Covid-19 pandemic
I think it is safe to say that 2020 was a year that none of us will ever forget. 随着流行病学成为bet36网站日常生活的中心舞台，简单地专注于电力合作社复杂业务的日子一去不复返了. Government shutdowns, mask orders, 保持社交距离和经常洗手已经成为bet36网站日常生活的一部分.
Early on in the pandemic, it reminded me of a major storm, 但这一次，bet36网站无法看到发生了什么，也无法衡量这种新型风暴的全面影响. 我很高兴地告诉你，你的合作社很好地度过了这次“新风暴”, 希望, from your perspective, 你们并没有看到bet36网站为你们提供的伟大服务有什么变化，你们已经习惯了bet36网站为你们提供的服务. 我为bet36网站的员工在过去一年里取得的一切成就感到骄傲，尽管疫情造成了越来越多的困难.
Fast forward to today, 大流行已经过去一年多了，疫苗的供应也越来越多, I believe it is safe to say that we are all longing for a return to normalcy.
Annual meeting changes and member participation
bet36网站的年会一直是新老朋友交流和展望未来的好地方. 年会的主要目的是选举董事会成员, share financial information and listen to cooperative updates.
经过仔细考虑，2020年年会计划进行几项修改. 他们决定将年度会议的形式改为商业风格的会议，并将其搬回Tell City High 学校. 其中一个主要变化是，从2020年开始，成员有了新的注册/投票选项. 这些变化背后的主要目标是开放准入，鼓励成员参与. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020年和2021年的年度会议只能通过虚拟方式进行，只有董事会成员出席.
I’m pleased to report that we had 1,154 members register for the 2020 annual meeting and 2,223 members register for the 2021 annual meeting. bet36网站肯定会实现上述增加成员参与的目标. bet36网站希望2022年年会能够恢复到面对面的业务会议，并按照原计划继续采用邮寄投票的方式.
安全
我很高兴地报告，该合作社在2020年没有经历过严重的事故或伤害. 自2008年以来, 该合作社被认定达到了NRECA国家标准的“安全成就”.“我要祝贺所有员工取得这一成就，并继续致力于安全.
Capital credits
As a cooperative, bet36网站是按“成本价”经营的，因此年底产生的任何利润都会以资本抵扣的形式分配给你. Over time, these capital credits are paid back to members. In 2020, we paid back nearly $600,000 in capital credits to members who received electric service in 1995. This year your board of directors voted to pay back approximately $225,000 in capital credits for the year 1996. 1996年服役的全体会员将于11月得到资本信用分配. Since 2012, the co-op has paid back over $6.5 million dollars in capital credits to our member-owners.
I want to remind you we also began paying out estates in 2018. 如你对退休计划有兴趣，请与办事处联络以了解详情.
Work plan and reliability
该合作社的主要目标之一是为所有成员提供可靠的电力. bet36网站完成了投资近200万美元用于系统改进的1000万美元2019-22年工作计划的第二年. The four-year work plan includes over 15 miles of 3-phase line extensions, 400 pole changes, approximately 40 miles of single-phase line rebuilds, and an automated metering upgrade. This upgrade will minimize our truck rolls, increase our outage detection capabilities, and increase our engineering analytics across our entire system.
也, bet36网站积极的道路维护计划将在bet36网站的服务区域内继续进行，以最大限度地减少服务中断. 斯宾塞县的克里斯尼变电站和大部分玫瑰山变电站于去年完工.
Electric rates and cost control
在bet36网站，bet36网站努力让您的电费尽可能低. In 2020, we were able to control costs, battle through the Covid-19 pandemic, execute our work plan, 退休资本信贷仅略微增加了会员的电费. The slight increase of 75 cents per 1,000 kWh went into effect last April as part of our wholesale power cost tracker.
来自Hoosier Energy的资源规划和油价预测显示，未来几年油价将保持稳定. 来自印第安纳能源公司的预测至关重要，因为2020年你支付的每一美元中有77美分被用于电力供应.
Our most recent audit pointed out, that from 2010–20 the average member bill has increased only 20 cents per month. I could not be more proud of that statistic, 我要感谢公司员工和董事会为控制成本所做的持续努力.
Operation Round Up
The Operation Round Up board of trustees awarded grants totaling over $30,000 to help fund much needed community projects and scholarships. By members simply agreeing to round up their electric bills to the next dollar, the Operation Round Up program has been able to fund projects totaling over $440,000 since its inception in 2006. Thanks to all members who participate and make this program a huge success. I would like to give a special thank you to our ORU board of trustees. They are Paul Malone, Michelle Lynch, Randy Kleaving, Amy Ramsey, Roger Hurm, Ed Denning and Gary Waninger.
Southern-PSC fiber partnership update
bet36网站和佩里·斯宾塞农村电话公司(PSC)于2019年结成伙伴关系，为所有成员提供光纤高速互联网. Approximately 4,000名会员无法获得高质量的高速互联网连接，这几乎占bet36网站整个电力服务区域的50%. 南方将拥有纤维工厂，而PSC将为终端消费者提供服务.
在这些地区建造光纤的工程估计大约是23美元.700万年. This project will require significant private investment from Southern and PSC. Southern and PSC were fortunate to receive approximately $6.5 million in grant funding from the state of Indiana, and the Spencer County government has committed an additional $2.75 thousand in matching funds toward areas in Spencer County. 结合, 这一水平的资金将极大地帮助南方和PSC在佩里和斯宾塞县为南方成员提供光纤宽带服务.
Currently, mainline fiber is being constructed in both Perry and Spencer counties. The drops to homes and activations are also ongoing in the grant funded areas. 拨款资助的领域必须在两年的时间框架内完成，以便利用印第安纳州下一级的国家拨款计划，bet36网站希望在2021年底前完成大部分拨款资助的领域. 完成奖助金资助范围后，bet36网站会将重点转至非奖助金资助范围. We hope to complete this entire project in a five-year timeframe.
As fiber construction nears your area, 南方航空公司和PSC会与你联系让大家了解项目的最新进展, answer any and all questions you may have, and offer sign-up opportunities. Be sure to look for these mailings and announcements in the near future. 重要的是，所有成员都要知道，bet36网站不会停止建设光纤宽带，直到所有南方成员在他们的地区都能访问高速光纤宽带. Until then, we thank you in advance for your patience.
A high-speed fiber connection is definitely in your future. bet36网站很高兴bet36网站的两个合作社正在这些重要的项目上合作. Working together we will get the job done!