4 minute read
President’s Message
By Todd Ware, President & Chief Executive Officer
The Energy Cooperative has over 68,900 members residing in 15 counties. Our values have not changed since Licking Rural Electrification lit up rural central Ohio. We have a solid foundation built on those values, but we keep our eyes on the future and your needs as they continue to change. We hope you share our pride in the Energy Cooperative’s history and its growth as we have been serving our member-owners since 1936.
While we move into 2022, I must take the time to reflect on the progress of 2021. Overall, this year has been one of growth. From increasing members numbers to employee retirements, many new beginnings are taking place here at the Energy Cooperative. We are grateful to move into another year full of tremendous opportunities.
Safety remains and will always be at the top of our priorities. We work hard to deliver your energy reliably while keeping employees and members safe. We continue to participate in national safety review programs for electric and natural gas and are considered leaders within those programs. As a result, our safety metrics continue to be significantly better than both state and national industry averages. Our electric cooperative has gone over twenty-two years without a lost-time injury.
Consolidated financial results for the year were excellent as we reported a positive net margin of over $9.3 million. This number was slightly better than the budget and was driven by higher sales/margins and lower expenses. In addition, consolidated comprehensive income was $9.6 million, which was over the budget. These results raised our equity position to almost twenty-two percent.
The natural gas cooperative continues to experience significant new growth as we added 729 new residential members. Over twenty-five miles of pipe were replaced or added, including upgrading aging infrastructure. The replacement of this aging infrastructure and our focus on leak repair has reduced our unaccounted-for gas to .35%. This percentage decreased by almost 44% from 2020. In addition, the natural gas cooperative is just shy of completing its automated metering infrastructure (AMI) upgrades.
The electric division makes system reliability and outage times a top priority. Our commitment to reliability is evident with over $12 million dollars spent on capital improvement projects. From the Palmyra Substation upgrades to total distribution line rebuilds, our electric division will continue to strive toward the lowest outage percentages possible. The AMI meter project was completed with a read rate of 99.4%. We will consider AMI enhancements to increase member benefits as they are available.
The Energy Cooperative feels strong about our members receiving the best service possible. In 2021, ACSI scores for both natural gas and electric were, like the previous year, at 83 and 89. However, the retention percentage decreased by a few points, bringing the linear score relatively flat for 2021.
The future is bright here at the Energy Cooperative. Between massive growth opportunities and challenges, 2022 will be an eventful year. Leading this team is truly a humbling experience. We continue to retain and attract the most bright, talented employees who directly impact our bottom line. Their high level of loyalty and dedication to the cooperative and its principles is evident. In addition, I’m grateful for a Board of Directors who continues to provide excellent leadership and support to the Energy Cooperative family. Big things are coming for our communities in 2022, and we cannot wait to be a part of it.
