REGULAR BOARD MEETING
February 24, 2020
The Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Newberry Electric Cooperative, Inc. was held in the Newberry Electric Cooperative, Inc. Boardroom located in Newberry County, State of South Carolina on Monday, March 25, 2019 at 6:33 pm. Chairman Johnnie L. Dickert presided.
After the call to order, invocation, and establishing all members were present, Robert Hochstetler, President and CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, requested all present to sign a non discloser agreement and asked for an Executive Session. A motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously. After a lengthy discussion, a motion was made to reconvene the meeting into Regular Session. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. There were no actions and no votes taken during the Executive Session.
In the Regular Session, the consensus of the Board was to appoint Chairman Dickert and President Avery as trustees of Central Electric to approve the Cook Case Settlement as presented.
The Board approved the minutes from the Special Board Meeting on February 10 and the Regular Board Meeting on January 27, 2020 as emailed to them.
Finance Committee Chairman John W. Nichols reported that the Finance Committee met on Monday, February 17, 2020. All members were present, and they are submitting the finance report as information. The consensus of the Board was to accept the report. Attorney Pope requested that the meeting adjourn into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing legal and personnel matters. A motion was made to adjourn into Executive Session. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition. Chairman Dickert adjourned into Executive Session.
After the updates from Attorney Pope, a motion was made to reconvene into Regular Session. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition. Chairman Dickert reconvened the meeting into Regular Session. There were no actions and no voting acted upon during the Executive Session.
President and CEO Avery reviewed his activity and meetings for the month.
President Avery reviewed in detail the financial and operational data for February 2020. The amount of write offs for February is $2,813.79. A motion was made to accept this amount. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
President and CEO Avery reviewed the Engineering and Operations, Operational Support, and IT reports for the month. The total of Carolina Connect fiber customers for Newberry is 1722.
President Avery asked that any trustee interested in attending the ECSC Spring Trustee Association Conference April 20-22, 2020 to please turn in your information sheet so that reservations can be made.
Debra Shaw, Vice President of Member, Public and Government Relations, asked the trustees to please update the sheet for their size of the Annual Meeting shirt. The Annual Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 8 at Mid Carolina High School.
Information was reviewed concerning the Friends of the Foundation Dinner on April 17, 2020 by President Avery. No trustee was interested in attending.
President and CEO Avery reminded everyone of the Washington Rally to be held April 26-28, 2020 in Washington, DC. Three trustees are interested in attending.
Central Electric Power Cooperative February Executive Committee Meeting Report and the ECSC Board Meeting Highlights from February 6, 2020 were referenced by President Avery. Both were accepted as information for the trustees.
President Avery also reminded the trustees of the May Regular Board Meeting being scheduled on May 25, which is the Memorial Day holiday. The consensus of the Board is to have the May meeting on May 26, 2020.
Reminding the Board that the basic facility charge for residential accounts (P1) is below what the rate study in 2012 showed that it should be, President Avery asked the trustees to consider increasing the charge from $19.00 to $20.00 a month. Following much deliberation, a motion was made to increase the basic facility charge. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition. This change will be effective on May 1, 2020.
Newberry Electric paid over $84,000.00 last year in credit card transaction fees. Most companies charge a flat convenience charge or a percentage charge and pass those fees on to the user of the card. After a lengthy discussion, a motion was made to charge the user a flat $2.00 convenience fee per transaction. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition. This change will be effective on May 1, 2020.
President Avery shared with the trustees that there are 101 industrial accounts on five different rates that have demand charges of $9.00 or $11.00 per kW. These demand charges are below where they should be. Because Duke and Santee Cooper have increased their charges, President Avery suggested that until a new rate study can be conducted, to increase the Kw charge from $9.00 to $11.00 and increase the $11.00 charge to $13.00. A motion was made to reflect the suggestion. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition.
There being no further business and without objections, Chairman Johnnie L. Dickert adjourned the February Regular Board Meeting at 9:41 pm.
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SECRETARY APPROVED
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CHAIRMAN