 Census 2020: Be Counted. It Matters. Page 8 Safety Shines at Stock Show Page 12 MANAGER’S REPORT 2020 Vision We just came back from the South Dakota Rural Electric Association (SDREA) annual meeting and legislative dinner in Pierre, S.D., where all the electric cooperatives in South Dakota have the oppor- tunity to meet with our legislators to discuss key legislation. This year the electric cooperatives will be supporting legislation setting more defined rules for municipal utility takings of electric coopera- tive service territory. SDREA’s annual meeting theme was “2020 Vision” and as you can see, I used that for this newsletter and will use it for our 2020 strategic planning session in March and again for our annual meeting theme in Lennox, S.D., at the high school facilities on Thursday evening June 4, 2020. I know, you aren’t even thinking about the June annual meeting yet with the -20° degree wind chill/snow days we have experienced over the past month, but I am sure that a big share of you are thinking about the need for warmer weather!! Well, we are planning for that warmer weather for Brad Schardin our annual meeting and we encourage you to put that date on your calendar and plan to bring your neighbors for more information about your electric cooperative. General Manager [email protected] Thinking of that perfect “2020 Vision,” your board of directors took some extended time over the past couple months to look at your director representation on your elected board of directors. Over the past year, three board members (Leslie Mehlhaff – District 1, Richard Olsen – District 7 and Patrick Scheier – District 9) have indicated that they would not be seeking re-election at the 2020 annual meeting. Based on those discussions, the board felt that the timing was right to redistrict and that it could be accomplished at this time without any major board member disruption while reducing the board size from 10 board members down to nine. In addition to those two Thinking of that items, the board felt that redistricting could provide better representation for our members as a whole. Taking all those items into consideration, action was taken to redistrict and open two new perfect “2020 director districts while combining three existing districts into adjoining district areas. Please look at Vision,” your the article in this magazine for more details or refer to the recent billing insert sent to all members on the board-approved director redistricting. You will have two new director districts and a board of combined director district up for nomination/election beginning with nominating petitions directors took available as of Feb. 4, 2020. Those petitions are due by noon, April 20, 2020, and then your voting/election of those candidates to serve on your board of directors will be completed at the some extended annual meeting on June 4, 2020. time over the In addition to those items, we encourage you to take some time to study our 100 percent renewable past couple energy options through your electric cooperative. The Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) program utilizes the benefits of our power generation mix to provide members with certified months to look renewable electric power for your home, farm or business. Along with our current mix of hydro- at your director electric and wind power generation, your cooperative power supply system is accepting bids for up to 300 MW of electrical energy supplied from solar generation. With renewable energy resources representation becoming a bigger part of our power generation mix, Southeastern is allocated RECs each year on your elected based on our electric sales. Those RECs over the years have historically been sold on the open market to larger companies so that they can legally claim their facilities were utilizing renewable board of directors. energy. Traditionally, those companies like Amazon, Walmart, Facebook and others have purchased these RECs to meet their corporate goals and we are now making those RECs available to all Southeastern members. Please give us a call or go to www.southeasternelectric.com to sign up for purchasing RECs to support the renewable energy investments made by your electric coopera- tive power supply system. Last, but not least, we will be working hard to sharpen our “2020 Vision,” annual meeting reports and programs for you! We encourage you to plan ahead, look to the future and keep us informed of the activities that you have in the works for your home, farm or business expansions over the coming months! In addition to that, please give us a call with any questions you may have about your electric cooperative and, oh yeah, I can’t forget to have all of you “Think Spring” and we look forward to visiting with you again next month or somewhere in between!!! 2 Cooperative Connections | March 2020 NOTICE Southeastern Electric IMPORTANT NOTICE TO THE MEMBERS OF (ISSN No. 1531-1058) SOUTHEASTERN From Board President Don Heeren General Manager: Brad Schardin [email protected] Based on the authority granted to the board of directors in the Bylaws and as part of our fiduciary duty to ensure equitable board representation Editor: Brett Snyders, from the membership, we have taken action to reconstitute the director [email protected] voting districts. This decision also coincides with the upcoming retire- ment of three directors from the board (Les Mehlhaff, Richard Olsen and Board of Directors Pat Scheier) when their terms expire in June 2020. In reconstituting the Don Heeren, President director voting districts, the board also acted to reduce the number of Steve Holmberg, Vice President director districts from 10 to nine. Please see the map of the new director Chris Hofer, Secretary voting districts below. Pat Scheier, Treasurer Director Voting District No. 1 will be up for election in June 2020 with Robert Wollmann no incumbent. District No. 1 shall consist of Wall Lake, Wayne, Sioux Leslie Mehlhaff Falls and Splitrock townships in Minnehaha County, S.D. Richard Olsen John Ostraat Director Voting District No. 2 will be represented by Robert Wollmann. Daryl Terveen Director Voting District No. 3 will be represented by Don Heeren. Johnathan Wildeboer Director Voting District No. 4 will be represented by Chris Hofer and up for election in June 2020. District No. 4 shall consist of Delapre www.southeasternelectric.com West Township in Lincoln County, S.D. 1-800-333-2859 Director Voting District No. 5 will be represented by John Ostraat. Director Voting District No. 6 will be represented by Johnathan Wildeboer. Director Voting District No. 7 will be up for election in June 2020 with no incumbent. District No. 7 shall consist of Delapre East and Springdale West townships in Lincoln County, S.D. Director Voting District No. 8 will be represented by Steve Holmberg. @SE_Electric Director Voting District No. 9 will be represented by Daryl Terveen. Franklin facebook.com/ At the June 4, 2020, annual Orland ^_ Miner Co Lake Co ^_ ^_Epiphany membership meeting in Lennox, Unityville southeasternelectric ^_ members will elect directors to Spencer Salem SOUTHEASTERN ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE CONNECTIONS ^_Farmer ^_ ^_ represent Districts 1, 4 and 7. ^_Montrose is published monthly by Southeastern Electric Cooperative, DISTRICT 9 ^_Humboldt PO Box 388, 501 S. Broadway Ave., Marion, SD 57043-0388 Members in Districts 1, 4 and 7 McCook Co Emery Canistota Brandon for its members. Families subscribe to Southeastern Electric ^_ ^_ Rumpus Ridge ^_ Rockport Colony ^_ Ellis who are interested ^_ ^_ Sioux Falls Cooperative Connections as part of their electric cooperative Bridgewater Pumpkin Center ^_ Stanley Corner DISTRICT 1 East Sioux Falls ^_ ^_ ^_ Rowena Hanson Co ^_ ^_ membership. Southeastern Electric Cooperative Connec- in running for a Minnehaha Co Dolton Monroe New Elm Springs Colony ^_ ^_ ^_Shindler Dimock ^_ tions‘ purpose is to provide reliable, helpful information to ^_ DISTRICT 4 DISTRICT 7 ^_Tea Harrisburg board position must ^_Clayton ^_ electric cooperative members on electric cooperative matters Marion ^_Milltown ^_ DISTRICT 5 Parker and better rural living. Subscription information: Electric Parkston ^_ ^_ ^_Chancellor circulate a nominating Tschetter Colony Lennox ^_ Freeman Wolf Creek ^_ cooperative members devote 50 cents from their monthly ^_ ^_ Naomi Worthing DISTRICT 3 ^_ ^_ Hutchinson Co ^_Canton electric payments for a subscription. Nonmember subscrip- petition and collect Turner Co Beardsley Hurley DISTRICT 6 ^_ DISTRICT 2 ^_ tions are available for $12 annually. Periodicals Postage Paid ^_Davis Lincoln Co Turkey Ridge Fairview at least 15 signatures ^_Olivet Menno ^_ ^_ at Marion, SD 57043 and at additional mailing offices. Tripp ^_ ^_ ^_Hooker Kaylor Maxwell Colony Viborg from members in ^_ ^_ Moe POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Southeastern James River Pearsons Corner ^_ ^_ ^_ Hudson Norway Center ^_ Electric Cooperative Connections, PO Box 388, Marion, SD Jamesville Midway (135) Centerville ^_ their voting district. Yankton Co ^_ ^_ ^_ Beresford Mayfield Irene 57043-0388; telephone (605) 648-3619; fax (605) 648-3778; Vedin^_ Corner^_ ^_ ^_ DISTRICT 8 e-mail [email protected] Petitions are available Alcester Clay Co Riverside ^_ Wakonda ^_ ^_ Empire Design assistance by SDREA ^_Emmet from Southeastern beginning Feb. 4, 2020, and Alsen ^_ Big Springs ^_Nora ^_ Union Co must be returned no later than Monday, April 20, 2020. ^_Midway (127) Spink For more information, please contact Southeastern. ^_ March 2020 | Cooperative Connections 3 SAFETY TIPS Extension Cord Safety Tips Not enough cord for your lamp or radio to reach the nearest outlet? Just plowing through the junk drawer for an extension cord? This may not be a good idea. Extension cords can be very helpful in delivering power right where we need it.