An update on electric rates and affordability was the main discussion at Midwest Electric’s 89th annual meeting held at St. Marys Memorial High School on the evening of June 4. Almost 850 members, families, and guests attended and enjoyed pony rides, dinner buffet, kids games, bounce houses, a health fair, and more. 

Director elections were held online and by mail this spring, with results announced at the annual meeting.

• Randy Heinl was unopposed and re-elected to a three-year seat representing District 1 (Auglaize and Shelby counties)
• Steve Butcher was newly elected to a three-year seat for District 2 (Allen and Putnam counties)

Madison Steinlage of Saint Henry was the winner of the $1,000 scholarship drawing, and numerous members won a total of $2,000 in cash prizes.

CEO Matt Berry discussed our electric rate advantage compared to Ohio’s investor-owned utilities like AEP and AES. “For the average family using 1,500 kilowatt hours per month, our electric bill is $47 lower, per month, than the standard rate for AES, and $71 lower than AEP, according to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio,” he said.

And Midwest Electric’s rates will be even lower through the rest of this year, Berry announced. 

“On your bill each month, there’s an item called the Power Cost Adjustment. This amount changes a little bit each month, slightly up or down from one month to the next,” he explained. “It’s a pass-through of part of our wholesale power bill from Buckeye Power.  And the rate that Buckeye Power charges us will be lower through the rest of this year because of the advantages of owning our power generation in today’s electric market.

“As a result, we expect your Power Cost Adjustment to be almost 1 cent per kWh lower than it would have been otherwise. For the average family, this means your bill for the rest of the year will be about $12 a month lower than it would have been without this reduction from Buckeye Power., Berry said.

“It’s our job to manage the costs we can control, before we ever ask members to pay more for their energy,” he said. “Our fundamental responsibility to you is to deliver reliable power to your home while keeping bills as low as possible. We are committed to increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and providing reliable, affordable service every day.”

Bill Roberts, Vice President and CFO of Buckeye Power, echoed Berry’s comments. 

“Because cooperatives in Ohio own their generation, we are well positioned to meet growing demand with a goal of keeping rates as affordable and stable as possible,” he said. “Financially, we are strong, thanks in large part to generation assets like our Cardinal coal-fired power plant. These facilities continue to do exactly what they were built to do—run when they’re needed most.”

Roberts also addressed the topic of data centers and their impact on the electric market. Protecting electric cooperative members from the higher costs brought on by all the new data centers is our main concern, he said.

“We spend significant time in the legislative and regulatory process to influence the rules for cost allocation, to help ensure that data centers cover the expenses related to their usage,” Roberts said.

Board President Jim Wiechart said a new three-year strategic plan was created by staff and the Board late last year.

The new strategic plan “was completed as a collaborative effort with some emphasis areas being key staff succession planning, and maintaining Midwest Electric’s high level of service to our members,” Wiechart said. “This strategic plan, which extends to the end of 2028, provides a deliberate road map of many of the key cooperative areas of focus for this current 3-year period. With this effort and other Board actions, we strive to make every decision such that our members’ interests are foremost in our minds.”

Wiechart also noted that 2025 was a strong year financially for the cooperative, and the entire $4.5 million in margins is allocated and eventually paid back to the members.

Members are encouraged to contact the co-op with feedback by calling the office or emailing mberry@midwestrec.com.