85 Years & Counting
By Todd Ware, President & Chief Executive Officer
The Energy Cooperative celebrated 85 years of service in 2021. Built by our members in 1936, this cooperative has grown from a small but mighty group of farmers to more than 67,500 members strong. Our system continues to expand as we bring energy to new areas. We see a significant increase in new services, both residential and industrial, in Todd Ware Western Licking County. As businesses like Amazon and Google flock to Pataskala and New Albany, the large residential neighborhoods follow. Many of our newest members come home to the Farms at Jefferson in Blacklick and the newly expanded neighborhoods in Pataskala, such as Heron Manor, Hazelwood and Legacy Estates. We planned for this growth for many years, and it is exciting to see it happening now.
cooperative returns patronage capital to members. The Energy Cooperative currently allocates capital credits to electric members, and we retire these funds to estates. Finally, reaching 20 percent equity is a significant accomplishment, and we are extremely proud of this milestone.
navigating the pandemic The last couple of years have been challenging for all of us in many different ways. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our cooperative had to find ways to navigate the numerous regulations and protocols that were put in place to keep everyone safe. Our field personnel continued to make sure our utility operations carried on as normal. Office personnel worked from home or in the office to support our members and ensure business operations continued to move forward. I am very proud of our employees and their commitment to our members and each other during these challenging times. Finally, I want to acknowledge our members. Thank you for reaching out to us throughout this past year with your questions, positive comments and concerns. We exist to serve our members, so your feedback is important to us and is critical to our cooperative’s success. As a cooperative, our mission is to enhance the quality of life in our community and look after its long-term interests. Our growing membership of over 67,500 members make up the communities we serve. In the grand scheme of it all, you are our community, and we look forward to serving you in 2022 and beyond.
Financial milestone Last year, our cooperative achieved a major financial milestone by reaching 20 percent equity, a goal we have been working towards since 2001. In 2001, our equity position was negative 31 percent. The path to positive equity wasn’t easy or fast. The long journey took a deliberate approach to reduce expenses, sell businesses that were losing money, reduce debt and interest costs and focus on operating our core businesses as effectively and efficiently as possible. Patience was the key to success and looking to the long term was the focus. Reaching this goal enables our Board of Directors to consider returning capital credits or patronage capital to members. Patronage capital is the money left over after we pay all the cooperative’s bills. We use this margin as working capital to pay for system repairs, improvements and upgrades to better serve our members. Once this is complete, the surplus is allocated to members as patronage capital based on their energy use throughout the year. The Board of Directors determines if, and when, the
Farms at Jefferson, photo from M/I Homes website
3
