REGULAR BOARD MEETING
May 21, 2024
The Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Newberry Electric Cooperative, Inc. was held at the Newberry Electric Cooperative, Inc. located in Newberry County, State of South Carolina on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
Chairman Johnnie L. Dickert called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m. followed by the invocation with the determination of a quorum present.
The secretary reported that the following Board Members were present:
Barbara Bishop Leon Fulmer Craig Kesler
Blake Brigman Melanie Hawkins William Lominick
Johnnie Dickert Doug Hipp John Nichols
Also present were President and CEO G. Keith Avery, Attorney Thomas H. Pope, III, and Executive Secretary Deirdre Murphy. Mrs. Bishop and Mr. Brigman attended by Web Ex.
Chairman Dickert stated that the board needed an Executive Session. Trustee Hipp made a motion for an Executive Session. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition. President Avery and Ms. Murphy were asked to leave the room. When they returned, Chairman Dickert stated that President Avery had a favorable annual evaluation, and he would discuss the terms later with him.
The Board dispensed with the reading of the minutes of the April 2024 Regular Board Meeting. Trustee Hipp made a motion to accept the minutes as emailed. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition.
Committee Chairman John W. Nichols reported that the Finance Committee held its regular meeting on Monday, May 20, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. Trustees Johnnie Dickert, Craig Kesler, William Lominick, and John Nichols are the committee members. All were present along with President and CEO Avery.
Chairman Nichols reported that the Finance Committee reviewed cash disbursements for April 2024. All expenditures were in order, and the committee is presenting this report to the Board as general information.
Attorney Thomas H. Pope, III stated he needed an Executive Session. Trustee Hipp made a motion to go into Executive Session. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition. After some discussion, Trustee Kesler made a motion to return to Regular Session. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition. No actions or voting took place during the Executive Session.
President Avery reviewed information discussed during the Executive Session. A member does not want the new RM meter installed at their home. After some discussion, a motion was made by Trustee Fulmer to offer the member two other options; the first one is for the member to pay to move the RM meter to a new location. The second option is for the Coop to install a manual read meter, where the member will have to pay for the meter and pay $75.00 a month to have the meter read by NEC personnel. The motion was seconded and passed 8 to 1 with Trustee Nichols voting no.
President and CEO Avery reviewed his activities for the month. He attended a Santee Cooper Board Meeting, and a CFC Utility Pricing, Policy, and Analytics meeting to conduct a rate study. He also attended a Special Called Central Electric G-20 meeting and the CarolinaConnect’s monthly meeting.
President and CEO Avery reviewed in detail the operational data for April. The amount of write offs for April 2024 is $1635.40. Trustee Hipp made a motion to accept this amount. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
President and CEO G. Keith Avery reviewed the Engineering, Operations, and Operational Support reports for the month. Engineering has conducted monthly substation and
downline inspections. They also connected several downline reclosers, Fairview Sub, to SCADA and added Kiswire Circuit #3 to SCADA.
Line construction is continuing to identify and replace aging primary concentric cable along with copper wire. They completed a system wide circuit balancing and moved taps system wide to balance load.
Monolith Digital was energized with plans to expand in the next few months. Trane, formally Artic Chill, is working on an expansion. The new Dollar General on Hwy. 391 has been staked for permanent power.
Garrett Felker attended the Superintendent and Foreman’s Conference. Phillip Padgett conducted a new employee orientation.
CarolinaConnect billed 6,219 fiber accounts for the month. 37 orders are pending for NEC and 32 are pending for CarolinaConnect to install.
President Avery reminded the trustees of the ECSC Summer Conference to be held in June.
President and CEO Avery reviewed the 2024-2025 NEC Committee Appointments. No one objected to the committees as assigned by Chairman Dickert. (See Attached)
President Avery reviewed a letter from Jill Jeffords, Director of SC Ag in the Classroom, requesting a sponsorship to the Ag in the Classroom Summer Workshop series. After some discussion, Trustee Kesler made a motion to be a Meal Sponsor. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition.
President Avery referenced a memo from Brad Captain, Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of CFC, concerning the Annual Membership Meeting at the CFC Forum in June. A voting delegate and alternate are needed for the meeting. Trustee Kesler made a motion to keep the same delegates as last year, with President Avery as the voting delegate and Trustee Nichols as the alternate. The motion was seconded and passed without opposition.
The Central Electric Power Cooperative May 7, 2024 G-20 Meeting and the Central Electric Power Cooperative May 2024 Board Meeting summaries were accepted as information.
The Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina Communications Committee Meeting March 21, 2024 Unapproved Minutes were accepted as information.
President and CEO Avery asked the trustees to consider forming an Advisory Committee to discuss future changes with cooperatives.
There being no further business and without objections, Chairman Johnnie L. Dickert adjourned the May 2024 Regular Board Meeting at 9:05 p.m.
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SECRETARY APPROVED
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CHAIRMAN
NEWBERRY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC.
2024-2025 COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Chairman Johnnie Dickert
Vice Chairman William Lominick, Sr.
Secretary-Treasurer John Wayne Nichols
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Chairman John Wayne Nichols
Craig Kesler
Johnnie Dickert
William B. Lominick, Sr.
MEMBERSHIP & PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE
Chairman Blake Brigman
Barbara Bishop
Johnnie Dickert
Melanie Hawkins
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS & OPERATIONS COMMITTEE
Chairman Craig Kesler
Leon Fulmer, Jr.
Doug Hipp
Johnnie Dickert
POLICY REVIEW COMMITTEE
Chairman Johnnie Dickert
Blake Brigman
Doug Hipp
Barbara Bishop
John Wayne Nichols