The 82nd Annual Membership Meeting of the Whetstone Valley electric Cooperative, Inc. was held on Thursday, March 21, 2024 at the Wilmot High School gymnasium in Wilmot, SD. Registration opened at 6:00 pm.
At 6:30 pm, the meeting was called to order by President Bill Tostenson.
President Tostenson stated that 184 voting members had registered and were present, creating a quorum.
Tostenson invited everyone to stand for the singing of the National Anthem. The anthem was led by Brooklyn Remund of Wilmot.
Pastor DeVern Schwenn of Milbank provided the invocation for the meeting.
Tostenson introduced the Board of Directors, officers, former directors, former employees, and special guests. Tostenson noted that Darren Strasser has completed his tenure as director and is now stepping down, in accordance with the cooperative governing bylaws stipulating a term limit of 5 consecutive terms.
President Tostenson invited to the podium, Mike Jaspers, Business Development Director for East River Electric Power Cooperative to speak on behalf of East River.
Mr. Jaspers provided a brief summary of East River’s role in providing electricity to Whetstone Valley Electric. He also addressed Darren Strasser's role as Whetstone Valley's representative on the Board of Directors of East River Electric. Mr. Jaspers commended Darren for his exceptional abilities, particularly highlighting his strong aptitude for calculating numbers and comprehension of financial reports. Moreover, he praised Darren’s objective approach in tackling challenging issues that arose during his tenure as director.
Tostenson called on Secretary Strasser to give notice of the meeting and present the minutes of 2023.
Darren Strasser addressed those in attendance and thanked the members for the opportunity for him to serve as director for 15 years. He also thanked the other directors and East River Electric for their support during his time as director.
Secretary Strasser affirmed that the Notice of Annual Meeting along with the unapproved minutes of the 2023 Annual Meeting had been mailed to the membership.
Tostenson called for a motion to waive the reading of the Notice of Annual Membership Meeting and to approve the minutes of the 81st Annual Meeting as presented. A motion from the floor was seconded and carried.
Tostenson 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.
Tostenson noted that capital credits in the amount of $8,228,948 have been returned to members and that $495,805 has been approved for the 2024 general retirement to be credited to members in May.
Tostenson reported the election results. He announced that districts with open seats were districts 3, 4, and 6. Only one candidate for each of the districts was submitted; Wayne Jarman, Tom Berens, and Scott Niedert respectively. With no other members nominated for these districts, the candidates were declared elected by general consent of the membership.
Tostenson 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.
Page provided a brief history of the establishment of the three-tier cooperative structure of Whetstone Valley, East River and Basin Electric cooperatives. He underscored the collective strength achieved through working together to achieve objectives that would be unattainable individually.
Page introduced Whetstone’s Operation Manager, Jon Christensen to provide the 2023 operations report and discuss future work plan projects.
In the 2023 operations review, Christensen discussed the cooperatives meter replacement initiative and reported on underground cable installations, replacement of aging infrastructure and other statistics.
Christensen then reviewed various projects outlined in the 2024 work plan aimed at 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 vehicle accidents impacting the electric distribution system and the importance of safety for community members and employees.
Page continued his report by discussing electric rates. He noted a surge in costs associated with construction materials, equipment, and labor over the past three years, along with an increase in wholesale power expenses. Page emphasized that wholesale power costs, comprising 55 percent of total operating expenses, constitute the single largest portion. He reported that a rate adjustment of 10 percent was implemented February 1st of 2024. Page noted the increase equates to an average increment of 1.4 percent per year since the last rate adjustment in January of 2017.
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. He presented milestone service awards to Marie Loutsch for 10 years of service and Chad Pollock for 15 years of service.
Page announced that this year’s Whetstone Valley / Basin Electric $1,000 scholarship was awarded to Aubrey Fraasch.
President Tostenson expressed appreciation for the service of outgoing Director Darren Strasser and former Director Dale Jensen, acknowledging their 15 years of dedication to the cooperative. He honored them by presenting commemorative certificates as a token of recognition for their contributions.
Tostenson called for any unfinished or new business from the floor. With no further business, and a motion and second from the floor, President Tostenson adjourned the meeting.
There was a drawing for $50 for children 13 years of age or younger in attendance.
Another drawing for $100 was held for those 14 to 18 years of age in attendance. The winner was Brooklyn Remund.
The winner of the $500 cash drawing was Wallace Hamman of Milbank.