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RECC Annual Meeting draws 550

RECC’s Annual Meeting of the membership on June 10 included some popular traditions, some changes in its leadership, and some looks at the future that were both promising and foreboding.

Of course, the tasty pork chop supper and lots of door prizes were an important part of the evening at Chatham’s Glenwood High School. Over 550 meals were served, and nearly 50 door prizes were awarded along with a $300 Grand Prize check. (See page 5 for a listing of prize winners.)

Elections were held for three positions on the Board of Directors, with two of the incumbents running unopposed. Chris Wilcox of Waverly (District 2) and Jimmy Ayers of Rochester (District 3) were re-elected by voice vote in an election conducted by the co-op’s attorney, Jerry Tice.

In District 1, incumbent David White of Farmersville was challenged by Clayton Bloome of Pawnee. After a 5-minute speech by each candidate, ballots were marked and collected by the tellers who then began the counting while the meeting went on. At the end of the meeting, the tellers returned with the announcement that Clayton Bloome had won the election by a vote of 171-125.

Board Chairman Jimmy Ayers told the audience that District 8 director Lee Marten had resigned from the Board after serving for almost 16 years. He said the Board members would be appointing a replacement to fill the position until the next scheduled election for District 8, which will be in 2012. Any interested members are encouraged to apply for the appointment.

CEO David Stuva talked about the co-op’s wholesale power provider, the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA). He said the IMEA owns part of several coal-fired power plants, and is participating in two new plants nearing completion, including the Prairie State Energy Campus in southern Illinois. IMEA also has a long-term contract to purchase renewable energy from the Lee-DeKalb wind farm in northern Illinois.

While the IMEA power supply is reliable, Stuva told the audience, the cost could be pushed up by regulations and legislation being proposed in Washington. Any plans to reduce carbon emissions will raise the price of electricity generated from fossil fuels, which Board Chairman Jimmy Ayers said accounts for more than 70 percent of all electricity used in the U.S.

“It’s the role of Congress to determine that any climate change policy is fair and affordable for all Americans,” Ayers said. Part of his message was that the issues should be decided by elected legislators, rather than regulators such as the Environmental Protection Agency who don’t answer directly to the public.

Ayers and Stuva encouraged all members to participate in the national co-op campaign called “Our Energy, Our Future,” which allows members to e-mail their elected officials to urge them to pursue fair, affordable and achievable climate change goals. A web site is available to send these messages and learn more at www.OurEnergy.coop.

RECC’s own contribution to clean energy generation, the GobNob wind turbine, has produced over two million kilowatt hours of electricity since its startup in March 2009, Stuva reported. It sits on the former Crowne I coal mine “gob pile” just east of Farmersville, which is now owned by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. All the energy produced by the wind turbine is used by co-op members served by the Farmersville substation, Stuva said.

He also highlighted some of the energy efficiency and savings programs promoted by RECC, such as heat pumps and geothermal heating and cooling systems, the Certified Comfort Home program, efficiency rebates, and the recent addition of the Doug Rye “Home Remedies” radio show heard locally on WSMI 1540 on Saturday mornings from 9:00-10:00.

While several new vendors were on hand to visit with members before the business meeting this year, the display that drew the biggest crowd was the electric car built in Divernon by the Illuminati Motor Works team for the Automotive X-PRIZE competition. Six of the team members were on hand to answer questions about their stylish car, named “Seven.”

Thanks to the Illuminati team, and to all our members, for helping make this year’s Annual Meeting a success!