Meeting the changes
Electric co-op leaders address ‘Environment of Change’ at annual meeting
Jason Makansi’s 11-year-old daughter ran downstairs one night several years ago and told her parents she was having nightmares about global warming.
“That’s great,” the engineer and expert on the global electrical industry told her. “When you leave your bedroom every day, turn off your light.”
The matter-of-fact, dry response he shared drew a chuckle from Indiana’s electric cooperative leaders gathered in Indianapolis last month for the 74th annual meeting of the Indiana REC association. But his emphasis on personal responsibility hits at the heart of the changes coming in the way consumer-owned electric co-ops and all electric utilities will be doing business in the near future.
“If we’re going to more intelligently expand and manage this [electrical generation, transmission and distribution] infrastructure,” he said, “we need to start at the customer, at the meter, and give them the tools they need to manage their demand.”
Makansi joined other specialists from the fields of energy, customer service and politics to deliver messages on the changing times confronting consumer-owned co-ops. Some 400 directors, managers and employees from the state’s 39 co-ops and two generation and transmission cooperatives attended the Dec. 11-12 meeting, themed “Environment of Change.”
Makansi, whose 2007 book “Lights Out,” describes the coming global electrical crisis in detail, said consumers need to start making the connection between the price of electricity and its value.
He said that will start happening when consumers start having “smart meters” installed that will tell them exactly how much the energy they’re consuming is costing at the moment they consume it.
While running through an array of challenges ahead for the electric industry, he did sound a positive note: “The electricity industry … may be the one to lead the economy back to prosperity. We’ve done that in the past. Electricity is the foundation of the economy.”
Former Indiana Speaker of the House John Gregg also spoke to the co-op leaders. Gregg gave his perspective on the results of the national and state political races. He also offered up some homespun, humorous tales from his recently-published autobiography, including one about Bill Clinton’s insatiable appetite for food.
In what’s become a regular part of the meeting, a panel of political leaders, moderated by Jim Shella, host and producer of “Indiana Week in Review,” talked about the incredible changes in Indiana’s political climate this year. Joining Shella were Mike McDaniel, returning to present the Republican point of view, and, new to the panel this year, Robin Winston, representing Democrats.
Co-op employees and directors singled out with “Power and Hope Awards” for outstanding contributions to their communities were: Bobby Waddle, Bartholomew County REMC; Beverly Engle, Clark County REMC; Karen Covey, Hendricks Power Cooperative; Jon Rich, Jasper County REMC; Ron Laux, Jay County REMC; Joe Peden, South Central Indiana REMC; and Bob Bradford, Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC.
Lanesville teen Caroline Turcotte, Indiana’s representative to the Youth Leadership Council, spoke about her experiences on the 2008 Electric Cooperative Youth Tour. (See the commentary of this issue for part of her speech.)
Other speakers included Chef Wendell Fowler on changing one’s diet for the “health of it”; motivational speaker Scott McKain; Jim Bausell, Touchstone Energy vice president of Business Development; Philip Gulley, author and pastor; and David Tudor, CEO of ACES Power Marketing.
State officers included in changes
Wabash County REMC Director Robert Hippensteel was re-elected president of the Indiana Statewide Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc., during the association’s annual meeting on Dec. 11.
Meanwhile, Orange County REMC Director Rodney Hager was elected as the new vice president after serving one term as secretary-treasurer.
Elected to fill Hager’s spot as secretary-treasurer was Larry Fetters of LaGrange County REMC.
Also re-elected to the association’s executive committee were David Cox, Newton County REMC; Jim Doerstler, Whitewater Valley REMC; and Mark Evans, Parke County REMC. Newly-elected to the committee was Donald Burnham, Central Indiana Power.
Third charity auction sets new peak
Annual meeting attendees participated in a silent auction of 47 gift baskets assembled by Indiana’s electric co-ops.
When bidding closed, $8,535 was raised for the Ronald McDonald House of Indiana.
This was the third year for the basket auction which raised $6,710 in 2007, and $3,200 in 2006.