The calendar has turned to August and crops are rapidly maturing. Some refer to the early to mid-August hot and humid weather as the dog days of summer (what did dogs do to deserve this comparison). Students will soon be returning to school and will start participating in related activities.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Jerry Haile, and his wife Cindy. Jerry recently retired from EIEC after nearly 30 years of service! Jerry held various positions during his tenure (the last of which was an area serviceman), all of which involved daily contact with members. Thank you, Jerry, for your loyalty, dedication, and hard work on behalf of members over many years, and for your friendship. Jerry’s efforts moved the cooperative forward in many areas. We wish them good health and the best in retirement.

At the June EIEC Board meeting, your Directors voted to both allocate and pay out another round of capital credits to members. These capital credits represent members’ contribution to equity in EIEC. This equity provides funding to help operate, maintain, and upgrade cooperative facilities, while helping to reduce borrowing costs. Member economic participation is one of the seven cooperative principles that contribute to a unique business model.

The amount of your equity contribution for the prior year is shown annually on the August bill statement. Take a moment and look for your 2017 calendar year allocation on your August statement. In the cooperative not-for-profit business model, current allocated margins (such as 2017 above) are returned to the members in a future period, typically within 25 – 30 years, based on your board of directors’ assessment of the financial condition of your cooperative at that time.

This coming November, EIEC will return nearly $1.6 million in capital credits in cash to members from amounts that were previously allocated and capital credits will have been returned to the members for years up to and including 1991. We are progressing toward achieving a 25-year payback cycle by 2020.

EIEC and its predecessor co-ops have paid back more than $17.5 million to members since our formation over 80 years ago. If you have questions about the capital credit process or anything else, please give us a call at 800-854-5102. We are happy to assist.

Halfway through the year, EIEC energy sales to members are ahead of budget by nearly 8 percent, and expenses to date are below budget as well. We will keep you informed of Board decisions on various options that may be considered to utilize any surplus margins, should this trend continue.

Thank you for allowing EIEC to be your local and trusted energy provider.

Please stay cool and safe!

Bob Hunzinger