by Brad Dolinski CEO
Good afternoon NIECI!
I hope the hunters were successful this year. I sure wasn’t trophy hunting this go round. I ended up with a little spike that will turn into some outstanding brats. I was fortunate to have an opportunity the opening weekend of season and everything came together almost as planned. My oldest daughter and I got into the brat making club a couple of years ago. It’s great to have help with that mess, and I sure enjoy making them with her.
Our nuclear energy meeting went very well last month in Marcell, Minn. There was a great crowd there to learn and to share information with the attendees. Itasca County Economic Development Corporation, County Commissioners from Itasca and Beltrami, friends and neighbors from many electrical cooperatives, Senator Hauschild, and Representative Igo were there with us. I want to thank everyone that came out on that rainy day. I especially need to thank my panel of experts, Minnesota Rural Electric Association CEO Darrick Moe, nuclear energy expert Mike Brasel, Minnesota Power’s Eric Palmer & Gary Wheelock, and Great River Energy’s Kyle Leier. This event was a success because of all of you, thank you kindly.
I am currently sitting in the boardroom working on the budget with Tina and Daryl. We are trying to get the information accurately together for our Board of Directors.
Yes, I do believe there will be a rate increase this year. I currently do not know what that will be. I was at a Great River Energy meeting at Maple Grove this week. When we were asked for a show of who will be raising rates this year, almost every hand went up. The pressures of the changing grid are too much without a rate increase. Equipment has not dropped significantly since it climbed sharply during COVID. We must maintain the system to ensure it is reliable and robust enough for your needs. Interest rates are coming down, but they are still much higher than previous years; we borrow money for construction work plans yearly. All these pressures mount together when we plan for future years.
Another pressure on rates this year will be related to our Off-Peak system. Currently the lion’s share of our Off-Peak system is operating through a radio signal from GRE. This system is aged and new parts for it are unavailable to buy. The members of GRE voted to shut down this system in 2015; they gave us about ten years to plan to replace the equipment.
It sounds like I was procrastinating doing something about this. Yes, maybe a little bit. New systems are very expensive, I needed to ensure the system I picked would last and not break the bank. I believe we have finally found a system that will meet our needs. This will be a cellular based system, and we will not need to rewire what you already have. This system will be what is called a door swap. We will need to visit homes with Off-Peak next spring and summer, we will remove the outside cover or door of your control device and replace it with a new one. This will be significant savings for NIECI and the members on the Off-Peak system.
We will continue to work diligently on the budget. I dislike it when we must raise rates. Our rates from GRE increased by roughly seven percent this coming year. This means we will have a minimum of 3.5 percent rate increase before I look at our expenses. I do not expect big swings past what we need to cover this increase. I am very hesitant to throw numbers around, but I want to keep the total rate increase below 5%.
I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving!
By your side! Miigwech
Brad
