An update on power supply shortages was the main discussion at Midwest Electric’s 88th annual meeting held at St. Marys Memorial High School on the evening of June 5. More than 1,000 members, families, and guests attended and enjoyed pony rides, a dinner buffet, kids’ games, bounce houses, a health fair, and more.

Adam Howe of St. Marys Memorial High School, son of Chris Howe, was the winner of the $1,000 scholarship drawing, and numerous members won a total of $2,000 in cash prizes.

Director election results were announced with each candidate serving a three-year term on the board:

• Steve Bauer (District 1: Auglaize and Shelby counties)
• Kathy Brake (District 3: Van Wert County)
• Jim Wiechart (District 4: Mercer and Darke counties)

CEO Matt Berry discussed the extreme cold this past January and all-time winter electric peak set in our 13-state regional power grid. While power supplies were tight, the regional grid operator managed it well by requiring all power plants to cancel planned maintenance outages, and ordering peaking power plants to be up and running, and canceling previously scheduled exports of power to other regions.

The situation remains critical, Berry said, because data centers are causing load forecasts to skyrocket. And the premature shutdown of coal, nuclear, and natural gas power plants continues, while much of the proposed new power generation is “non-dispatchable’ solar, wind and battery storage.

On the brighter side, Berry noted that Buckeye Power Supply Cooperative’s strategy of owning all of our power generation has resulted in us having lower electric rates that AEP and AES.

Craig Grooms, CEO of Buckeye Power, told members, “We continue to have very good power plant performance, especially during critical periods when it’s unusually hot or cold. Investing in our resources and having a long-term focus on how we generate power continues to pay off and has helped us avoid some of the turbulence and volatility seen across the electric utility industry over the last few years.”

Grooms also discussed the influx of data centers in Ohio. “Our legislative affairs team has been very active in the regulatory process to help ensure that only those transmission customers causing the investment are allocated costs, not electric co-op members.”

Board President Jim Wiechart said the board and staff will create a new three-year strategic plan later this summer.

“So as we start to create our new three-year strategic plan, we ask you, our members, three main questions,” Wiechart said. “What do you think Midwest Electric should start doing? What do you think Midwest Electric should stop doing? What do you think Midwest Electric should keep doing?”

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