BULLHEAD CITY – On Thursday, September 19, Mohave Electric Cooperative, Inc. (MEC) held its Annual Meeting at the Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse. The annual meeting was attended by 572 Cooperative members as well as guests – the largest attended meeting to date. MEC members received a travel bag kit, and some lucky winners won great door prizes and power credits.
The annual event, as mandated by the Cooperative’s bylaws, introduced the MEC board members and allowed members to vote on a new bylaw. MEC’s Tyler Carlson discussed several activities from the past year as well as a glimpse forward to the future. Power supply costs and record-breaking temperatures affected member usage this past year. To circumvent these high bills, MEC’s future renewal energy and natural gas turbines are slated to be added to their energy portfolio. Members entered the Fieldhouse, registered, received their complimentary meals, and visited informational tables for TWN Communications, Arizona Generation & Transmission Cooperatives (AzG&T), Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association (GCSECA) and Western Governors University Arizona (WGU) – MEC’s newest program supporting bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, business, IT, and healthcare with access to scholarship opportunities.
MEC also had tables staffed with MEC employees who provided information on the UAV Drone Program, SmartHub® app, and the Outage Management System. Board President Joe Anderson introduced the nine, member-elected Directors that comprise Mohave Electric Cooperative’s Board of Directors, along with Patrick Ledger, CEO of AzG&T; Grand Canyon State Electric Cooperative Association (GCSECA) CEO Dave Lock; Arizona Farm Bureau CEO Phil Bashaw; Russell Smolden, CEO of B3 Strategies; Western United Electric Supply Account Manager Jason Thompson; and Emerald Transformer Sales and Business Development Michael Burke.
MEC also hosted three district meetings earlier in the week. Members in attendance recommended that John Nelssen (District 1) and Kevin Nestrick (District 2) continue representing members for a three-year term. At the District 3 meeting, Michael Bartelt announced his retirement after serving 17 years on the board. Members in attendance at the District 3 meeting recommended Cindy Head to represent them.
“I’d like to take this time to thank Michael Bartelt for serving as District 3 Board Director for 17 years. We appreciate your many years of dedication and service to our members,” stated Board President Joe Anderson.
Cindy Head is District 3’s new representative and will serve a three-year term as Board Director. As a member of MEC for 29 years, Cindy has been a healthcare professional with leadership experience in hospice, hospital department management of nursing, radiology, as well as home care infusion. Her strengths include streamlining operations, state and federal regulatory management, interpretation and implementation. Cindy has been a patient-oriented advocate for clinical excellence and MEC looks forward to having her represent our members.
“I’d like to congratulate these three board members who, along with the rest of the board of directors, work tirelessly to help the cooperative. We are happy to have them continue in their roles. If you haven’t made it out to MEC’s Annual Meeting, I encourage you to come out next year and hear what’s going on,” said CEO Tyler Carlson.
