Manager’s Message
On behalf of the board of trustees, I would like to invite you to join us for Western Cooperative Electric’s 78th Annual Meeting at the Western Office on May 10 in WaKeeney, Kansas. During the meeting, you will have the opportunity to share a meal, hear a business update, and engage with our employees, Board Trustees, and other Western members.
For 78 years you, our members, have entrusted us to power your homes, farms, and way of life. Although we call this our annual meeting, it is really a recognition for you, our member-owners.
From the beginning, our focus as been on #Power&People . Unlike privately owned utilities, we’re not trying to make a profit for shareholders. Instead, we focus on making the right decisions for the people and communities we serve.
While many of our members may think of us as only providing electric service, we are much more than poles and wires. The seventh cooperative principle, “Concern for the Community,” incorporates our desire to not only serve power but also the people for the betterment of our communities.
Western has embraced “Concern for the Community” in many ways during the last 78 years. One of the most effective ways to better our communities is to consistently hire upstanding employees who are actively engaged in improving the communities where we live and work. We are proud to say we’ve done that.
Western employees exemplify and promote cooperative values by being directly engaged with our communities. Employees serve in many community and civic capacities, such as volunteer firefighters, youth coaches, city council members, and county commissioners. You will also find them volunteering their time on educational events and activities; faith-based organizations; and community-based organizations, including the chamber, economic development, Kiwanis, and Lions clubs. Countless hours are donated by participating in community projects outside of work.
Western also donates time and equipment for community projects, such as hanging Christmas lights, setting poles for emergency warning devices, and other similar activities.
While our employees are great stewards of the communities we serve, consumer-members like you— with whom we share many of the same goals and challenges—are the focus of our cooperative. Western’s locally elected board and our staff, who are also members of Western, make each decision based on the best interests of our membership. We work every day with our mission in mind: to provide reliable, affordable power to improve the lives of those we serve.
As a not-for-profit business, our motivation is different. We must meet financial targets to ensure a solid financial foundation, but we’re not driven by the need for excessive profits. Our long-term goal is to operate at cost. Excess revenue collected through rates is returned to our members, not a remotely located board of investors. Capital credits represent your economic participation in the cooperative, and in January 2022, Western retired nearly $1.5 million in capital credits to our members. Since our inception, Western has refunded our members more than $29 million in capital credits.
While we always want to avoid rate increases, Western’s trustees must ensure that electric rates are adequate to maintain a stable financial condition, provide the necessary revenue to deliver reliable electric service, and minimize the subsidization between member rate classes. Due to the increasing economic challenges of higher inflation, higher prices, supply chain delays, and increases in natural gas and fuel costs, our board made the difficult decision to adjust rates beginning in 2023 to ensure adequate financial recovery. We know any rate increases can negatively impact our members, but the increased expenses due to inflation across the spectrum made the rate adjustment unavoidable.
It’s people that create the cooperative difference. I like to think in terms of we, not I or they. We are owners, we are members, but perhaps more importantly, we are parents, grandparents, children, neighbors and friends. In 1945, we came together—not one person, but the collective “we”—to solve the challenge of providing electricity to rural areas. While our current challenges are different, they still require the cooperative spirit, supporting one another and creating value for those within our communities. We are family.
As a Western member, your input is essential to helping us meet upcoming challenges and positioning us to serve you effectively in the future. I encourage you to attend our annual meeting or contact me at any other time with your concerns, questions, or suggestions. Our challenges may differ today, but the cooperative spirit—supporting one another and creating value for those within our communities—is as important as ever.
Please join us for the annual meeting on May 10 at 1 p.m. at Western’s headquarters, 635 13th Street, WaKeeney, Kan. You will hear the hear the manager’s report, learn more about Western’s 2022 performance, and what we have planned for 2023. If you cannot attend in person, please join us via YouTube Live on the same date and time. The link to the YouTube Live stream will be found on Western Cooperative Electric’s social media pages or at westerncoop.com.
Western is connected to you by more than just power lines; we serve #Power and People. We belong to the people we serve, we are your neighbors, and we hope to see you at the 2023 annual meeting.