Spoon River Electric Cooperative held its 79th annual meeting, Thursday, June 20, at Farmington Central High School. Members were updated on the Cooperative’s 2015 financial results, the director’s election, the Spoon River Solar Farm and the new program, Operation Round-Up.

President and CEO, Bill Dodds explained that by the end of 2015, the cooperative had a 213% increase in electric operating margins over 2014, a 45 percent increase in total margins and income with net margins of $694,762. Dodds said, “I’m happy to say Spoon River has passed the downhill side of fewer meters and we’re on the upswing with 4,921 meters.” Due to increase in meters at the Giant Goose ranch and through hog farm projects, the cooperative is projected to have approximately 5,000 meters by the end of 2016.
Dodds expressed that members can obtain a monthly subscription to receive 200, 400 or 600 Kwh generated by the Spoon River Solar Farm through the Bright Options Program offered through their power supplier, Prairie Power Inc.

Re-elected to the Cooperative’s board were Terry Beam, District 6, Robert Lascelles, District 8, and Jack Clark, District 5.

History of Electric Cooperatives

Electric cooperatives began to spread across rural America after President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in 1935. The Executive Order establishing the REA and the passage of the REA Act a year later, in 1936, marked the first steps in a public-private partnership that has bridged the vast expanse of rural America to bring electric power to businesses and communities over the last 70 years. This act provided for the loaning of funds at a low interest rate to any organization for the purpose of building rural electrical distribution systems.

Spoon River Electric Cooperative was incorporated in September, 1938 under the Cooperative, Not-For-Profit Act of the State of Illinois. The co-op was organized as a result of farmers, who tried unsuccessfully to have electric service extended to their farms. With the help of Mr. John Watt, then Fulton County Farm Advisor; Attorney H.B. Taylor of Canton; and Mr. Warren Maple, then Executive Secretary of the Farm Electrification Committee of the State of Illinois, progress was made.

On September 8, 1938, a meeting was held at the high school in Cuba, Illinois. This meeting was attended by over 500 Fulton County farmers. The information on REA and the REA Act was presented and those present at the meeting voted unanimously in favor of organization of a rural electrification project. A group known as the County Committee was chosen and consisted of a representative from each township that would represent the people.

The first loan for the construction of electric distribution for Spoon River Electric Cooperative was approved by the REA in early 1939. The first lines constructed by SREC were placed in service and the first co-op members were served in the fall of 1939. The service territory of SREC is approximately 70 miles long and 35 miles wide at its longest points and serves all of Fulton County and parts of Knox, McDonough, Peoria, and Schuyler counties.

Electric Cooperatives Are:

• Private, independent electric utility businesses, locally owned and operated.
• Owned by the consumers/members they serve.
• Incorporated under the laws of the states in which they operate.
• Established to provide at-cost electric service.
• Governed by a board of directors elected from the membership, which sets policies and procedures that are implemented by the cooperatives’ professional staff.
• In addition to electric service, many electric co-ops are involved in community development and revitalization projects

How Co-ops Work – Similar but Different

Spoon River Electric Cooperative has approximately 4,800 meters served by 1,240 miles of distribution line that averages about 4 meters per mile. We serve members in parts of Fulton, Knox, McDonough, Peoria and Schuyler counties. System investment and maintenance costs are primarily related to miles of distribution, and lower customer density per mile of line means higher investment per member served by a rural electric cooperative.

SREC and other rural electric cooperatives operate differently than investor-owned utilities (IOUs), such as Ameren, here in central Illinois. We are not-for-profit. Any revenues over the cost of doing business and taking care of our system are margins, which represent the interest free loan of operating capital by the membership to the cooperative. This capital is later returned you, the member customer, in the form of capital credits.

Each year we hold an annual meeting in which all members are invited to vote on proposed policies, be involved in the operation of the co-op, and meet new directors and employees. You, the member, decides how the cooperative operates and what services it provides.

The Cooperative Culture

Cooperative businesses are special because they are owned by the consumers they serve and because they are guided by a set of seven principles that reflect the best interests of those consumers.

More than 100 million people are members of 47,000 U.S. cooperatives, enabling consumers to secure a wide array of goods and services such as health care, insurance, housing, food, heating fuel, hardware, credit unions, child care or utility service.

All cooperative businesses adhere to these seven guiding principles:

1. Voluntary and Open Membership — Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.
2. Democratic Member Control — Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.
3. Members’ Economic Participation — Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.
4. Autonomy and Independence — Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.
5. Education, Training, and Information — Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public, particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefits of cooperation.
6. Cooperation Among Cooperatives — Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures.
7. Concern for Community — While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.