Wright-Hennepin Electric

This meeting marked the 85th anniversary of Wright-Hennepin's founding in 1937, themed "85 Years of the Cooperative Advantage." Key activities included the formal call to order by the Chairman of the Board, the appointment of legal counsel as parliamentarian, and discussions emphasizing democratic member control. The meeting covered the election of three director positions (Districts 4, 6, and 8), with voting conducted via mail ballots, electronic submission, or a potential voice/show of hands vote, as in-person voting was prohibited due to health concerns. The Chief Financial Officer presented the solid 2021 financial results, noting an unmodified audit opinion and strong operating results, which allowed for the refund of nearly $3.75 million in the 2021 general capital credit retirement and an additional $3.5 million special capital credit refund this month. Furthermore, the W-H holding businesses absorbed $1.3 million of electric business operating expenses, benefiting members via reduced electric rates.

The Wright-Hennepin and WH Holding monthly Board of Director meetings covered various topics including alternative funding, line of credit, special retirement of capital credits, appointment to Operation Round Up's Board of Directors, annual renewal of insurance, the annual Policy, Planning and Professional Services Committee Meeting, adjusting competitiveness target, attending the Wright County 4-H Auction, American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey results, recognition of a former Director, legal counsel updates, commercial accounts, substation communications, competitiveness analysis, business activities, financial controls and procedures, tariff impacts, demand management receivers, compliance with Rural Electric Service's requirements, and AI and cybersecurity tabletop updates.

The Wright-Hennepin and Wright-Hennepin Holding Company (WH Holding) monthly Board of Director meetings involved discussions and actions such as approving the purchase of materials requiring extended lead times, renewing WH's line of credit to WH Holding, and approving special capital credit retirements. Directors were selected to attend area school scholarship events. Reports covered WH's power supply environment, key financial information, alternative funding for construction projects, the WH Appliance Repair business, and WH Generation's generator fleet. Legal counsel provided updates, and directors shared highlights from meetings. The Wright-Hennepin and WH Holding Board of Director Reorganizational Meetings included accepting director elections, approving the election of officers for both WH Electric and WH Holding, and reappointing Operation Round Up Directors. The Wright-Hennepin and WH Holding monthly Board of Director meetings included reviewing the 2025 Annual Meeting, approving the date and pork chop vendor for the 2026 Annual Meeting, and approving winners of the annual Slebiska Lineworker and WH Security Scholarships. The board also approved Secretary of Incumbency Certificates, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's membership dues, January -- June 2026 board meeting dates, and providing aggregated energy data to the Metropolitan Council. Additionally, they voted to recommend a director to the Minnesota Rural Electric Association's Board and nominated a chair to serve on the Great River Energy Board.

The Wright-Hennepin (WH) and WH Holding monthly Board of Director meetings discussed items such as the special retirement of capital credits, the 2022-2024 Construction Work Plan, and collecting the City of Otsego's Franchise Fee from members in Otsego. They also approved not hosting a scholarship banquet in 2022 but recognizing scholarship winners, and heard reports on process improvements, efficiency gains, the Advanced Metering Infrastructure and Demand Management Receiver deployment projects, the Energy Use Consultants Survey, and the American Customer Satisfaction Index Survey. Additional topics included outage notification procedures and the new My Energy Xpert online home energy audit. The January meeting covered the 2022 Annual Meeting format, membership dues for the Minnesota Rural Electric Association, an updated financial policy, and an increase to the City of Plymouth's Franchise Fee. Reports were presented on WH's annual Emergency Response Plan tabletop exercise and customer satisfaction surveys.

The Wright-Hennepin and WH Holding monthly Board of Director meetings covered key items such as the approval of a general capital credit retirement during the Holiday Season, and the disbursement of capital credit retirements received from Great River Energy and Basin Electric Power Cooperative. The board reviewed the annual write-off of bad debt, approved banking resolutions and election of officers for subsidiary businesses, and heard a report on the current state of the labor market. Additionally, they reviewed monthly reports, reported on industry meetings, and discussed a comparison to peers in the 2022 Key Ratio Trend Analysis report. Furthermore, the board approved the 2024 work plan and budget, replacing a Rural Utilities Services' Federal Financing Bank Loan with a Treasury Direct Loan, and resolutions related to Basin Electric Power Cooperative's Load Forecast and amendments to Great River Energy's Articles and Bylaws. They also approved a special retirement of capital credits at a discount for a member leaving WH's lines, selected delegates and alternates for business meetings, and selected directors to attend the Winter Washington D.C. visit.