The Power of Connections

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS MI LESTONES AND INNOVAT IONS FROM MISSOURI’S LARGEST ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

CUI VRE R I VER ELECTR I C COOPERAT I VE 1998–2021

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS MI LESTONES AND INNOVAT IONS FROM MISSOURI’S LARGEST ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE

C U I V R E R I V E R E L E C T R I C C O O P E R AT I V E 1 9 9 8 – 2 0 2 1

We dedicate this book to those who built the cooperative and continue to inspire us—our members, our employees, and the communities we serve. DEDICATION

Diane Saale, Board Chair Photo from Lyle Whitworth Photography

Doug Tracy, President & CEO Photo from Lyle Whitworth Photography

Photo on cover and page 1: CREC journeyman lineman Jason Doherty.

All photographs/images, charts, and graphics are from the Cuivre River Electric Cooperative’s files except as noted otherwise.

Copyright © 2022 by Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work in any form whatsoever without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief passages in connection with a review. For information, please write:

The Donning Company Publishers 731 South Brunswick Street Brookfield, MO 64628

Lex Cavanah, General Manager Dennis Paalhar, Production Supervisor Anne Burns, Editor Chad Casey, Graphic Designer Katie Gardner, Marketing and Project Coordinator

Steve Mull, Project Director

ISBN: 978-1-68184-326-1

Cataloging-in-Publication Data available from the Library of Congress

Printed in the United States of America at Walsworth

TA B L E O F CONTENTS

6

PREFACE

8

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

9

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO

10

CHAPTER 1—CONNECTING COMMUNITIES: THE EVOLUTION OF CREC

14

CHAPTER 2—A SEASON OF GROWTH AND INNOVATION

34

CHAPTER 3—OPERATING WITH INTEGRITY

42

CHAPTER 4—BUILT ON ACCOUNTABILITY

52

CHAPTER 5—DRIVEN BY INNOVATION

60

CHAPTER 6—COMMITTED TO COMMUNITY

80

CHAPTER 7—POWERING THE FUTURE

86

APPENDICES

86

CEOS || 1998–2021

87

2021 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

88

BOARD OF DIRECTORS || 1998–2020

92

OPERATION ROUND UP TRUSTEES BY YEAR

96

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Note to reader: Video links are included in this digital book. This symbol will appear in the margin of those pages with video links. The links will be underlined text that also pulses with a green highlight when the page loads.

PREFACE C uivre River Electric Cooperative’s (CREC) story, as first told in the 1998 book The Power of the People: Building Today for a Better Tomorrow , chronicled the cooperative’s history from its beginning in 1941 through fifty seven years of its existence. During those early times, CREC’s role as the local energy provider was not just about distributing electricity. Built by the residents of the area, CREC members were also cooperative owners. They were unwavering in their focus on improving the quality of life, from small rural towns to eventually the larger suburban areas the cooperative served. Over the years, CREC experienced tremendous growth as people were drawn to that quality of life, which resulted in it becoming the largest electric cooperative in the state of Missouri. Along with the cooperative’s development from 1998 to 2021 came local and global challenges that shaped its journey. But throughout the last twenty-three years, CREC’s mission has remained the same—to be a progressive leader in the energy industry, empowering employees to serve members using innovative energy solutions while safely providing reliable service at the lowest possible cost. When the new millennium arrived, and in the two decades that followed, the cooperative experienced a variety of milestones. Territorial agreements, expansion of commercial and industrial membership, and building both a new branch office and new headquarters were actions designed to support a viable future for CREC. Faced with new challenges such as the great recession and a global health crisis, the cooperative remained resilient and ultimately strengthened its drive to keep moving forward. Today, the cooperative spirit boldly lives on through CREC’s commitment to its members according to seven cooperative principles and four core values: accountability, community, innovation, and integrity. These beliefs are shared among the Touchstone Energy ® network of over 750 member-owned cooperatives across the United States, including CREC. The next chapters of the cooperative’s story, as expressed by directors, employees, retirees, and others, reveal a history rooted in those core values. As readers page through this book, it will become clear that CREC’s success, today and tomorrow, will forever hinge on the promise of being the member-driven energy partner to the communities the cooperative serves.

Faced with new challenges such as the great recession and a global health crisis, the cooperative remained resilient and ultimately strengthened its drive to keep moving forward.

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 7

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A s I began the research that forms the foundation of this book, I had limited knowledge of Cuivre River Electric and the unique role of electric cooperatives. Like many folks, I thought all utility providers were pretty much the same. It didn’t take long for me to discover they are not. I was fortunate to speak with numerous CREC employees and board members who told me about an organization with a proud history, a singular mission, and a culture of integrity and innovation. I’m grateful to the individuals who graciously shared their experiences with me. They made the research process both productive and enjoyable. I’d like to thank several people for their key roles in bringing this book to life. At the top of the list is Vice President of Strategic Communications Mary Wilson, who guided this book across the finish line through her steady project management, coordination of resources, and ongoing encouragement. Mary’s communications teammates—Rod Smerkar, Aaron Phillips, Tim Schmidt, and Jessica Curran—also shared in the heavy lifting by gathering historical materials and data, assembling photos, writing captions, and video recording interviewees. All of us relied on the keen recollections of former communications manager Mary Jane Clark, whose thirty-year tenure with the cooperative proved to be invaluable for connecting the dots and ensuring the final narratives were both cohesive and accurate. I would be remiss if I didn’t also thank President & CEO Doug Tracy and former general manager/CEO Dan L. Brown for their active engagement throughout the process. In many ways, the entire book is a tribute to their steadfast leadership, vision, and commitment to making Cuivre River Electric the exceptional organization it is today.

Mike Plotnick Author

8 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO

W hen I became the general manager/CEO of Cuivre River Electric in 2017, I knew I was stepping into some big shoes. Dan Brown—my predecessor—led our cooperative through twenty-six years of incredible growth and innovation. I’m grateful to Dan for serving as a wonderful role model to me and demonstrating what it means to be a strong leader.

One of the most valuable leadership lessons Dan taught me was to pay attention to details without losing sight of the big picture. That advice continues to guide my daily decision-making.

I’m fortunate to be surrounded by a strong board of directors, a team of committed employees, and a growing community of fellow members. All of them have made my job incredibly gratifying. I sometimes joke that I’m “the new guy” because my eighteen-year tenure at the cooperative doesn’t hold a candle to many of my co workers (including Crew Chief Larry Harrell, who just celebrated his forty-third anniversary of service with CREC). Their loyal service reflects the outstanding culture that has been built and nurtured over eight decades. Through the years, Cuivre River Electric has been at the forefront of many innovations that strengthen our ability to serve the needs of our members. Because of this, we often serve as a benchmark to other electric cooperatives for what’s possible to achieve.

Photo from the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, (AMEC)

I’m proud of our rich history and take seriously my role in continuing that legacy by prioritizing the needs of our members and supporting the communities where all of us live.

Doug Tracy President & CEO

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 9

CHAPTER ONE

CONNECTING COMMUNITIES: THE EVOLUT ION OF CREC

T homas A. Edison invented the incandescent lamp in 1879, but it would be more than fifty years before the people of rural America would have access to that incredible discovery. The establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 enabled non-profit organizations of citizens to form cooperatives for supplying electricity to their citizen members. Three years later, Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act, which provided federal loans for the installation of electrical distribution systems to serve isolated rural areas across the United States. It didn’t take long for rural electric cooperatives to begin forming across Missouri, and on March 6, 1941, the Cuivre River Electric Cooperative (CREC) filed its articles of incorporation.

Guided by twelve men and women who cared deeply about enhancing the quality of life for their communities, the cooperative began its mission of bringing power to farms, homes, neighborhoods, and businesses. The vision and fortitude of these pioneers launched CREC on an eighty-year journey from a fledgling organization to a Missouri cooperative with the largest membership in the state: nearly seventy-thousand member households across five counties. Their perseverance laid a solid foundation that would withstand floods, fires, economic crises, a pandemic, and countless other challenges.

CREC celebrated its eightieth anniversary on March 6, 2021.

The vision and fortitude of these pioneers launched CREC on an eighty-year journey from a fledgling organization to a Missouri cooperative with the largest membership in the state: nearly seventy-thousand member households across five counties.

10 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

&5(&¬V ²UVW KLVWRU\ book covered the co op’s start from 1941 to 1998.

The early history of Cuivre River Electric is showcased in The Power of People , a 122-page book documenting the people, events, and innovations that shaped the co-op’s first several decades. With this book, the story is continued by highlighting milestones, developments, and challenges from 1998 to 2021. During this incredible period of growth and innovation, CREC has continued to adapt to serve the needs of its increasingly diverse membership base. At the same time, the co-op has remained committed to the vision of its original leaders: to connect communities through the power of electricity and the cooperative spirit. The Unique Role of Electric Cooperatives Today, more than nine hundred electric cooperatives across the United States provide reliable power to over twenty million homes, businesses, schools, and farms. Their reach extends from remote rural communities to bustling suburbs. Electric cooperatives are private, not-for-profit businesses owned and governed by the members they serve. Unlike conventional investor-owned utilities, whose primary goal is to maximize profits for shareholders, the focus of electric cooperatives is to deliver affordable, reliable service to their members.

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 11

Issuing capital credit checks to members is an exciting but enormous annual undertaking. From the left are Roman Schuette and Pam Reale.

Ballots are collected by Nominating Committee member Randy Lewis at the 2006 CREC Annual Meeting.

The focus of electric cooperatives is to deliver affordable, reliable service to their members.

When cooperatives generate revenue that exceeds the cost of providing service, it’s reserved as capital credits. These reserves are used to build and maintain facilities and infrastructure as well as provide for other service needs. If funds remain after all expenses have been met at the end of a fiscal year, a cooperative’s board of directors can choose to refund these capital credits directly to members. Because electric cooperatives follow democratic processes, every member can participate in shaping policies and influencing business operations. This includes the opportunity to run for and serve on the board of directors, vote in electing local board members, and enact other proposed initiatives.

Electric cooperatives and their members are also committed to supporting and enriching the communities where they reside.

12 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 13

CHAPTER TWO

A SEASON OF GROWTH AND INNOVATION

I n 1998, Titanic dominated the box office, a quirky company called Google made its debut, and St. Louis Cardinal first baseman Mark McGwire shattered baseball’s single-season home run record. The year also welcomed an era of steady growth, strategic expansion opportunities, and technological advances for Missouri’s largest electric cooperative. Across the United States, efforts to deregulate the electric power industry led to several states on the East and West Coasts enacting legislation that allowed consumers to choose their electric suppliers. The primary goal was to reduce electric rates and expand service offerings by creating a competitive marketplace for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power. While lawmakers considered similar deregulation legislation in Missouri, the state’s long history of stable, affordable electric rates did not provide a compelling case for changing the prevailing regulatory environment. But the shift toward deregulation in

With the possibility of deregulation on the horizon, in 1998, CREC entered a partnership with MFA Oil, based out of Columbia, Missouri, to offer propane gas service to CREC members. Though mildly successful IURP D ²QDQFLDO SHUVSHFWLYH DIWHU D FRPSUHKHQVLYH study of the partnership, CREC made the strategic decision to end Cuivre River Propane in 2009.

14 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

other states—including neighboring Illinois— influenced CREC’s approach to serving and satisfying its members. “We began to look at additional ways we could offer value to our

members and give them more reasons to choose Cuivre River [Electric] if given that option,” says former manager of administrative services Kevin Hurd. This focus on enhancing member value impacted everything from the specific services offered to the formatting of monthly bills so members could better understand the costs involved in delivering power to their homes. CREC also expanded its efforts to highlight the co-op’s mission and values for current members, potential members, and the public. This included radio and TV advertising in St. Louis media outlets that aired public service announcements about electrical safety. Advertising also helped generate awareness about the important role and positive impact of Cuivre River Electric and other cooperatives. These activities accelerated after CREC joined Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives in 2002. A nationwide alliance of member-owned electric cooperatives, Touchstone Energy® is a unified national platform that connects hundreds of co-ops and reinforces their overall value to members and communities. “Touchstone provides resources and a common platform that helps individual co-ops communicate the value we bring to our communities and the world,” explains former general manager/CEO Dan L. Brown, who joined the Touchstone Energy® Board in 2008 and served as president of the organization from 2010 to 2014. Territorial Agreements Lay a Foundation for Continued Growth In 2002, territorial agreements with Union Electric/Ameren Missouri once again paved the way for CREC to continue improving operational efficiencies and its trajectory of growth. Through these agreements, approved by the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC), each utility provider was granted exclusive rights to serve specific geographic areas, allowing both companies to plan for future growth and to reduce the costly, inefficient duplication of facilities. The agreements overrode the existing state law that had prohibited cooperatives from serving cities with populations above 1,500 (commonly referred to as “the 1,500 rule”). In the early 1990s, the general assembly passed legislation allowing utilities and cooperatives the ability to seek PSC approval if they wished to negotiate territorial boundaries that overrode the 1,500 rule.

The four Touchstone Energy ® values—Integrity, Accountability, Innovation, and Community—also serve as guideposts for CREC.

Former CREC general manager/CEO Dan L. Brown. Photo from Lyle Whitworth Photography

The PSC first approved some territorial boundaries south of I-70 in St. Charles County in 1993. In 2002, boundaries in Lincoln and Warren Counties were also

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 15

The Charrette Creek Substation in southern Warren County was built in 2005.

approved, which allowed CREC to serve thousands of members in several suburban locations. “They granted us all the territory from Interstate 64 west to Highway T, and south of Interstate 70 to Highway D, which is our growth area today,” says former engineering & operations manager Rick Didion. “We have built two new substations in that area—on Hopewell Road and Highway Z—and those wouldn’t have been feasible if it weren’t for those territorial agreements.” Substation facilities are necessary for controlling the flow of electricity from supplier to user.

Rick Didion, former engineering & operations manager.

CREC’s Hopewell substation is located on Hopewell Road in Wentzville.

16 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

“We still compete in areas that aren’t covered by the territorial agreements, but we work well together now and have a lot of shared services.” —Kevin Hurd

The territorial agreements also strengthened the co-op’s ongoing business relationship with Ameren Missouri. “We still compete in areas that aren’t covered by the territorial agreements, but we work well together now and have a lot of shared services,” states Hurd. He credits Brown for his foresight to look into the future and position the co-op for sustained expansion of its service territory. “Those territorial agreements not only secured our future growth areas, but also allowed us to protect our investments, become more efficient, and stabilize our rates because we could spread out those fixed costs,” he says. Economic Development Broadens the Membership Base Beginning in the mid-1990s, the co-op also began to focus on broadening its membership base by pursuing additional commercial/industrial customers. At the time, about 96 percent of CREC’s members were residential users. Because the monthly electricity use of commercial and industrial businesses reflects less seasonal fluctuation than residential consumers, CREC could balance its revenue by expanding the number of businesses in the co-op’s service area. “Increasing our commercial and industrial load helped spread out fixed costs over more members and bring in a more

Verizon’s facility in Weldon Spring is one of CREC’s commercial members.

SSM’s St. Joseph’s West Hospital was one of CREC’s first prominent commercial members.

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 17

The Gateway West industrial park was developed by CREC.

consistent revenue stream, making our rates more stable for everyone,” says Hurd. “And because of the suburban area that we’re in, we’re able to serve some unique loads that electric co-ops don’t always get to serve.” Located just a few minutes from St. Charles County in Wright City, Gateway Industrial Centre was initially developed by CREC in 1995. “We located 103 acres of property on that eastern edge with willing sellers and got a commitment from the City of Wright City for annexation and industrial zoning adjacent to other large commercial and industrial projects,” recalls Hurd. Today, the industrial park is home to eight manufacturing facilities. It’s located near two major electric substations and provides three-phase underground electrical service throughout the development. Lot 7, the last parcel of land in the park, was sold in 2018 to More Than Realty, LLC. “We made it a priority to become active in economic development-related

“We made it a priority to become active in economic development related organizations and to initiate regular contact with local, regional, and state economic development professionals.” —Kevin Hurd

18 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

organizations and to initiate regular contact with local, regional, and state economic development professionals,” says Hurd. “Building relationships with those individuals and organizations has proven to be the best way for CREC to have opportunities to serve some of these projects.” Economic development continues to be a focus for Cuivre River Electric to attract new businesses to its service area. The consistent population growth within CREC’s service area has been another factor that played a major role in expanding the co-op’s commercial and industrial load. The most significant growth has come especially in the I-64 corridor in St. Charles County, the city of O’Fallon, and the city of Lake Saint Louis. Notable economic development successes during this period include Enterprise Rent A-Car’s North American data processing center in Weldon Spring, the “Verizon” buildings in Weldon Spring, the National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) campus in Lake Saint Louis, St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, numerous commercial areas around the I-64 corridor/Highway N area in the cities of Lake Saint Louis and O’Fallon, EPC computer recycling operation in Wright City outside of Gateway West, and Interstate Metal in Jonesburg. In 2020, more than 19 percent of the kilowatt-hours sold by CREC served commercial and industrial members.

Enterprise Rent-a-Car Data Center and NISC are two of CREC’s commercial loads in St. Charles County.

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 19

The New Century is an Innovation Catalyst As the year 2000 approached, computer experts around the world raised concerns that the two-digit year format used by early computer coders might cause critical systems to fail when the year changed from “99” to “00.” CREC mobilized its internal teams and resources to minimize the potential of a system failure when the new millennium arrived. Y2K—as the phenomenon came to be known—prompted a series of equipment upgrades and innovative enhancements to the utility infrastructure: from the meter to the substation to the power plant. The co-op’s information technology (IT) team oversaw the process of ensuring all its software programs incorporated custom changes that used an eight-digit date field (01-01-2000) rather than a six-digit date field (01-01-00). “It took many weekends of work to make all of the changes, but our team completed the install of the new release over a weekend,” says IT Supervisor Steve Schomburg. Following months of extensive planning and testing, CREC teams gathered on New Year’s Eve to monitor all systems as the clock struck midnight. The gathering grew into an all-hands-on-deck employee watch event to ring in the new millennium. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief when 2000 arrived with no disruptions or negative impacts for members. Lake Saint Louis Office Relocates The construction of a new intersection at Prospect Road and Highway 40 required the cooperative to relocate its existing Lake Saint Louis office on Prospect Road. In 2007, CREC opened a new Lake Saint Louis office in the Hawk Ridge Industrial Park at 8757 Highway N. Located on a fourteen-acre industrial site, the 22,000-square-foot office includes community meeting rooms, a warehouse, a truck bay, a maintenance building, and an outdoor covered storage area. As a unit, the warehouse and truck bay extend the length of a football field. The new office location also provides convenient access to the fast-growing St. Charles County area for service equipment. Eventually, the co-op consolidated resources by relocating all staff and equipment to the new Lake Saint Louis office from the former Harvester office on Highway 94, where highway expansion

CREC passed its Y2K readiness audit by the Department of Energy, as noted in a Current Times article in November 1999.

Steve Schomburg, IT supervisor, served CREC from 1985 through 2021 and led the IT team to transition systems into the new millennium. Photo from Lyle Whitworth Photography

was also affecting road access. “The consolidation of the two St. Charles County locations into a single office made a lot of

20 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

CREC outgrew its space DW WKH RI²FH RQ 3URVSHFW Road, eventually resulting in D QHZ RI²FH EHLQJ EXLOW RQ Highway N.

business sense because we were experiencing much less walk-in traffic at both offices, and the Lake Saint Louis was closer to the majority of our membership,” says Keith Stone, vice president of economic development & corporate services.

Then general manager/CEO Dan L. Brown and Keith Stone (who is currently the vice president of economic development & corporate services) stand outside of the new /DNH 6DLQW /RXLV RI²FH LQ

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 21

Passing of the Leadership Baton Dan L. Brown’s retirement as general manager/CEO in 2017 capped a distinguished forty-six-year career at Cuivre River Electric. His twenty-six-year tenure in the top leadership position earned him the distinction as the cooperative’s longest-serving general manager.

It was April 1971 when Brown joined the co-op, intending to only stay temporarily until the fall when he would use his teaching degree and work for the Clopton School District. He never made it back to the district; however, throughout his co-op career, he did serve as a great coach and teacher for the employees of CREC. Brown became the co-op’s first branch manager in 1982 at CREC’s Lake Saint Louis office. He promoted the cooperative and worked to procure new members. CREC’s general manager at that time, Bill Ramsey, set the tone for his member services team. “Bill allowed us to compete with Missouri Edison and Union Electric to serve new

Then board president Walt Gregory is with Dan L. Brown (left) at his retirement.

)URP OHIW DUH 'LDQH 6DDOH 'RXJ 7UDF\ 6XVDQ %URZQ 'DQ / %URZQ 0DU\ -DQH &ODUN DQG .HYLQ +XUG DW 'DQ¬V UHWLUHPHQW LQ Photo from the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives (AMEC)

22 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

families and businesses,” Brown explains. Known as “Ramsey’s Raiders” in utility circles, they worked to acquire new electric load for the benefit of the cooperative, a practice that set CREC apart from its peer cooperatives across the state. From the time he was named as general manager in 1991, Brown initiated a host of innovative programs and practices to maintain service reliability, financial stability, and competitive energy rates and services. He counts landmark territorial legislation passed by the Missouri legislature in 1993 among the cooperative’s greatest achievements during his tenure. Subsequent territorial agreements in 1992 and 2002 helped assure Cuivre River Electric would be able to continue to grow. Brown is remembered as a tireless servant of CREC members and his community over an impressive career that spanned nearly half a century. His dedication to the highest standards of member service also helped Cuivre River Electric achieve some of the highest member satisfaction scores of any electric utility in the nation. “Our scores were always in the low 90s or the high 80s, which told us that we were doing a decent job because most utilities, including co-ops, don’t earn scores that high,” he recalls. “And I’m proud that we were able to maintain that high level of satisfaction while growing and adding many more meters per year than other co-ops.” A nationwide search for Brown’s successor led to the selection of Doug Tracy as the co-op’s next CEO. Chosen from a nationwide pool of fifty candidates, Tracy is the seventh person to hold the position since the cooperative began in 1941. “We had a lot of great candidates from across the nation and we were glad to choose our next leader from the Cuivre River [Electric] family,” says Walter Gregory, CREC Board

Since becoming president and CEO at CREC, Doug Tracy’s achievements have included the construction of a new headquarters building in Troy.

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 23

Doug Tracy and members of the CREC Board of Directors break ground on the new headquarters building in 2019.

president at the time. “We are confident in Doug’s abilities to provide great leadership to our members and our staff. We know he will work hard to continue our mission to keep our rates affordable and provide reliable service to our members.” Tracy’s tenure with Cuivre River Electric began when he joined the cooperative in 2003 as manager of administration following the retirement of longtime employee Ray Heald. A few years later, his responsibilities expanded to include the establishment and management of a department of information technology. Since ascending to the position of CEO, Tracy’s priorities have included keeping electric service affordable and reliable while leveraging available technologies to enhance member services. His achievements include guiding the transition to a new

“When I look at my list of duties . . . I try to boil every decision down to two things: taking care of members and taking care of employees. If I can do both, most of the rest of it will fall into place.” —Doug Tracy

24 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

annual meeting format, overseeing construction of the new headquarters in Troy, and managing operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. “When I look at my list of duties—and there’s a lot of them—I try to boil every decision down to two things: taking care of members and taking care of employees,” he says. “If I can do both, most of the rest of it will fall into place.” Tracy’s management style is shaped by the many lessons he learned while working alongside his predecessor. “Dan’s office and my office were connected, so I got to spend a lot of time with him,” he tells. “One of the things that I always admired about Dan is his attention to detail. He also taught me not to just consider what the result of a decision was going to be, but how it would impact members, employees, and others. I continue to follow that philosophy.” Tracy prides himself on remaining approachable to members and employees. “I treat the Board president the same way that I treat the intern who’s painting the garage doors,” he says. “We all have a role to play, and if any of those roles don’t happen, we don’t have what we need to be successful.”

Tracy (left) chats with CREC team members Steve Houk, Jason Meyer, and Chris Molitor.

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 25

Serving as CEO of an electric cooperative was a goal Tracy set for himself shortly after signing on with Illinois Valley Electric Cooperative as coordinator of office services and accounting twenty-six years ago. Before joining CREC, he also held the position of senior member services representative with the National Information Services Cooperative (NISC), which develops, implements, and supports technology solutions for electric co-ops. “Having traveled to so many co-ops around the country, I’ve seen some well-managed ones and some that weren’t managed so well,” he says. “Cuivre River [Electric] is a very well-managed co-op, with a good board, strong leadership, and a lot of assets.”

“Cuivre River [Electric] is a very well-managed co-op, with a good board, strong leadership, and a lot of assets.” —Doug Tracy

Tracy’s performance as CEO has earned high marks from his colleagues. “Doug hit the ground running as a strong leader who cares about members and employees,” adds Hurd. “He is always questioning whether there’s a better way to do something and challenging us to discover new approaches and better solutions.”

Tracy congratulates Greg Chamberlain (right) on his completion of the Apprentice Linemen 3URJUDP FHUWL²HG E\ WKH US Department of Labor.

26 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

From left, Chris Cesar and Chad Palmer were on the Anixter team who helped CREC deploy the advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) that replaced an aging hybrid meter system.

Automation Improves Efficiency and Reliability In 2018, the cooperative completed its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project, a multi-year effort to fully automate and standardize its meter technology. This ambitious initiative involved replacing three separate manual metering technology platforms with a single unified infrastructure that serves the entire five county service area.

Door hangers were used to alert members of the upgrade to advanced meters.

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 27

Through this upgrade, CREC also replaced its inefficient monthly practice of manual meter reading with an automated system that accurately collects meter readings continually. The integrated system also reports accurate, real-time outage data to operations staff, enabling engineers and linemen to diagnose problems more quickly. “Rather than reacting to an unexpected outage, we’re able to analyze voltage patterns and be more proactive to minimize future outages,” says AMI Coordinator Neal Harrell, who was actively involved in the system-wide meter replacement program. “We’re now able to see things that we can correct during normal business hours and minimize the chance that there’s a sudden loss of power at 2 a.m.” Other maintenance benefits include power line and transformer load analysis to help plan line capacity upgrades, improve system reliability, resolve blinks and outages, and improve underground fault detection. “When we had manual meter readers, if we were able to read 97 percent of the meters in a month, that was considered a big month,” says Harrell. “Now we’re reading 99.97 percent of our meters on a consistent daily basis.” New Troy Headquarters Positions CREC for the Future In the summer of 2020, Cuivre River Electric opened the doors to a new home base in Troy. Adjacent to its previous headquarters, the $20 million building replaced an aging structure that could no longer meet the needs of employees and members. “Part of the former building was 60 years old, and maintenance issues were growing,” mentions Tracy. “Since our last addition in 2000, we’d almost doubled the number of meters we serve, so space was tight, especially back in the operations area where there wasn’t enough space for our trucks and equipment.”

Troy employees gathered outside of the old building for a photo on its last day before demolition to make way for the new building’s parking area.

28 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

The new CREC headquarters is adjacent to where the previous building stood.

In January 2018, the board of directors commissioned a feasibility study to assess the current facility and determine the best alternatives for the future. “We looked at whether we should remodel our existing facility, build on a new greenfield site, or stay at our current location,” says Tracy. “There are pros and cons to all of those scenarios, but at the end of the day, the Board decided to build a new facility here in Troy.” The project broke ground in June 2019 and finished under budget and ahead of schedule, despite the challenges of completing construction during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Luckily, all of the contractors were able to stay on schedule, and it was just a successful project,” says Tracy. The facility was designed to serve the co-op’s needs for several decades to come. Like the co-op’s Lake Saint Louis office, the Troy building integrates enhanced spaces and resources to benefit members and employees: % A secured lobby space. % An enhanced drive-through with a new twenty-four hour payment kiosk that allows members to pay their bills at any time of the day or night.

Construction of the new Troy headquarters offered PHPEHUV IRU WKH ²UVW WLPH D VHOI VHUYLFH SD\PHQW NLRVN DFFHVVLEOH WZHQW\ IRXU VHYHQ

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 29

• An expanded, hardened dispatch area that can continue to safely dispatch crews if a storm would damage the building. • A spacious community room that can be configured to accommodate a wide range of meetings from eight to nearly one hundred people. • Expanded member and employee parking areas in the space occupied by the previous office building, which was demolished. The renovated original warehouse remains a part of the campus. • Energy efficiency to save on day-to-day operational expenses. It was important to the board to anchor CREC’s facilities in the localities where the cooperative already had a long-term presence. Having the new headquarters remain in Troy, a community CREC had called home for eighty years, along with keeping the branch office based in Lake Saint Louis, just reaffirmed the cooperative’s commitment to the communities it serves. “We’ve got a lot of employees who live here, have gone to school here, and are raising families here,” states Tracy. “This has been home for them their whole lives, and it was really important to us that we remained a part of this community.” Powering Through a Pandemic In 2020, the COVID-19 global health crisis challenged every facet of CREC’s operations. “We have processes for dealing with a system outage and other scenarios, but there was no playbook for COVID,” says Tracy. “It changed the way that we did business and are still doing business.” When the World Health Organization declared a pandemic in March 2020, the co-op temporarily closed its offices to the public. Office employees worked from home for several weeks while linemen and outside personnel adapted to modified work

GIS Assistant Patty Williams set up her office at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doug Tracy was one of a few who continued to work on-site at the Troy office during the early days of the pandemic.

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procedures to minimize health risks for themselves and others. “We made numerous adjustments to programs and operations to maintain business continuity while staying focused on the bigger mission of helping our members during this turbulent time,” says Tracy. This included temporarily suspending account disconnections because of non-payment. CREC leveraged its technology infrastructure and resources to maintain communication with members and field employees as well as to facilitate a seamless transition to work from home for office personnel. “Our IT department did a tremendous job of ensuring that all of our office employees could work from their homes and access the tools and software they needed to do their jobs,” says Tracy. “We’ve got people who have lightning-fast internet and others who don’t have access to the same level of technology infrastructure. But we were able to connect everyone as if they were sitting together in the office.” Tracy credits CREC employees for their tireless commitment to upholding the co-op’s mission. “Through it all, our employees did an outstanding job keeping the lights on, processing requests for services, answering billing questions, and continuing to serve our membership in the quality manner they’ve come to expect,” he reports.

Because the new headquarters was still under construction when the pandemic started, CREC had to be prepared for when members could return to visit the RI²FH 7KLV LQFOXGHG ³RRU VWLFNHUV WR HQFRXUDJH VRFLDO GLVWDQFLQJ DQG KDQJLQJ D plastic curtain at the reception area to protect members and employees.

THE POWER OF CONNECTIONS 31

A T RIBUTE TO S TEVE S CHMIEMEIER (J UNE 3, 1968–J UNE 8, 2005) The tragic death of Steve Schmiemeier in an electrical contact accident serves as a constant reminder of the inherent risks of those who work in the field as linemen and the importance of maintaining a strong culture of safety within the co-op. In Schmiemeier’s honor, the training room at CREC’s Lake Saint Louis branch office was named after him shortly after the building was completed in 2007.

32 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

The training room at CREC’s /DNH 6DLQW /RXLV RI²FH ZDV named to honor the memory of friend and beloved employee Steve Schmiemeier.

Schmiemeier joined the Cuivre River Electric family in September 1992 when he accepted a job as a meter reader. He entered the apprentice lineman training program in January 1996 and became a journeyman lineman in January 2000.

His memory lives on through his many friends and colleagues at CREC.

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CHAPTER THREE

OPERATING WITH INTEGRITY

Members first. Every day. That’s the power of membership. Not-for-profit electric cooperatives deliver energy to members at the cost of service; this differs from investor owned utilities that distribute profits to investors, not necessarily to those it serves. I ntegrity is a core value that extends to every aspect of the cooperative’s business operations. CREC line workers go to great lengths to ensure electricity is delivered to homes, businesses, and communities. They spend thousands of hours braving the elements to bring safe, reliable power to members. In the early 2000s, line workers didn’t have access to the type of bucket trucks, diggers, and other heavy equipment the cooperative has today, so they had to climb a lot of poles themselves. Just getting to jobs was sometimes a challenge. Workers carried four or five bulky binders with paper maps to find locations. Because jobs take them all over CREC’s system, line workers can easily be on a different job every day or work the same job for two months. The work is always changing and often complicated. And in the middle of any job, a storm can pop up and throw a twist into everything. Perspective from the Trenches . . . Literally Clint Courtney, who joined CREC as an apprentice lineman in 2000, understands and embraces the challenge of cooperative operations. Whether he’s perched sixty feet in the air working on a line extension or installing underground wire to connect a new subdivision, he says the role is well suited to his personality and preferred work style. “I enjoy working outdoors and could never imagine myself being confined to an office or working in a factory,” says Courtney, whose current role involves overseeing crew chiefs of linemen.

Climbing poles to make repairs was the norm until CREC added equipment such as bucket trucks to its vehicle fleet. Pictured is Jason Doherty.

Throughout his career at CREC, Courtney has experienced a significant evolution in the tools and technologies that linemen use in the field. Laptop computers now

34 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

Clint Courtney, a twenty one-year employee, worked on lines as a new apprentice in 2000 and now manages crew chiefs. Headshot photo from Lyle Whitworth Photography

provide easy, real-time access to online maps and other valuable project details for crews. Cellular phones have replaced two-way radios as the preferred device team members use to communicate with each other. Today’s linemen are also equipped with much more sophisticated hand tools, such as cordless impact drills, drivers, and wrenches, as well as battery-powered squeeze tools for use in connecting lines. Other advancements include more stringent safety processes, procedures, and equipment to minimize job risks. On every project, crew members participate in mandatory tailgate meetings to discuss the safest, most efficient methods for completing the job. Despite all the streamlining of processes and improvements in tools, Courtney says teamwork, flexibility, and an enterprising attitude are key characteristics for a successful lineman. “You’ve got to be willing to jump into a muddy ditch that somebody dug and start putting in some conduit or pushing wire,” he adds. “Having a proactive attitude and being able to get along with everybody goes a long way.”

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“There’s not a better feeling than when you’re finished with a job in the middle of the night, flip the switch, and look out across the countryside to see all the house lights come back on.” —Clint Courtney

Courtney takes pride in his work and is particularly gratified when it involves restoring power after an outage. “There’s not a better feeling than when you’re finished with a job in the middle of the night, flip the switch, and look out across the countryside to see all the house lights come back on,” he says. A Focus on Reliability Ongoing power line maintenance and system upgrades enable CREC to keep the power flowing despite a multitude of potential disruptions—from vehicle accidents and damage from animals to floods, lightning, and ice storms. “From a reliability standpoint, I think we do a superior job of maintaining our lines and keeping the power flowing,” reports former manager of engineering & operations Rick Didion. “We know that reliability is a top priority for our members, so we continually invest in our systems to ensure that we meet their reliability expectations.”

Linemen work on numerous kinds of terrain and in all weather conditions.

Crews replace a broken pole after a tornado swept through the co-op’s service area.

36 Cuivre River Electric Cooperative

The CREC Right of Way team removes a tree that had fallen onto a line over a creek.

Significant recent upgrades have included the replacement of single-phase (720-volt) lines with three-phase (12,470-volt) lines, which help expand capacity and improve efficiency. “These lines provide more power to certain areas so we can serve more members without adding more poles and wires,” Didion explains. The Right of Way team oversees a year-round tree trimming and vegetation management program that also contributes to reliability by helping to reduce the likelihood of problems. When outages do occur, linemen can locate damage and make needed repairs safely and quickly. And a team of skilled vehicle mechanics keeps the co-op’s fleet of trucks and equipment in top working order so they’re available to serve the needs of members under any conditions. Expanding Payment Options For the first fifty years of CREC’s history, members received paper bills and paid for their service by sending traditional checks to the co-op in the US mail. But beginning in the late 1990s, CREC began introducing new alternatives for members to receive and pay their monthly bills. “One of the big changes was being able to accept

The online member portal provides CREC members with an easy way to manage their accounts.

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payments via credit card and the ability to set up recurring payments as a credit card or bank draft so members didn’t have to call in each month to make a payment or stick one in the mail,” says Consumer Accounts Supervisor Tammy Nolan. “Now, members can also pay through the co-op’s web portal or smartphone app.” The goal is to provide members with a wide range of options so they can choose the method that is most convenient and comfortable to them—whether participating in the Auto-Pay automatic payment plan and Budget Billing or paying in cash at the drive-up kiosk. Helping Members Solve Billing Mysteries When members have questions about specific charges on their monthly bills, the member services department is available to help them understand the factors that

may have contributed to those costs. Often, elevated charges can be attributed to seasonal periods of extreme temperatures. But sometimes, it can be much trickier to identify the cause. “The detective work is the fun part of my job,” claims AMI Coordinator Neal Harrell, who gets to put his sleuthing skills to use alongside his colleagues from the member services department. Throughout his eighteen-year career with Cuivre River Electric, Harrell has discovered some not-so-obvious culprits—from a well pump that’s running constantly to an outdoor electric outlet that gets filled with mud during a flood and continues drawing power. “I’m always learning something new,” he says. “If I can’t figure something out immediately, I always ask the member to call me back if they solve the mystery themselves, so I can learn and help the next person better.”

Neal Harrell, AMI coordinator, helps members understand

Harrell is also skilled in advising members on how to reduce their electricity use through practical energy-saving strategies. “They’re usually pretty simple ideas, but the member may not have thought about them before,” he explains. “It’s about finding a balance between keeping someone comfortable and helping them save money at the same time.”

their energy use and how they can be more energy HI²FLHQW LQ WKHLU KRPHV RU businesses. Photo from Lyle Whitworth Photography

“It’s about finding a balance between keeping someone comfortable and helping them save money at the same time.” —Neal Harrell

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Sometimes, he provides moral support and a shoulder to cry on. “You might be speaking with a recent widow whose husband handled all the bills for 50 years and she’s never had to deal with them before. I help answer her questions and give her peace of mind,” he says. Capital Credits Put Cash Back into Pockets Capital credits serve as a tangible reminder of the benefits of co-op membership. This unique benefit comes in the form of an annual refund check if funds remain after all expenses for providing electric services have been met at the end of each fiscal year. Credits are allocated to members based on the volume and value of kilowatt-hours (kwhs) they purchased that year. “What makes us different from an investor-owned utility is that our members own the business,” says President & CEO Doug Tracy. “Because members buy electricity from Cuivre River Electric Cooperative, they then have a share in the capital that remains at the end of the year.” Capital credits also become the cooperative’s equity, making it possible for the cooperative to secure loans and maintain facilities and services.

The tradition of refunding capital credits to members began in 1976 when refunds were authorized for the first time. Cuivre River Electric has since established one

The CREC Capital Credit Team, Kristen Turgeon and Roman Schuette, with some of the capital credit checks to be sent to members.

“What makes us different from an investor-owned utility is that our members own the business.” —Doug Tracy

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