President's Report
Dan White Board President
Loyalty is a prized virtue – to
country, family, even the schools we attend. We keep those ties strong throughout our lives. Southwest Rural Electric
Cooperative also has loyalties – to the members and communities it serves. Those connections are deep because north Texas and southwest Oklahoma is home – to the cooperative, its founders, its employees and board, and its members.
When you signed up for service with SWRE you became a member, not a customer. That’s because each of our
SWRE consumer-members owns a portion of the utility. SWRE is not just your electricity provider – it’s your company.
for distant investors on Wall Street. We exist to provide you with safe, reliable, and affordable electric service – and doing so in a way that makes things better for future generations. Because electric co-ops operate
has no need to increase revenues above what it takes to run the business
structure helps keep your electric bills affordable.
Because of SWRE’s deep roots in the area, the co-op cares about improving the quality of life. From support for county livestock shows, to
C.E.O.'s Report
Mike R. Hagy Chief Executive
The Annual Report for Southwest Rural in 2013 has encouraging trends, but many of our members still face major problems. By the nature of printing deadlines and annual report requirements, I am writing this annual report article in late June that will be read in the August newsletter, so some of the present situations may change. Our area farmers have
experienced several hard years of drought and crop reductions. In the last two years, much of the cotton and wheat crops have been disastered. Cattle herds were reduced as well in recent years due to drought and lack of hay. Although many of our
experienced average and above- average rainfall, much of our area in north Texas and southwest Oklahoma is still experiencing the lingering effect of drought. Ponds are still dry and lakes in our area are at dangerously
membership and participation in area chambers of commerce, to sponsorship of diverse community activities, SWRE invests in the places where you, the co- op’s member-owners, live and work. SWRE takes seriously its responsibility to provide electric service, but it also takes its community roles seriously, too. That’s why the co-op sends two high school juniors to Washington, D.C., every summer to learn about history and government, and sponsors an energy essay contest every year for 8th graders.
SWRE doesn’t participate in these activities simply because it’s nice to do, or even the right thing to do. The co-op does it because of loyalty to our members, our neighbors, our home – and a mission to make life better in the areas we serve.
C.E.O.'s Report
low levels. I hope that July has brought unusual moisture, but typically July is one of the hottest and driest months for our area.
On the positive side, our cooperative and area have been relatively free of the violent storms that devastated the central portion of Oklahoma. Three tornados in ten days that created tremendous damage and loss of life were unprecedented. Two of those tornados were EF-5s and the last one that hit the El Reno area was not only an EF-5, but also the widest tornado (2.6 miles) in the recorded history of the National Weather Service. Our hearts and prayers have gone out to the families who lost loved ones. Thousands of our neighbors in those areas are still experiencing the effects of lost homes and property. The outpouring of goods and donations for those victims from across the nation is a refreshing reminder that people still care about each other in our great country.
SWRE is currently implementing our automated meter reading program and is compiling mapping and inventory data to implement long- range engineering plans for projected
growth and reliability of service. The completion of these phases of automation will be the solid base for
future.
Although we have not experienced the explosive growth in the gas and oil industry as has happened in northwestern Oklahoma and portions of western Texas, there appears to be a lot of energy activity in portions of our service area. Diversity in the loads we serve is always welcomed because diversity tends to even out the usage when some segments of the economy are slumping.
Overall, the state of the cooperative looks stable, barring some unforeseen circumstances. Environmental, political, and regulatory issues still threaten to push up the price of affordable power, but our cooperative state and national leaders have been vigilant to defend our rural environment while keeping the price of producing electricity as affordable as possible for our members. We will do our best to “keep the lights on”, and provide the best service available through our vision of safety, service and satisfaction.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166