Members should be concerned about changes at Arrowhead

I don’t suppose many “Arrowhead Cooperative” members bothered to read the recently mailed 2012 Annual Report. (FYI: No longer to be known as “Arrowhead Electric Cooperative Inc.” By dropping the word “Electric” we will now pay for new stationery and literature, signage, repainting truck doors, etc. Good thinking!)

In the annual report you would have noticed that our cooperative’s long-term debt had increased by over 17 percent (2.67 million dollars) from 2011 to 2012. The amount of electric power sold annually by the cooperative has steadily declined to the lowest level since 2006, while the wholesale cost of power from Great River Energy has grown to an all time high…both trends certain to continue. The cooperative spent nearly a half million dollars more in 2012 for 4.7 million less KWH than were purchased from Great River Energy in 2008. The “formerly known as” Arrowhead Electric Cooperative had signed a 40-year contract to buy “all” of its power from GRE.

The CEO of our cooperative resigned earlier this year and that position has apparently been replaced with a three-member management team…an entity in conflict with the managerial structure defined in the cooperative’s bylaws. The board seems to believe that deviating from the bylaws without amending them by a vote of the membership is not problematic… recently this has become a frequent practice. Dropping the required annual notification of capital credit account balances, the cooperative’s name change and management restructuring are just recent examples. Construction of the $2.5 million headquarters building and the $20 million broadband venture were also initiated without approval or input from the cooperative’s owner-members.

Three board of director positions are up for election. Two of the three “candidates” are past board members, each previously having run out 12-year term limits. Two director positions are running unopposed. Hardly what you could view as an election…not a fresh face in the bunch.

With sales decreasing, spending and costs continuing to rise and the uncertain profitability of broadband…shouldn’t you be concerned? I guess pancakes, $10 rebate coupons, door prizes and promises of faster Internet speed are enough to lull the membership into a stupor.

Bob LaMettry
Grand Marais