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Limon Office Falcon Office Office Hours: |
April 2007
Manager's Message
This past year of 2006 was another year of record setting growth. The kWh sales for the year were 653,565,286 with a peak demand of 145.03 megawatts. We experienced an increase in sales of 35.5 million kWh or 5.75% sales growth. Annual sales revenue was $62,320,742. The growth in revenues of $4.91million was an 8.55% increase over 2005. We ended the year with a margin of $8,077,208. The Association met all of the financial obligations set forth in the mortgage. We are in a strong financial position to meet the future needs of our membership. The single largest expense to the Association is the Cost of Wholesale Power. For each dollar spent on expenses, over 62 cents of that dollar is paid for the cost of purchased power. MVEA is one of the 44 members of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association that is headquartered in Denver. Tri-State serves cooperatives in Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, and New Mexico. In the latter part of 2006, Tri-State notified MVEA of a rate increase of 11.8% for 2007. This action required the Association to implement a general rate increase to recover theses costs. The Tri-State service area has experienced considerable growth over the past few years. Tri-State, which once had a large amount of excess generation capacity, is now in the process of building generation plants to meet the increasing demand. As the cost of this generation capacity is added to the books and with the prices of energy and fossil fuels continuing to increase, we can expect the rate of electricity to trend upward over the next few years. The Association continues to experience steady growth throughout the service territory in all classes of service. We added 2,336 new billed accounts to bring the total to 41,805 for a growth rate of 5.92%. We have experienced a compounded growth rate of greater that 6% for the last five years and anticipate the growth to continue at this rate for the next few years. The majority of the new meters added were residential, but we did add 142 commercial accounts. The growth in the commercial sector will help to diversify our already strong residential based-load. MVEA experienced an annual utility plant growth rate of 4.6% building new additions and improvements totaling over $8.36 million in total utility plant during the year adding a net increase of $4.9 million in long-term debt to finance plant improvements. We continue to improve the integrity of the system by increasing substation capacity, adding feeder lines, upgrading lines, and many other major projects. The employees of the Association deserve special recognition. It is their dedication to customer satisfaction and their professionalism that helps to ensure the success and stability of your Association. The employees continue to work very hard to meet the demands of the tremendous growth throughout the service area. They are all very responsive to the needs of our member/owners. The employees strive to uphold the credo that delivering quality service to the membership is our number one priority. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend your cooperative's Annual Meeting. I encourage you to take this opportunity to be more involved in your electric association and exercise your rights as a member of MVEA. We welcome your questions and participation. I look forward to seeing you the evening of June 14 at the Limon High School. Your Invitation to MVEA's 66th Annual Meeting President's Message
Just as in past years, the subject of consumer growth dominated the board room. We continue to experience tremendous growth in the western portion of our territory. MVEA is striving to make sure the necessary facilities are in place to meet the rising demand for electricity as well as continuing to improve system reliability. We believe that we are meeting these two goals, however, we will continue to make every effort to improve the reliability of our service to our members. In 2006, for the second consecutive year, we received a wholesale power rate increase from our power supplier, Tri-State, of approximately 4%. We were not able to absorb this additional cost and it was necessary to pass this increase on to our members with an approximate 2.2% increase in our retail rates. As the demand for more power continues, Tri-State will experience upward pressure on their rates. Hopefully these short term increases will bring long term stability to rates in the future. The financial condition of our Cooperative remained strong for 2006. We met all of the mortgage requirements set forth by our lenders, which includes receiving a clean annual external audit from our independent auditing firm of Schmidt & Co. One financial ratio that is actually improving is member equity. Operating as a Cooperative, member equity is an important component to reduce the amounts borrowed from outside lenders. Over the past several years I have talked about our trend toward declining equity. I am happy to report that not only has the decline stopped but it has actually started rising again, albeit slightly. Equity has grown from 32.96% in 2003 to 35.90% at the end of 2006. Hopefully this trend will continue and member equity will continue to rise. With all of this in mind, the Board of Directors approved a capital credit refund of just under $2,400,000.00 for 2006. Checks were distributed in December of 2006 to members of record for 1991 and 1992. Operation Round-up continues to spread a positive impact throughout our service territory. Sometime in 2007, grant disbursements will pass the $1,000,000.00 mark. What a tremendous accomplishment this will be. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank all of the employees of MVEA for their hard work and dedication to our Association and its members. We are very fortunate to have quality employees to serve you. I look forward to seeing all of you at our Annual Meeting in Limon. Green Power at MVEA
This year, Tri-State was able to purchase Green Power for only $1.25 per 100 kWh blocks and we passed this savings onto our members. The majority of those purchasing Green Power , opted to keep their commitment money the same and double the amount of blocks they were purchasing. As a result, MVEA sells 4,700 - 100 kWh blocks of Green Powe r each month. Shreiver AFB, who also opted to double their blocks when the price was reduced, purchases 3,000 of these blocks. MVEA wishes to thank all of our members that have chosen to participate in this program. They are helping to preserve our nation's non-renewable energy sources, like coal and other fossil fuels currently used to produce electricity and helping to spur further development of wind energy and other renewable energy sources. The renewable energy kilowatt-hours they purchase replaces the amount of fossil fuel that would be used to generate the equivalent kilowatt-hours to meet their demand. If you are interested in joining the Green Power program, please contact either MVEA office for more information. Green Power ~ nature's choice . Touchstone Energy Dutch Oven Cook-off information
Need Help Paying Your Utility Bill? The Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) is designed to help low-income households with winter home heating costs. It is not intended to pay the entire cost of home heating . Following are phone numbers for your county LEAP offices. Applications will be accepted from November 1 through April 30. El Paso – 719-442-0007 Elbert – 719-541-2369 Douglas – 303-688-4825 Lincoln – 719-7432404 Washington – 970-345-2238 Pueblo – 719-583-6356 Crowley – 719-267-3546 Arapahoe – 303-636-1100 or, go to the LEAP website at Other agencies in the area to assist with emergency situations: Health & Human Service Information & Referral – 211, 719-955-0742, 866-488-9742 www.ppunitedway.org Pikes Peak Community Action Agency: Administration office - 719-471-7870 Eastern El Paso County – 719-347-2976 Eastern Colorado Springs – 719-385-7930 Fountain Area – 719-382-8515 Northern Churches Cares - 719-277-7470 Tri-Lakes Cares – 719-481-4864 Salvation Army – 719-636-3891 Red Cross - 719-632-3563 New Hope Shelter - 719-578-9190 (Colorado Springs) Silver Key (60 and over) – 719-632-1521 Army Emergency Relief (military personnel and retirees) – 719-526-4783 The Home Front Cares (active military, reservists and National Guard) – Military Service Center Time For Photo Contest Again!
Ride the Plains
Folks will gather with their horses at River Bend on the banks of the Big Sandy Creek bed for the 18-mile trail ride at 8:30 a.m. The group will ride until noon and stop for lunch on the Lasater Ranch. After lunch, everyone will saddle back up and make their way along the beautiful Big Sandy Creek bed back to River Bend. After the ride, enjoy a barbeque and gather around the campfire to listen to singer Roger Stone and his cowboy songs. Cost of this memorable experience, lunch, dinner and the trail ride is $25 in advance or $30 the day of the ride. For more information, call 719-541-2736. If you stay the night, you can visit the award winning Limon Heritage Museum the next day. Spend some time moseying around the museum grounds and gardens, trains, historic depot and buildings. If you are into the Old West, there are new western exhibits. The museum is always FREE and opens June 1 for the season. Free guided tours are also available. Join us for a great day in the plains.
DCP Utility Consulting |
2007 News Archive |
Please regard this message as a personal invitation to attend the annual meeting of Mountain View Electric Association to be held on June 14, 2007 at the Limon High School . The annual meeting lies at the heart of the cooperative principles and presents an opportunity for the member/owners to provide direct input to the Board and Management on the operations of the Association.
Mountain View Electric is preparing for our 66 th Annual Meeting in Limon on June 14, 2007. Due to overwhelming attendance the past couple of years, we will once again have an evening meeting. We look forward to another successful event.
In 1998, Tri-State G&T began purchasing Green Power , primarily wind, and selling it to their member cooperatives at cost. In 1999, MVEA was able to offer our members an opportunity to participate in a program that can lead to a cleaner world for future generations. Members could purchase 100 kWh blocks of Green Power , in addition to their regular billing, for $2.50. 
Our 2007 calendar was absolutely great with some wonderful photos from our members. So for the fourth year, we are inviting you to send in your photos taken within MVEA's territory and reflecting the seasons and the people, lifestyle or landscape of our area. The winners will be included in our 2008 calendar. The deadline for entry is July 1, 2007. If you have questions, please call Deborah Skillicorn or Patsy Tompkins at either MVEA office.
The sight of our mountains often overshadows the beautiful plains of Colorado . However, wild flowers, huge trees and beautiful rolling plains are right under our noses. June 8 is your opportunity to ride across some of the oldest ranches in Colorado and enjoy the beauty of the plains on the Limon Heritage Society's Annual Trail Ride.