Electric co-op board delays rate hike, OKs salary freeze

PORT ORFORD – The Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative board of directors approved a salary freeze and voted to delay a planned spring rate increase as they implemented the utility’s budget for 2010 at last week’s monthly meeting.

“There is a salary freeze for all employees for 2010. We’re not going to replace the positions of employees retiring in 2010,” General Manager Roger Meader said Monday.

Coos-Curry raised electric rates an average of 7.5 percent last month and had previously expected a similar increase in the spring.

He said the board approved an operations budget of just over $30 million and a capital budget of about $12 million.

Meader said after a year’s experience, the co-op will continue working 10 hours a day, four days a week. He said the co-op saved $312,000 in costs such as overtime compared to 2007 and 2008 by going to the 10-hour day.

“We’re just going to make it a permanent plan from here on out,” Meader said.

He said the main capital expenditures scheduled for 2010 are finishing the new transmission line into Brookings, building a warehouse and small office in Coquille and start the engineering for replacing the Norway substation, which serves the Coquille area.

The board heard a three-hour presentation of a long-range construction work plan and a four-year construction work plan.

“The long-range plan focuses on predicting growth for the next 20 years throughout the territory, with the best educated guessing we can have. Then they plan what kind of distribution facilities will have to be built,” Meader said.

“The four-year plan details actual construction plans over the next four years,” he said.

“The study showed the Coos-Curry system is in fairly good shape. After we get the transmission line built, we should be able to fund projects for the next 20 years out of revenue,” Meader said, without borrowing.

“The next four years we’ll be rebuilding the Norway substation. It’s about 55 years old,” Meader said. “In the south we’ll be doing some line transfers, to get some load off Bookings’ substation and onto Parkview substation. The Brookings substation is a little overloaded now.”

He said the rest of the plans for the next four years is maintenance – a few line upgrades, pole change-outs and underground transmission replacements.

The predicted growth for the next 20 years ranges from 1 percent to 3 percent annually, he said.

“The Brookings area will be a little higher, Bandon Dunes area a little higher. Everywhere else is pretty conservative,” Meader said.

“The Brookings area growth depends on three planned subdivisions – two in Harbor and one at the Borax property,” he said.

“The next 20 years looks pretty good for Coos-Curry. The people before us have taken good care of the plan. The distribution system is in pretty good shape. That’s excellent planning,” Meader said.

The 2010 Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative annual meeting, which had been scheduled for July 24 at the Curry County Fairground in Gold Beach, was rescheduled for July 17, due to the fair board changing dates for the fair, he said.

The board of directors officially dissolved South Coast Satellite, a fully owned subsidiary.

“It was started in 1992 to bring satellite TV to members but has been inactive for eight years,” Meader said. “There’s no financial impact to Coos-Curry for this action, except we will no longer be holding board meetings for South Coast Satellite.”

Instead of monthly town hall meetings for the co-op membership, Meader said they will now be held quarterly, alternating between Brookings and Port Orford, with none held in Gold Beach.

“We’ll just do Brookings and Port Orford,” he said. “If there’s a need to step them back up, we’ll step them back up. When we truly decide what the rate increase is going to be, we will hold town meetings all around. We’re just forecasting a 7.5 percent increase.”