REPORT CARD

Like my one and only daughter who just started high school, Cherryland Electric Cooperative is also working at getting good grades. Our financial grades come out each August in a key ratio report provided by a national bank of cooperatives. This year’s report compares CEC’s 2008 financial statement to the other 8 Michigan cooperatives, more than 800 nationwide cooperatives ranging in sizes of 1,000 meters to 200,000+ meters and a peer group of cooperatives very similar in size to CEC’s 33,000+ meters.

I kid my daughter (don’t take this to mean she listens to me!) about improving on every A- she brings home only because I believe one can always do better. CEC is no different. So, I thought I would take some time this month to show you a handful of the 144 different ratios your cooperative is graded on each year.

The average residential KWH usage per month per member is at 665 KWH for Cherryland members. Michigan cooperatives average 756 and all cooperatives nationwide average 1,191. Our peer group of 72 similarly sized cooperatives averages 1,204. This puts CEC just 5 positions from last place. The difference can be attributed to our warmer winters and cooler summers plus we have a high saturation of gas in our service area. We will continue to strive for ways to promote efficient uses of electricity.

Total operating revenue per member is $1,081 per year at CEC. Michigan is at $1,130 and the nationwide average is $1,922. Our peer group comes out to $1,824. Reasoning here is obvious. Lower energy sales equal lower revenues.
We borrow money at CEC on a regular basis to build new lines and improve existing areas. Long term debt per member equals $825 at CEC while in Michigan it is $1,876 and the nationwide number is $1,932. The peer group has average debt of $1,780 per member. Here, CEC is only 7 cooperatives from the best position out of 72.

Controllable expenses like maintenance, marketing, tree trimming, outages, donations, repairs and office supplies are also graded annually. These every day operating costs amount to $210 per member per year at CEC. Michigan cooperatives are at $246. The nationwide average comes out to $330. The peer group of like sized co-ops is at $392. CEC has the best grade of all 72 cooperatives our size and nationwide there are only 5 co-ops out of 818 that beat our number in 2008.

Depreciation, wholesale power supply, taxes and interest are the components of the total fixed expenses per member class. Here, CEC is at $887 per member per year. The statewide number is $907 and the national number is $1,465. The peer group comes in with $1,454 per member per year. We are 3 co-ops from the top spot in the peer group of 72 and 56 away from the best of the nationwide group of 818. Yes, room for improvement but definitely a positive statement about our borrowing practices, area taxes and supply of power from Wolverine Power Cooperative.

CEC employs more than 50 of some of the best cooperative employees I have been acquainted with in my 26 years in the business. One of the grades everyone at CEC is most proud of is the average members per employee. When you divide our total number of members over the employee group in 2008, you will get 576 members or meters per employee. Michigan co-ops are at 426 and the nationwide average is 286. We beat our peer group’s number of 356 by almost 62%! We are blessed with some high density areas but we also have a group of employees who aren’t afraid to take on their fair share of work on a daily basis in a very efficient manner.

Obviously, it takes a serious amount of money to operate a cooperative the size of yours. I believe these numbers are an indication that we are well aware that the money belongs to each member and are putting it to the best possible use. I can only hope that sometime in the next 4 years my daughter actually hears the “you can always do better” speech and understands that adults really do practice what they preach.