Electric co-op holds annual gathering on Saturday
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This version of the story has been updated with corrected information about rates.)
The Flathead Electric Cooperative will hold its 74th annual membership meeting Saturday at the Christian Center in Kalispell.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. with entertainment at 9:30 a.m. and the meeting beginning at 10 a.m.
A mail-in ballot election will be held after the meeting. Three incumbent trustees on the Flathead Electric board are up for re-election - Duane Braaten, District 6, West Valley; Paul Holland, District 8, Bigfork; and Earl Messick, District 9, Libby.
With the current economic recession presenting challenges, the co-op board continues to look for new energy sources while trying to keep rates affordable for its 47,963 members.
Starting this year, the amount of low-cost federal power that Flathead Electric can purchase from the Bonneville Power Administration is capped.
As demand grows, the utility will have to find other sources of electrical power. After the BPA imposed a significant wholesale power rate increase last year, Flathead Electric decided not to raise its retail rates by a comparable amount.
Co-op spokesperson Wendy Ostrom-Price said, "When the wholesale rate increase was imposed on the Co-op in October, the board decided to postpone raising retail rates to help members get through the tough winter months. In actuality, though, rates were adjusted in May.
"Instead of one big increase, however, not only to pay for increased wholesale rates but also for fixed costs, the board decided it would be a smoother transition for members to raise rates incrementally, around 3 percent, over the next few years so people can kind of ease in gradually to higher power costs."
Among the options the co-op is looking at for new energy sources are gas at the Flathead County landfill and geothermal at Hot Springs, as well as biomass, hydro, wind and other renewable energy projects. The city of Whitefish's hydroplant, which should be operating this fall, will fit into this mix.
The board also believes efficiency is a key to saving energy. Last year, the co-op provided members with $1.9 million in energy-efficiency rebates, most of which were funded by the BPA. The utility also installed new meters with two-way automated communication systems that will help the co-op examine the cost-effectiveness of smart-grid technology.
Flathead Electric's operations include 29 substations and more than 3,470 miles of power lines across 8,800 square miles. Costs for operations and maintenance fell from $9 million in 2009 to $8.4 million in 2010.
About 51 percent of the co-op's budget - $86.3 million - goes to purchasing power. About 10 percent goes to interest on its debt. The co-op's long-term debt increased from $136 million in 2009 to $156 million in 2010.
Net margins - the co-op's phrase for profits - fell from $6.6 million in 2009 to $4.7 million in 2010. Nonetheless, the co-op issued 47,000 capital credit checks totaling $2.3 million to former and current members for the years 2002-03.
For more information, go to www.flatheadelectric.com or call 751-4483.