Manager’s Message – October 2018

Dear Members:

The 2018 PSREC Annual Member Meeting was a great event. Thanks to everyone who joined us for the day. Eastern Plumas Health Care held another excellent health fair. We would like to thank them for participating in our annual meeting and offering free and significantly discounted services to members. The Las Plumas 4-H Club served an excellent lunch of tri-tip sandwiches, pulled-pork sandwiches and veggie burgers. The Calpine Elks called several games of bingo, and members took home great prizes, including the grand prize of a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan.

During the event, Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications highlighted its plans for broadband expansion in the region. If you were unable to attend the meeting, you can get information on our broadband services by visiting www.pst.coop.

Sonja Anderson of the Western Area Power Administration, Randy Howard of the Northern California Power Agency and Jackie Coombs of the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems provided updates on the electric industry during the business meeting.

All the speakers discussed key issues facing your cooperative and the electric utility industry as a whole. Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed SB100, an ambitious law that mandates 100 percent clean power by 2045. As the speakers shared at the meeting, this law will impact how utilities operate in the years to come. A key takeaway from the meeting was the need for the cooperative to stay active politically to protect the interests of our member-owners.

We had a lively question-and-answer session, covering both broadband expansion and the impact of new fire prevention regulations. As we go to press, there are bills on the governor’s desk that may impact our operations, both positively and somewhat negatively.

The board of directors is the governing body for Plumas-Sierra REC and Plumas-Sierra Telecommunications. They set policy, strategic direction, rates, and budgets. They attend classes and work hard to understand the complexities of the electrical utility industry and the telecommunications business. We thank them all for their hard work and commitment to PSREC.

In a contested election, the members elected Larry Price to District 1. We would like to thank Sean Harris and Rick Whitsell for running for the board. It’s great to see strong interest in our cooperative. We had two uncontested elections—Fred Nelson was re-elected to District 3 and Dave Roberti was re-elected to District 4.

After the annual meeting, the directors elected board officers: Fred Nelson as president, Dick Short as vice president and David Hansen as secretary/treasurer.

If you have any questions, please call me at (800) 555-2207 ext. 6076, or email me at bmarshall@psrec.coop.

Sincerely,

Bob Marshall
General Manager