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Limon Office Falcon Office Office Hours: |
April 2008 Manager's Message to Members  Please regard this message as a personal invitation to attend the Annual Meeting of Mountain View Electric Association on June 12, 2008 at the Lewis-Palmer 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. The purpose of this Annual Report is to provide information on the status and the operations of Mountain View Electric Association to the membership. Please take the time to review the pages of the Annual report and to contact one of our offices if you have any questions. During 2007, we experienced a slowdown in the number of new services. At the same time, we had an increase in sales of 30.2 million kWh, a 4.63% sales growth compared to 2006. The total kWh sold for the year was 683,794,518 with a peak demand of 142.7 megawatts. The total annual sales revenue was $69,695,226. The growth in revenues of $6.8 million was a 10.9% increase over 2006. We ended the year with a margin of $11,349,251. The Association met all of the financial obligations set forth in our 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 64 cents of that dollar is paid for the cost of purchased power. MVEA is one of the members of Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a member-owned wholesale power cooperative headquartered in Denver and serving 44 electric cooperatives in Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming, and New Mexico. In the latter part of 2007, Tri-State notified MVEA of a rate increase of 11.8% for 2008. This action required the Association to implement a general rate increase to recover these 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 acquiring generation capacity 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 electricity costs to trend upward over the next few years. Even though the number of new services has slowed, the Association continues to experience growth throughout the service territory in all classes of service. We added 1,208 new billed accounts to bring the total average number of monthly bills to 43,013, a growth rate of 2.89%. We anticipate that our growth will continue at a slower rate for the next few years. The majority of the new meters added were residential, but we did add 146 commercial accounts. Growth in the commercial sector will help to diversify our already strong residential based-load. MVEA experienced an annual utility plant growth rate of 5.6%. We built new additions and made improvements to our distribution system totaling over $10.6 million during the year, adding a net increase of $6.5 million in debt to finance plant improvements. We continue to improve the integrity of our system by increasing substation capacity, adding feeder lines and upgrading lines, as well as many other major projects. As always, the employees of the Association deserve special recognition. It is their professionalism and dedication to customer satisfaction that helps to ensure the success and stability of your Association. The employees continue to work diligently to meet the demands of growth throughout MVEA's service area and 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 12th at the Lewis-Palmer High School . 2008 Nominating Ad for June 12th MVEA Annual Meeting Message from the President
This year two directors have made public their plans to retire. Naomi Malcom, from district 8, and Duane Steinke, from district 3, have announced that they will not seek reelection to the Board of Directors at the June Annual Meeting. Mrs. Malcom has served on the board since 1977 and has been the Secretary of the board since 1991. Mr. Steinke has been on the board since 1983, and was Board President from 1988 to 1994. Both have been outstanding directors on behalf of the consumers of MVEA. They will be greatly missed. This announcement caused quite a debate in the boardroom. After lengthy discussion, it was decided that we would reduce the number of director positions by 1 and become a 7-person board instead of an 8-person board. We then decided to restructure the district boundaries for the remaining seven districts and absorb district 8 into districts 6 & 7, allowing us to more evenly distribute the consumers in most districts. This change will be effective at this year's Annual Meeting. At the same time that we restructured, we also renumbered the districts. Please see the new map that is included with this report for the new district numbers. Roundup continues to be a strong program helping consumer members. In December 2007, Roundup surpassed the $1,000,000.00 mark in grant disbursements to our member owners. Thank you, Roundup participating members, for your support. Rates continue to be a topic of discussion in the boardroom. This year Tri-State G & T, MVEA's wholesale power supplier, issued an 11.8% rate increase effective January 1, 2008. Inevitably, MVEA determined it necessary to pass that on to our consumers with an average 7.5% increase in retail rates. Tri-State's Long Range Economic Forecast calls for much lower rate increases over the next several years. Let's hope they are accurate. Another major issue in the boardroom this year was the decision to construct a new office building at our Falcon location. We are in the early design stage and hope to start building in 2008 with the construction done in phases. We will build new offices and reuse much of the current warehouse. The plan is to move into the new building sometime in 2009. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank all 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 Monument. 2007 MVEA Board of Directors
As of the June Annual Meeting, Duane Steinke and Naomi Malcom are resigning their seats on the board. Duane joined the board in 1983 and served as president from 1988-1994. Naomi Malcom joined the board of directors in 1977 and has served as Secretary/Treasurer for 17 years. A more in-depth article on Duane and Naomi will be included in the June issue. The members thank all of these people for their years of service and for stepping up to the plate to ensure that the cooperative gives the best possible service to the members. The Cooperative Way In the early part of the 20th century, society was divided into rural and urban, the haves and the have-nots. Electricity was the great divider. The rural people of America were the have-not's. They were told that, for them, it was not profitable for the electric companies to provide electricity. No profit, no lights. President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed that forever by offering the people a New Deal. As part of the new Deal, the Rural Electrification Administration was established in 1935. The next year, the Rural Electrification Act was signed enabling loans to be made to cooperatives ready to electrify rural America. Shortly after that, in December 1940, approximately 150 people gathered at the Black Forest Community Center to see about getting electricity to the areas beyond Colorado Springs. They established a cooperative and incorporated in 1941. They applied for, and received, a loan to build an electric system. The co-op started by purchasing Commonwealth Electric Company and its generator in Limon. An office was established in the town and remained the headquarters for the cooperative. The power lines running along Highway 24 to Falcon and out to Genoa were also purchased. Membership in the co-op at that time was $5, and members were expected to help build the lines to their houses, contributing equipment and just plain hard work. Eventually, crews and equipment were purchased and the cooperative could more quickly accomplish the building of services to its members. This was the foundation for today's cooperative, Mountain View Electric Association. MVEA still operates on the same principles it started with 67 years ago. We are still owned by the members we serve and we work to provide the very best in service. The original members who worked hard to improve the quality of life for today's members changed our rural service area forever. Remember, as a member, you are part of a great tradition – a rural cooperative.
Counties served – Arapahoe, Crowley, Douglas, Elbert, El Paso, Lincoln, Pueblo and Washington Year organized – 1941 Power source – Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Number of employees – 131 Number of services – 44,772 Miles of energized line – 5,961 Consumers per mile – 7.5 Total plant in service – $191,812,078 Service territory – 5,000 square miles Eastern Plains Relay for Life
For the Eastern Plains Relay, teams of 8-11 people will walk from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. around the Limon School track raising money for cancer awareness and research. Why walk through the night? Because cancer never sleeps. Fighting cancer is a team effort. The strength of people coming together for a common cause is greater than the strength of one. Relay For Life is a great way for corporations, schools, and businesses to demonstrate their commitment to fighting cancer in their community. The Relay is also a community gathering. The Eastern Plains encompasses a lot of small communities that we hope, for one night at least, will become one. If you are a Survivor, join us as an honorary guest for the Survivors' Lap, which begins the Relay For Life. Your strength and courage will help the community see that cancer survivorship is real – that we are making progress in the battle against cancer. Luminaries will be available for those who wish to remember someone special and a special ceremony will take place during the evening. And, activities will be going on through the night – fireworks, music, information booths, and food. Get a team together and come out and join us on July 4 in the fight against cancer. For more information call Deborah Skillicorn at 2577 or 719-641-6539. Join the fight!
Get those cameras out and for that perfect picture in our service territory. Maybe you will be one of the lucky winners to have their pictures on the MVEA calendar. For instructions and entry forms for the 2008 photo contest, click here. Gift of Life Benefit The barbeque is from 5 – 8 p.m. and will include a variety of entertainment for young and old. The barn dance begins at 8 p.m. in the hayloft with live country music. Cost of the event is $15 per person over 12 and $5 for children 6-12. Deadline for tickets is May 30. For more information, please call Gloria Beedy at (719)768-3263 or Judy Vick at (719)743-2212. Come out and support this worthwhile and fun event. Need Help Paying Your Utility Bill? Click HereRide the Eastern Plains
Folks will gather with their horses at the Frazier Ranch at River Bend on the banks of the Big Sandy Creek bed at 8:30 a.m. The ride is approximately 12-miles. 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 and join in on some old cowboy songs. You are invited to camp overnight at the ranch. 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 available. Join us for a great day in the plains. Get in the LOOP with compact florescent light bulbs MVEA urges you to join in conserving power by installing compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in your home and business. The Energy Star© qualified bulbs can last up to 10 times longer than a standard light bulb and use 2/3 to ¾ less energy. The first CFL bulbs were developed in the 1980's and were expensive. Many people complained about dim light output, flickering, noise, funny colors and sizes that were too big to fit in many fixtures. Today's CFLs cost much less while offering great performance. They have instant turn-on, quick warm-up and great light quality. They come in a wide variety of shapes, most of which are no larger than the standard bulbs they replace. MVEA has joined the national Energy Star© campaign to encourage all Americans to install CFLs. A component of this effort is MVEA's CFL Fund Raiser in which non-profit organizations can sell CFLs as a fundraiser for their organization. MVEA will provide these light bulbs to the non-profit groups at less than wholesale cost. Groups can expect to make approximately $1 for every bulb they sell. If you are a member of a non-profit group within MVEA's service territory and would like more information on how your group can participate, contact MVEA member services department at 719-495-2283 or 719-775-2861. Energy Efficiency today at MVEA! DCP Utility Consulting |
2007 News Archive |
Mountain View Electric Association is preparing for its 67th Annual Meeting. This year's meeting will be held in Monument at the Lewis-Palmer High School on Thursday, June 12, 2008. Due to overwhelming attendance the past couple of years, we will once again have an evening meeting. 
Being a director takes time and dedication. Directors not only attend day-long board meetings each month, but also serve as directors for other related organizations, attend seminars, conferences and classes to better serve the cooperative. 
Co-op Facts 
On July 4, 2008, families, friends and coworkers will join together in Limon to CELEBRATE the lives of those who have battled cancer, REMEMBER those who lost and FIGHT BACK against a disease that has touched nearly everyone. Sharing the power of purple. The Eastern Plains Relay for Life will be a life changing event for those that participate. Relay for Life represents the hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported and that one day cancer will be eliminated. 
2008 Photo Contest Begins
The 13th annual Gift of Life benefit barbeque and barn dance will be Saturday, June 7 at the beautiful Homestead Barn in Genoa. Proceeds from the event are used to purchase medical equipment for the Lincoln Community Hospital, to provide two $1,000 scholarships and to promote better health services in the community. 
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. Friday, June 13 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. 
Fund raising opportunities!