Record Attendance at the PCEMC 73^rd Membership Meeting

New Roads Mayor Robert Myer praised Pointe Coupee Electric Membership Corp. (PCEMC) for its hard work and good citizenship at the locally-owned cooperative’s 73^rd Annual Meeting held at the Scott Civic Center on Jan. 25.

            In addressing the record crowd of more than 450 registered co-op members and their guests, Myer applauded PCEMC for employing more than 40 workers, providing an essential service to homes and businesses, supporting local education programs and being involved in a number of community events.

One of those events Myer referred to is the Harvest Festival, which PCEMC helped sponsored as well as an electrical safety demo last October.

“The Harvest Festival was a great event and wouldn’t have been possible without the support of community-minded individuals and organizations such as Pointe Coupee Electric,” Myer said to the members. “We’ve got a wonderful partnership with the cooperative and the City of New Roads. You have a very dedicated board, management and employees who know how to get the job done safely and who work hard every day to make the co-op better.”

Myer noted that as a local power provider PCEMC has been directly involved in the recent growth of the city, which saw 10 new businesses emerge in 2011.

“People need power to run their businesses and run their lives. The co-op always does a good job making sure we have the best service at the lowest cost possible,” he said.

Also speaking to the group were Pointe Coupee County Agent Miles Brashier and Louisiana Generating President Jennifer Vosburg.

Brashier told the audience that with both a severe flood and drought, the past year has been “an up and down ride.”

He noted that the area endured a span of 70 days without measureable rainfall not long before flooding caused the Morganza Spillway to be opened for the first time in decades.

Despite the inconsistent weather conditions, Brashier said farmers still managed to produce $188 million in crop value in the parish.

“Over the years we’ve seen that there are fewer farmers producing more crops, but those who are left are highly committed to what they do in bringing food and fiber to the people in the greatest country on earth,” Brashier said.

Jennifer Vosburg serves as president of the wholesale power producer that supplies electricity to PCEMC and other electric cooperatives across the state.

She was accompanied to the meeting by six Louisiana Generating employees and introduced them to the audience. She said over half of the company’s local 350 employees have worked at the plant for more than 25 years and many over 30 years.

Louisiana Generating is among the nation’s top 25 percent in terms of operations and among the top 10 percent in terms of safety, she said. The plant is expected this year to receive the highest recognition available from OSHA.

“We are the largest employer and one of the highest tax payers in the parish,” Vosburg said. “Our goal is to continue to be a cornerstone of this community. Over the years my family, my friends and neighbors have all worked at those plants. We are dedicated to the success of the community and our employees are certainly dedicated to this area.”

Vosburg closed by mentioning that the company is keeping track of congress and the federal courts to determine which rules and regulations will govern its operation. She said that the company has already made some required improvements to its coal-fired power production facility and has a strategic plan to make sure it stays in compliance with any state and federal rules.

Board President Jimmy Ewing opened the business portion of the meeting by welcoming members and their guests. After the invocation by PCEMC employee Marvin Dixon, Board Secretary Ralph Chustz declared a quorum had been met and meeting officially convened.

General Manager J.H. “Jodie” Cotten announced that Al Ewing of District 1 and Irvin Settoon of District 7 had both been re-elected to the board without opposition.

Attorney James Supple also conducted a vote of the members regarding a change in the cooperative’s bylaws to enable the board to hold the annual meeting at any date in January, February or March at any site in the tri-parish service area. The motion passed after a detailed explanation of the proposal by Supple and a brief discussion among the members.

In his manager’s report, Cotten said both the cooperative and the community were fortunate that no hurricane struck the area, but roughly 500 members were adversely affected by the flood.

He gave a brief presentation on the importance of the cooperative business model and pointed to recent achievements such as claiming the Louisiana Electric Cooperative Statewide Safety Trophy for the second straight year, providing more bill payment options, continuing its support of local charitable organizations and offering a Co-op Connections Card to members that provides discounts on useful items such as prescription drugs.

Cotten called for members to recognize the efforts of the co-op’s employees with a round of applause. He read the names of those who had reached certain employment milestones and announced Lucille St. Romain as having been named Employee of the Year by her co-workers.

Alluding to an earlier financial report, Cotten told the members that due to lower sales and rising expenses, the cooperative is presenting a rate adjustment case to the Louisiana Public Service Commission. He said details would be provided as they become available.

In other business, a random drawing was held for three $1,000 academic scholarships. This year’s winners were Thomas Leblanc of Pointe Coupee parish, Christina Kleinpeter of West Baton Rouge parish and Blaise Sylvester of Iberville parish.

Area 4-H agents Steve Borel with Pointe Coupee parish, Debra Cross Young with West Baton Rouge parish and Kathy Jones with Iberville parish were also on hand to accept donations to their respective organizations.