CEO JULY MESSAGE - 2023

Annual Meeting Update

Thank you to all of our members who joined us for Hill County Electric’s 78th Annual Meeting of Members at the MSUNorthern Student Union Building on May 13, 2023. I’d like to congratulate Board Members Trevor Standing Rock (District 2) and Leslie Smith (District 3) for being reelected to serve their respective districts for another term at the annual meeting.

We recognize the vital role HCE plays in energizing our local economy, but to continue to innovate and effectively serve the community, we rely on you, our members, to give input and be part of the grassroots efforts that may be needed throughout the year. We value your perspective and cannot operate effectively to help our community thrive without you. Let your voice be heard.

Most consumers would not equate active involvement with their electric company with helping their community, but HCE is not an ordinary utility company. We are a cooperative and our business model is meant to serve the members and the community in which it operates – not to make a hefty profit for investors. The difference is HCE’s members are more than consumers, they are members of the cooperative.

Our core purpose and mission is to provide safe, reliable and affordable power to our members. But as a cooperative, we are motivated by service to the community, rather than profits. After meeting our annual expenses, we invest back in the cooperative and the wider community. We depend on the guidance and perspective of our Board to help set priorities for the cooperative and guide governance decisions.

Every summer, for example, we participate in the Youth Tour and take local high school students to the nation’s capital to meet with lawmakers, enabling students to learn firsthand how our democracy works. We have a scholarship program and a teacher apprecation program that helps our rural teachers.

As always, stay safe and stay healthy!