Dear Members,
It’s mid-January as I write this, and we’re enjoying the usual flurry of activity that comes with the new year. For Hood River Electric & Internet Co-op, that means launching our annual financial audit and planning our annual member meeting.
Our board of directors will set the date of our annual member meeting when it meets next week. The meeting will be in March, and you will receive an invitation within the next few weeks.
We’re excited to be planning our first in-person gathering since the pandemic began—we know many of you missed having pie! We also plan to continue offering in-person voting in our office, as we heard positive comments from members who appreciated having that option.
For our director elections, our board of directors appointed a nominating committee in December to identify candidates who might serve on the board. The terms of 3 directors expire each year. Members fill the director positions by reelecting existing directors or by electing members who have been identified as potential candidates by the nominating committee. Members also may file a petition to run for a seat on the board, as specified in our bylaws.
By the time you read this, we will have received the results of the electric rate study that has been underway for the past several months. The goal of this study is to ensure that each class of customers—residential, small commercial, large commercial, irrigation, etc.—is paying its fair share of what it costs for us to provide service, and that the rates are structured correctly within each class.
Our rates are some of the most affordable in the region—and we plan to keep it that way—but we may need to adjust some of them to maintain the financial health of the co-op and avoid large cost shifts among our members. We’ll share the results with you at our member meeting.
We continue to work on our fiber internet service buildout and electric distribution system projects that will ensure we can continue to serve members safely, affordably and reliably. On behalf of everyone at the co-op, thanks for the opportunity to serve you.
Libby Calnon
General Manager