Good afternoon,
Looks like ol’ man winter got quite comfortable around North Itasca. We got a good shot of snow this past weekend, and we’re supposed to get another this week.
I’m already dreaming of warmer weather. I want to hit the woods on the wheelers, lakes in the boat, and start complaining about the bugs destined to show up soon.
I’ve had a chance to visit with several of the Member-Owners of North Itasca Electric lately. It has been brought to my attention that I have an issue with some of our electrical meters. There are two main circuit boards in the meters we use. The first board reads and records the usage at your home or business. There is nothing wrong with this board. The meters are measuring usage accurately. The second board communicates that usage back to the office. This is the board we are having some issues with. Some of our meters aren’t communicating the usage back in, this causes us to estimate the usage on these meters.
We recently sent our line crew out to physically read the meters we were having issues with. This helped us to correct bills that had been estimating for far too long. We will be sending letters out to the Member-Owners that are affected by this issue. We will be using both self-read meter readings and crew readings until we get a permanent fix for the issue. Currently, we are waiting up to 52 weeks for meters once we place the order. The manufacturer doesn’t manufacture the component we need any longer. I am staring down the barrel of a new metering system. This is a very expensive decision to deal with when the issue only affects roughly 3% of our current meters.
We ordered twelve meters that use cellular service to communicate with the office. We will place these meters around the system and move them over four months to “test” if they will work at North Itasca Electric. If these meters function the way I expect them to, we will order a couple of pallets and move forward with cellular technology. This test could take up to two years: the first year to get the 12 meters and the next year to get several hundred to deploy. Our other option is to purchase meters that are slightly used. We ordered eight of these meters as well. The used meters will be tested for accuracy, and if they connect with our system we can order several hundred more.
Why on earth would you order used meters? We still owe depreciation on the current system. We need to keep those meters and the system running as long as possible to ensure we realize the value of our investment. If we replace the system prior to the depreciation hitting zero, we would have to show a loss in the year, this would put pressure on our rates. I will continue to work with our team to find the best plan to correct this issue. Some of our Member-Owners will hear from us over the next several months to ensure that your bill is accurate.
With spring in the air, we need to start planning for the Annual Meeting of North Itasca Electric Cooperative, Inc. We will be sending out the Member Letter in the next bill. This letter explains what you need to do if you are interested in running for the Board of Directors.
Districts 4, 5 and 6 are up for election this year. The Nominating Committee will meet on May 3rd at 5:30 p.m. to determine who will be on the ballot this year. The Nominating Committee ensures that candidates meet the Bylaw requirements set forth by the members of North Itasca Electric.
I look forward to seeing you at the Northome Fairgrounds on Thursday June 15th, 2023, at 2:00 pm for the Annual Meeting. Expect nice weather and a great safety presentation from our line crew.
By your side! Miigwech
Brad
