The 83rd Annual Membership Meeting of the Whetstone Valley Electric Cooperative, Inc. was held on Thursday, March 27, 2025, at Milbank High School in Milbank, SD. Registration opened at 6:00 pm.
At 7:00 pm, the meeting was called to order by President Joel Adler.
President Adler stated that 266 voting members had registered and were present, creating a quorum.
Approximately 360 people attended the meeting.
Adler invited everyone to stand for the singing of the National Anthem. The anthem was led by Ashlynn Batchelor.
Pastor Justin Neugebauer of Milbank provided the invocation for the meeting.
Adler introduced the Board of Directors and officers and recognized former employees and Directors.
Adler called on Secretary Cameron to give notice of the meeting and present the minutes of 2024.
Secretary Cameron affirmed that the Notice of Annual Meeting along with the unapproved minutes of the 2024 Annual Meeting had been mailed to the membership.
Adler called for a motion to waive the reading of the Notice of Annual Membership Meeting and to approve the minutes of the 82nd Annual Meeting as presented. A motion from the floor was seconded and carried.
Adler pointed out that the Financial Statement and Treasurer’s report was included in the material delivered to those attending. A motion from the floor to approve the Treasurer’s Report was seconded and carried.
Adler reported that capital credits in the amount of $8,725,369 have been returned to members and that $541,435 has been approved for the 2025 general retirement to be credited to members in May. He reminded those in attendance that the returned cash or credit is a share of the member’s equity in the coop that’s being returned this year.
Adler called on the cooperative’s General Counsel, Harvey Oliver to report the election results. Oliver announced that districts with open seats were districts 7, 8, and 9. Only one candidate for each of the districts was submitted; Joel Adler, Krista Atyeo-Gortmaker, and Paul Nelson respectively. With no other members nominated for these districts, the candidates were declared elected by general consent of the membership.
Adler called on Whetstone Valley General Manager, Dave Page, for the management report and to introduce the employees.
General Manager Page welcomed the members to the Annual Meeting of the Cooperative. He thanked the employees for their efforts in preparation of the meeting.
Emphasizing the meeting’s theme: Partners in Progress, Page provided current statistics including the number of members served and miles of line maintained by Whetstone Valley, East River and Basin Electric cooperatives.
Page introduced Whetstone’s Operation Manager, Jon Christensen to provide the 2024 operations report and discuss future work plan projects.
In the 2024 operations review, Christensen discussed the cooperatives load controller replacement initiative and reported on underground cable installations, replacement of aging infrastructure and other statistics.
Christensen then reviewed various projects outlined in the 2025 work plan aimed at improved load capacity and enhancing system reliability. These initiatives call for the replacement of aging infrastructure and the increase of capacity to accommodate load growth and facilitate system load balancing.
Christensen concluded his report by discussing the importance of utility and customer-owned line location before digging and encouraged members to utilize the Smart Hub app for real-time account and usage information.
Page continued his report by discussing current impacts on electric rates. He addressed rising costs that led to a rate adjustment in February 2025. He cited a nearly 9% increase in wholesale power costs experienced in January of 2025, now representing 53% of Whetstone Valley Electric’s total operating expenses, as a primary driver.
In addition to the rising cost of infrastructure investment and market volatility, Page pointed to growing demand for electricity as a long-term challenge. However, he emphasized that growth also brings opportunities, including job creation, tax revenue, and grid modernization.
Page concluded his report and thanked the Board of Directors and the members for attending.
Page then introduced the employees. Those attending showed their appreciation to the team of employees with a round of applause. Page presented milestone service awards to Mark Weber for 35 years of service, Mike Trapp for 25 years, Jason Soward for 10 years, and Marty Brown for 5 years of service with the Co-op.
Page announced that this year’s Whetstone Valley / Basin Electric $1,000 scholarship was awarded to Mya Heinje.
President Adler called for any unfinished or new business from the floor. With no further business, and a motion and second from the floor, President Adler adjourned the meeting.
There was a drawing for $50 for children 13 years of age or younger in attendance. The winner was Jalyn Anderson.
The winner of the $100 drawing for those 14 to 18 years of age in attendance was Kyra Tostenson.
The winner of the $500 cash drawing was Ron Kottke.