Dear Members,

Electricity is a shared resource, and how we use it impacts more than just our individual bills—it affects the entire cooperative membership. As members, we play a crucial role in shaping your cooperative's load profile, or our "load shape." This load shape is determined by when and how we consume electricity throughout the day. Managing this load well helps REMC control costs, maintain reliability and prepare for future growth.

Each cooperative has a unique load shape to manage, and your cooperative is no exception. When members don't actively manage their electric usage, especially during peak demand times, costs rise for everyone. This cost increase occurs because wholesale power resources are higher during these periods; increased demand can strain the system, leading to costly upgrades and greater risks of reliability issues.

To address these challenges, your cooperative has implemented strategies to manage our load shape. A couple of these efforts include thermostat and water heater controls through our Connect to Save program, and Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR), a peak management technique that optimizes voltage levels during high-demand periods. Additionally, we offer time-of-use rates to encourage members to shift their energy consumption to off-peak hours when electricity is cheaper to produce and deliver. Traditionally, member participation in these programs has been low, leaving untapped potential for collective savings. Today, I am asking you to examine your energy usage, consider our incentivized rates and help your cooperative manage energy even better.

Proactively managing our load shape benefits both the cooperative and its members. By reducing wholesale power costs, we can keep retail rates lower, reduce the strain on our system during extreme temperatures, and delay the need for costly infrastructure upgrades. While on time-of-use rates, members who shift their usage to off-peak times not only share in these savings but also help improve reliability while reducing the overall financial impact on all members.

Managing energy usage isn’t just about keeping the lights on—it’s about creating a brighter, more sustainable and affordable future for everyone.

Load forecasting is another key component of our strategy, allowing us to account for predictable fluctuations in demand as we plan and budget for the future. As our region enters a new era of economic development, demand for electricity will increase, putting further pressure on capacity and prices. REMC continues to face significant cost challenges, and the financial strain on power supply shows no signs of easing in the foreseeable future. While we cannot eliminate these cost pressures entirely, reducing our load shape now will help reduce their overall impact and help us manage future challenges more effectively.

This conversation wouldn’t be complete without recognizing a thoughtful contribution from a friend and fellow member, Chris F., who had this conversation with me months ago about the importance of how our individual usage patterns affect us all as a cooperative. By working together, we can ensure your cooperative remains strong and responsive to the needs of all members, now and in the future.

Managing energy usage isn’t just about keeping the lights on—it’s about creating a brighter, more sustainable and affordable future for everyone. Let's work together to make that happen.

Cooperatively yours,
Dennis Mabe, Chief Executive Officer