| February 2012 |
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Sincerely,
LAST UPDATED 1/31/12 |
We will be sending out the meeting notice and reports
in this section of the March issue of Kansas Country Living
magazine. We have invited Steve Parr, the Executive Vice President
and CEO of Kansas Electric Power Cooperative (KEPCo), our generation
and transmission cooperative, to update you on the electric utility
industry and the effects government regulation is having on your
electric bills.
Regulatory Update
As promised, I would like to update you on the Cross State Air Pollution regulations and their
enforcement by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The US Appeals Court in Washington, D.C., stayed the implementation of the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) which was due to go into effect January 1, 2012.
They will take briefs and look to an April 2012 date to bring the issues to the court. This is good news for our industry as we work to implement environmental rules as economically as possible and in a reasonable time frame. Now we must continue to hope that the court will ultimately rule to allow this to happen.
In December, the Board approved the cooperative’s budget for 2012. The process included significant discussions and evaluations of the cooperative’s many services. As we all know, the economy is still slow and times are tough for many of our members. Some may have been laid-off and others may be struggling
to make ends meet. We continue to hold the line on expenses as much as possible.
Much of this year’s focus will be on the regulations placed on our industry by the current Administration and its Agencies. With this being an election year we are hopeful that some of the extreme regulatory rules will be delayed. But we are still concerned about the electric cost increases that could be driven by the EPA and other regulations.
We are very much concerned, because the EPA never considers the costs you pay for electricity when
it mandates emission controls. Those costs in many cases are more than the generating plants cost to build in the first place. Regulatory costs simply become a by-product of their decisions.
Holiday Refund
I hope that you noticed the holiday refund on your December electric bill. Your management team and Board of Trustees worked very hard to overcome some of the red tape that stood in the way of making the refund happen.
If by chance you didn’t notice the credit, please contact the office and we can tell you how much refund you received on your bill. From the comments received from your fellow cooperative members I think it was much appreciated, especially around Christmas time.
I would like to personally thank all of you for your support of the cooperative during this past year. More information on the Annual Meeting will be provided next month.
Regulatory Update
As promised, I would like to update you on the Cross State Air Pollution regulations and their
enforcement by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The US Appeals Court in Washington, D.C., stayed the implementation of the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) which was due to go into effect January 1, 2012.
They will take briefs and look to an April 2012 date to bring the issues to the court. This is good news for our industry as we work to implement environmental rules as economically as possible and in a reasonable time frame. Now we must continue to hope that the court will ultimately rule to allow this to happen.
In December, the Board approved the cooperative’s budget for 2012. The process included significant discussions and evaluations of the cooperative’s many services. As we all know, the economy is still slow and times are tough for many of our members. Some may have been laid-off and others may be struggling
to make ends meet. We continue to hold the line on expenses as much as possible.
Much of this year’s focus will be on the regulations placed on our industry by the current Administration and its Agencies. With this being an election year we are hopeful that some of the extreme regulatory rules will be delayed. But we are still concerned about the electric cost increases that could be driven by the EPA and other regulations.
We are very much concerned, because the EPA never considers the costs you pay for electricity when
it mandates emission controls. Those costs in many cases are more than the generating plants cost to build in the first place. Regulatory costs simply become a by-product of their decisions.
Holiday Refund
I hope that you noticed the holiday refund on your December electric bill. Your management team and Board of Trustees worked very hard to overcome some of the red tape that stood in the way of making the refund happen.
If by chance you didn’t notice the credit, please contact the office and we can tell you how much refund you received on your bill. From the comments received from your fellow cooperative members I think it was much appreciated, especially around Christmas time.
I would like to personally thank all of you for your support of the cooperative during this past year. More information on the Annual Meeting will be provided next month.
Annual Meeting & Regulatory Update
It’s hard to believe that it is already February, which means that this year’s Annual Meeting is just around the corner. On March 15, the annual meeting will again be held at the Circle High School in Towanda for the fifth year.
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