Currents-March 2022

MARCH 2022

Suwannee Valley

CURRENTS

INSIDE:

A NEW WAY TO PAY SVEC partners with Western Union for cash payments 2021 HIGHLIGHTS A look back at things we achieved in the last year DOLLARS AND CENTS A detailed look at SVEC’s finances in 2021

CURRENTS March 2022

Suwannee Valley Currents is a monthly newsletter published by Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative, © 2022. It is distributed without charge to all consumermembers of the cooperative.

Michael S. McWaters Executive V.P./CEO

What we build together There are a lot of things people disagree about these days. But you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who thinks more transparency isn’t a good thing.

From our leaders to the people we do business with, a little honesty and open communication can go a long way.

It’s one of the many things that I think works so well about the cooperative model. We are part of this community just as much as the consumer-members we serve. Because we don’t have a group of investors to answer to, our members know they are the most important voice for us.

That being the case, it’s important that all of us at Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative are always working to keep the people we serve informed. One way we do that is with our annual meeting, which has traditionally been an opportunity for people across the community to come together, learn about all their cooperative has been doing and make their voices heard to decision makers.

In recent years, concerns for our members’ health have made it a challenge to hold the annual meeting in person. Hopefully for the last time, that continues to be the case this year, and we will once again be hosting a virtual annual meeting. While we may not be able to gather in person as a cooperative family, the meeting will be streamed live on our Facebook page and on our website.

Fortunately, that doesn’t keep you from having a say in how this cooperative is run. Look out for a package in the mail arriving in early April that will have more information about how you can cast your vote on proposed revisions to the bylaws and elections for trustees in three of our districts.

Holding the annual meeting remotely also doesn’t stop us from sharing some updates on the important work we have done over the last year. If you’re anything like me, it can be easy to forget just how much you’ve accomplished over time. Our minds tend to put more focus on what we have done lately or minimize the routine achievements we complete every day.

That’s why we wanted to remind our consumer-members of everything we accomplished together in 2021. In this annual report, in addition to the important financial information we provide each year, you’ll also find a timeline of some of our best moments over the last year.

I hope that as you look them over you’ll feel as proud as I do of everything we have been able to achieve as a cooperative family. Whether we come together in person or virtually, it’s a reminder of how powerful we can be together. It’s something I know I won’t forget as we continue into another incredible year. 

WE BELONG TO THOSE WE SERVE Business Office: 800-447-4509 11340 100th St. Live Oak, FL 32060 Lobby Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday Drive-thru Kiosk Open 24 Hours 24/7 Power Outage Reporting 800-752-0025 svec-coop.com facebook.com/sveccoop @SVEC_COOP_FL Instagram.com/sveccoop SVEC is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

On the cover:

©dlyastokiv, eW b Buttons Inc, Lubo Ivo/ank dobeA Stock

CEO’S MESSAGE

Suwannee Valley

2 | March 2022

Some of SVEC’s youngest members enjoyed our second Touch-A-Truck event in November. For more highlights from the last year, see our 2021 timeline on Page 4.

Suwannee Valley Currents

A new way to pay SVEC partners with Western Union for cash payments

With rising gas prices, everyone is looking to cut out extra car trips.

And if you prefer to pay your SVEC bill in cash, there’s good news.

Now, members can save themselves a drive to our office by paying their bill in cash at any convenient Western Union® location, including: • • • • •

Publix Winn-Dixie Walmart Walgreens Sunoco in Branford

• Exxon/Fast Track Food Store in Mayo • Hitchcock’s Foodway in Jasper

Don’t see a location on the list that’s convenient for you? Visit location.westernunion.com to find more places.

Payments will post to your account within just a few minutes, so you can have peace of mind almost immediately. A $1.50 transaction fee is charged

by Western Union.

2022 Annual Meeting The Annual Meeting will again be held in a virtual format this year. The board of trustees will gather at 10 a.m., April 23, on the SVEC campus to hold the meeting.

While members will not be able to attend the meeting in person, it will be streamed live on Facebook and SVEC’s website. Additionally, a summary of the meeting, including election results, will be posted on our website the week of April 25.

In early April, members will receive a Limited Proxy/ballot form in the mail, enabling them to appoint Joshua D. Crapps, outside counsel to the board of trustees, or his designee as their official proxy. The Proxy can be used to direct Mr. Crapps on how to vote on the approval of the 2021 annual meeting minutes, proposed revisions to the bylaws and the election of trustees for Districts 7, 8 and 9.

Members who return their Proxy/ballot by April 18 will be entered into a drawing for one of many gift cards.

Reporting an outage just got easier

Stay up to date with a quick text We continually look for ways to make it easy for our members to contact us. That’s why SVEC’s new tool lets you report an outage simply by sending a text message.

To sign up, just text “svec” to 800-752-0025. Keep that number handy, and you’ll be able to report an outage by texting “out” to the same number. You’ll also be able to check on the status of your reported outage via text message.

Due to technical limitations, this service is only available to members with less than five accounts. Members with five or more accounts can still use one of our other convenient methods to report an outage.

Suwannee Valley Currents

KEEP YOUR NUMBER CURRENT

Please remember our outage management system uses caller ID technology to quickly identify your service location by your phone number. This makes reporting easier for you and allows us to speed up response and restoration time.

Make sure we have your current phone number before you sign up for our outage texting. You can update your phone number by: • Going to our website, logging in to your account and clicking on the “My Profile” tab.

• Using our SmartHub account management app.

• Contacting Member Services at 800-447-4509.

March 2022 | 3

2021 HIG

Timeline of your cooperative’s past Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative accomplished a lot in the last year. Take a look back at what we did to improve your service and help our community in 2021.

The LifeSouth bloodmobile made one of its regular visits to SVEC’s office.

Employees donated 39 units of blood in 2021, bringing their total to 736 units donated since 2004.

To celebrate Arbor Day in Florida, SVEC gave away 150 native red maple trees to co-op members.

JAN SVEC was one of the organizations featured in the county’s “We Are Suwannee” video highlighting local lifestyle and business opportunities.

4 | March 2022

FEB

The co-op returned $1.3 million to its consumermembers in the form of retired capital credits.

In 2021, $5.7 million was also returned to members via the monthly Wholesale Power Cost Adjustment (WPCA).

MAR SVEC held its annual meeting in a virtual format because of COVID-19 precautions. Tyler Putnal, Sidney Lord and Andy Walker were reelected to the board of trustees.

Members also voted to change the bylaws to explicitly permit meetings to be held virtually and omit the requirement that applicants for new service be approved by the board of trustees.

APR

Local high school seniors were awarded $11,000 in scholarships for colleges and trade schools.

MAY

JUNE

Crews from SVEC, contractors and mutualaid cooperatives restored power to over 12,000 consumers in just 24 hours after Tropical Storm Elsa blew through our area on June 7.

Suwannee Valley Currents

GHLIGHTS year

SVEC lineworkers traveled to Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle to help other co-ops restore power after Tropical Storm Fred and Hurricane Ida. SVEC was proud to lead the firstever Suwannee Valley Food Fight.

Eleven local organizations raised $1,150 and collected 3,470 pounds of food for the Florida Gateway Food Bank.

JULY

AUG The construction of Seminole Electric Cooperative’s new natural gas generation facility reached the halfway point. When complete, the facility will account for approximately half of Seminole’s energy production.

Suwannee Valley Currents

Three employees graduated from SVEC’s Apprentice Lineworker Program to become journeymen.

The co-op ended the year having achieved record reliability. During 2021, the average number of times a member was without power for five minutes or more was less than two.

SVEC hosted the fourth annual Suwannee Valley Cornhole Tournament, which raised over $5,700 for United Way of Suwannee Valley.

Operation Round Up® closed out December having awarded $108,566 in grants during 2021, bringing the total to more than $312,814 over the threeyear life of the program.

SEPT

OCT

The construction of a storm yard on SVEC’s property was completed.

The site can be used as a base for mutual aid crews and additional equipment after storms.

NOV

DEC Hundreds of kids, parents and grandparents enjoyed SVEC’s second-ever Touch-A-Truck event.

SVEC launched its newly redesigned website incorporating the latest online technologies, making it easier than ever for members to find the information they need and to do business with the co-op.

March 2022 | 5

Balance Sheets

BALANCE SHEETS DECEMBER 31, 2021 AND 2020 SUWANNEE VALLEY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. - LIVE OAK, FLORIDA

ASSETS 2021 Utility Plant Electric Plant in Service Construction Work in Process

$

(Accumulated Provision for Depreciation) Total Utility Plant

173,046,866 936,415 173,983,281 (58,453,840) 115,529,441

2020 $

166,265,906 2,166,206 168,432,112 (54,103,570) 114,328,542

Other Property and Investments at Cost or Stated Value Investments in Associated Organizations and Other funds Notes Receivable Total Other Property and Investments at Cost or Stated Value

16,797,502 0 16,797,502

15,984,382 0 15,984,382

Current Assets Cash - General Accounts Receivable Unbilled Revenues Materials and Supplies Other Current and Accrued Assets Total Current Assets

4,636,103 3,261,623 1,545,771 884,999 307,533 10,636,029

6,498,168 3,473,384 1,614,020 874,644 373,857 12,834,073

193,667

453,604

Deferred Charges Total Assets

$

143,156,640

$

143,600,600

EQUITIES AND LIABILITIES 2021 Equities Memberships Patronage Capital Other Comprehensive Income Total Equities

$

103,460 61,936,050 219,767 62,259,277

2020 $

101,060 60,938,582 219,767 61,259,409

Long-term Debt Notes payable, net of current maturities Capital Lease Obligations Post-retirement Benefit Obligation Total Long-term Debt

65,125,713 729,639 652,361 66,507,713

67,205,816 1,413,702 628,184 69,247,702

Current Portion of Long-term Debt Current Portion of Capital Lease Obligations Line of Credit Accounts Payable - Purchased Power Accounts Payable - Other Overbilled Wholesale Power Cost Adjustment Consumer Deposits Accrued Employee Compensated Absences Other Current Liabilities Total Current Liabilities

3,287,764 484,748 0 2,114,303 57,410 3,029,041 1,470,066 1,713,808 740,128 12,897,268

2,835,047 429,846 0 2,762,783 374,667 1,364,890 1,369,132 1,969,619 582,420 11,688,404

1,492,382

1,405,085

Deferred Credits Total Equities and Liabilities

6 | March 2022

$

143,156,640

$

143,600,600

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ARE UNAUDITED. AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS WERE UNAVAILABLE AT TIME OF PRINT.

Suwannee Valley Currents

Statements of Revenue and Patronage Capital STATEMENTS OF REVENUE AND PATRONAGE CAPITAL

FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021 AND 2020 SUWANNEE VALLEY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC. - LIVE OAK, FLORIDA

December 31, Amount

2021

%

Amount

2020

%

Increase (Decrease) $ 1,156,754

Operating Revenue

58,584,854

100.0

57,428,100

100.0

Operating Expenses Cost of Purchased Power Distribution - Operations Distribution - Maintenance Consumer Accounts Selling Expense Administrative and General Depreciation and Amortization (Total Operating Expenses)

34,634,122 2,434,503 6,828,150 1,742,154 46,757 4,071,845 5,698,525 55,456,056

59.1 4.2 11.7 3.0 0.1 7.0 9.7 94.7

34,679,737 2,444,894 5,518,007 1,592,865 36,624 3,755,728 5,518,426 53,546,281

60.4 4.3 9.6 2.8 0.1 6.5 9.6 93.2

(45,615) (10,391) 1,310,143 149,289 10,133 316,117 180,099 1,909,776

Operating Margins Before Fixed Charges

3,128,798

5.3

3,881,819

6.8

(753,021)

Fixed Charges (Interest on Long-term Debt)

2,032,907

3.5

2,293,335

4.0

(260,429)

Operating Margins After Fixed Charges

1,095,891

1.9

1,588,484

2.8

(492,593)

924,668

1.6

898,770

1.6

25,897

2,020,559

3.4

2,487,254

4.3

(466,696)

0.1 -0.1 0.0

292,970 440,379 733,349

0.5 0.8 1.3

3.4

3,220,603

5.6

(223,247) (523,452) (746,699) 0 (1,213,395)

G & T and Other Capital Credits Net Operating Margins Nonoperating Income Interest Income

Other Nonoperating Income (Loss) Total Nonoperating Margins Net Margins

69,722 (83,073) (13,350) 2,007,208

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ARE UNAUDITED. AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS WERE UNAVAILABLE AT TIME OF PRINT.

Suwannee Valley Currents

March 2022 | 7

APRIL 24, 2021

MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING OF MEMBERS Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative Inc.’s (SVEC) annual business meeting of the members was livestreamed to consumer-members on Saturday, April 24, 2021.

Due to increased community preparedness and prevention measures to help contain COVID-19, registration was held via limited proxy in accordance with Article III, Section 8 of the cooperative’s bylaws.

At 10 a.m., Executive Vice President and CEO Michael McWaters welcomed consumer-members who were watching online. Mr. McWaters introduced SVEC’s trustees and thanked all veterans, health care workers and first responders. Mr. McWaters also recognized three employees who have achieved 10 years of service with the cooperative and eight employees who have retired since last year’s annual meeting. After the welcome, Mr. McWaters turned the meeting over to Mr. Jerry Goff, who serves as secretary for the board of trustees.

Mr. Goff asked consumer-members to observe a moment of silence in memory of District 3 Trustee Sam Roberson, retiree Clarence Crowe and all consumer-members who have passed away during the pandemic. Following the moment of silence, Mr. Goff gave the invocation and led the pledge of allegiance.

Mr. Goff announced that 1,243 consumer-members had returned their limited proxy to Survey and Ballot Systems Inc., which amounts to a quorum and allows for the meeting to be convened and transact business.

Mr. Goff asked for a motion to dispense with the reading of the official notice of mailing. A motion was made and seconded. Hearing no objection to the motion, Mr. Goff announced that the motion to dispense with the

8 | March 2022

reading of the official notice of mailing had been approved. Mr. Goff asked for a motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes from the 2020 annual meeting. A motion was made and seconded. Hearing no objection to the motion, Mr. Goff announced that the motion to dispense with the reading of the minutes from the 2020 annual meeting was approved. Mr. Goff introduced Joshua D. Crapps, outside legal counsel to the board of trustees, to report on the results of voting regarding the 2020 annual meeting minutes.

Mr. Crapps reported that he had been authorized by 1,201 consumer-members to cast their vote in favor of approving the 2020 annual meeting minutes and had been authorized by eight consumer-members to cast their vote in opposition to approving the 2020 annual meeting minutes.

Following Mr. Crapps’ report, Mr. Tyler Putnal, president of the board of trustees, came forward to announce that, based on Mr. Crapps’ report, the minutes of the 2020 annual meeting were approved. Mr. Putnal then gave the president’s address. After completion of his president’s address, Mr. Putnal introduced Mr. Andy Walker, treasurer of the board of trustees.

Mr. Walker presented a financial report to the consumer members, after which he introduced Ms. Crystal Ecker, general counsel and director of administrative services. Ms. Ecker reported on the district meetings that were held in compliance with the cooperative’s bylaws. Ms. Ecker stated that Mr. Tyler Putnal (District 4), Mr. Sidney Lord (District 5) and Mr. Andy Walker (District 6) were nominated for their respective districts.

Ms. Ecker then called on Mr. Crapps to announce the results of the voting.

Mr. Crapps announced that he had been authorized by the cooperative’s consumer-members to cast their votes as follows: • District 4 — Tyler Putnal (unopposed), 1,069 votes.

• District 5 — Sidney Lord (unopposed), 1,079 votes.

• District 6 — Andy Walker (unopposed), 1,057 votes.

Ms. Ecker announced that, based on Mr. Crapps’ report, Mr. Putnal, Mr. Lord and Mr. Walker were duly elected to the board of trustees.

Ms. Ecker reported that consumer-members received information in their official meeting notice to vote on proposed bylaw amendments. Ms. Ecker called on Mr. Crapps to announce the results of the bylaw voting.

Mr. Crapps announced that he had been authorized by the cooperative’s consumer-members to cast their votes on the bylaw amendments as follows: • 1,168 consumer-members were in favor of the bylaw amendments.

• 30 consumer-members were opposed to the bylaw amendments.

Ms. Ecker announced that, based on Mr. Crapps’ report, the bylaw revisions were approved. Following the business that was transacted, Ms. Ecker asked Mr. McWaters to make a few comments and take questions from consumer-members. At the conclusion of his comments and the Q&A session, Mr. McWaters asked Mr. Putnal to come forward to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Putnal asked if there were any objections to the meeting being adjourned, and hearing none, the meeting was adjourned.

Suwannee Valley Currents