Covington Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees Charles Grace District I - Dozier
Dr. Bill King Asst. Sec./Treas. District II - Andalusia
W.B. Smith Chairman District III - Brantley
C. Heflin Smith Vice Chairman District IV - Kinston
Trey Martin District V - Enterprise
Patricia Janasky Sec./Treas. District VI - Samson
Headquarters: 18836 US Hwy 84 Andalusia, AL 36421 334-222-4121 1-800-239-4121 Fax: 334-222-1546 Main/Enterprise Office Hours: 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM Monday - Friday covington.coop Report Power Outages 1-800-239-1193
4 JUNE 2022
044_CVR.indd 4
Put your trust in us By Ed Short, CEC President, CEO and General Manager
Trust is always important between a cooperative and its members. Here at Covington Electric, we know that our members put their trust in us to provide reliable electric service and to be good stewards of the money they put into this electric system. That trust is one of the motivations for our linemen to work so hard, not just during major outages but every day they go to work. And it’s also one of the many reasons we love hosting the annual meeting each year. It’s a chance for all of us to come together as a cooperative family and for members to bring their questions, concerns and maybe even a few compliments to cooperative leaders. This year we were once again forced to hold the annual meeting virtually. But that didn’t stop us from opening up about the workings of our cooperative for all the members who tuned in. They heard about the nearly $1 million in capital credits we returned in February, along with the good work our line crews did helping restore power for cooperatives in Tennessee and Louisiana after major storms. For members who weren’t able to watch, we were also excited to share an important update on the build out of our Buzz Broadband home fiber internet service. Due to the progress we have made, the board has approved shortening the time frame to complete the project from four years to two. Another aspect of being good stewards of our members’ investments in the cooperative is making sure our rates are affordable while still covering the costs of maintaining our system. Unfortunately, many of the cooperative’s daily expenses have risen in recent years just as they have for our members. As a result, this month will mark an
8-mill increase to our rates so far this year. To put it in plain English, that means rates have increased $8 for every 1,000 kWh of electricity members use. Of that increase, $3 is passed on from our generation provider, PowerSouth, while the rest has been needed to cover the rising cost of power poles and electrical equipment. These aren’t increases that we enjoy making, and it’s important to remember that they are set to expire at the end of the year. Rest assured that as your hometown cooperative, our goal is not to squeeze more margins out of our members but simply to provide the most reliable service at the most affordable rate. As soon as we can accomplish that at a lower cost, we will happily lower our members’ rates. In the meantime, there are steps we can all take to lower our energy usage during this difficult period. If you visit covington. coop and go to the “Energy Conservation” tab at the top of the page, you can find a variety of tools to help you figure out what changes can save you the most money and some tips for implementing them. Of course, some of our members who participated in this year’s annual meeting in April will already have a head start. The winners of this year’s drawing get to lower their energy bills the easy way — with bill credits ranging from $50 to $2,500. The winners are listed on Page 5. But before you flip on by, I hope you will take a moment to note the employees on that page who have given 20 years of service to this cooperative. Whether you’re a winner or not, we can all work together to keep our energy usage low during this challenging time. n
www.alabamaliving.coop
5/16/22 4:07 PM
