A large crowd of more than 640 Cimarron Electric Cooperative members and their households gathered Thursday evening for its 88th annual meeting at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds Exhibit Building.

The number attending easily met the minimum requirements of 451 members to comprise a quorum for the purpose of conducting official business.

Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Hyatt opened the meeting by introducing several special guests and the nine district board members and expressed the cooperative’s appreciation for their service.

Board members serving the cooperative are: Ron Sproul (District 1), Chalentz Hedges (District 2), Rudy Patzkowsky (District 3), Amie Reed (District 4), Gene Peters (District 5), Tom Kloeppel (District 6), Robert Yeoman (District 7), Raymond Flatt (District 8) and Lane Broadbent (District 9).

A brief business meeting was conducted by CEC attorney Jared Harrison in which it was announced that districts 4, 6 and 8 did not have the required number to form a quorum at the district meetings and the incumbents would hold over their positions for another year.

Harrison then introduced Chief Executive Officer Aaron Roark who presented an update on the cooperative for the 2023 fiscal year.

Roark stressed this year’s them of “The Power of Together” in his message.

“We’re excited to come together and celebrate what can be accomplished when members and co-op employees work together with a common purpose,” Roark said.

“That purpose is to provide reliable and affordable power to our members, which is core to everything we do here at your cooperative.”

Celebrating the cooperative’s ability to provide consistent power to its members, Roark said Cimarron’s members had power 99.98 percent of the time in 2023, placing the cooperative in the top quartile of utilities in the state and nation.

With a targeted focus on proactive maintenance, Roark said through regular inspection and replacement of structurally unsound electric poles and a diligent effort to clear vegetation in right of ways has increased power reliability.

“Our philosophy toward maintenance is to make sure we’re taking care of our grid, taking care of our system and addressing issues before you even notice or have a power outage,” he added.

Another key focus, Roark said, is concern for community, in which Cimarron Electric is heavily invested.

“Cimarron Electric and our employees work together with schools, first responders and community organizations to improve the quality of life in all the communities we serve,” he said.

Additionally, an employee- led program – “The Power of Us” – provides the opportunity for employees to donate a portion of their paycheck back to supporting even more ways to give back to the communities CEC serves.

True to its roots of providing power in rural areas, Cimarron Electric also participates in a partnership with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to send workers to help provide electrical services in areas, like Guatemala, which don’t have electricity.

Other programs Roark said the cooperative is heavily invested in is supporting youth through Energy Camp which is focused on teaching eighth graders how cooperatives operate, providing scholarships for graduating seniors and sending Oklahoma Youth Tour delegates to Washington, D.C., to learn about the history of the United States and how the legislative process works.

Additionally, Roark discussed how CEC continues to be a financially stable cooperative and any revenue generated beyond its costs is returned to its members in the form of capital credits.

In fiscal year 2023, Roark said the cooperative had a total revenue of $79.5 million, with a net margin of $6.6 million which will be allocated back to members and distributed when capital credits for that year are retired.

In November 2024, over $1.1 million in capital credits from 2004 will be retired and members from those years will receive their share of the returned patronage capital, Roark said.

“That’s a big part of what makes a co-op different is being able to return those margins back to its members,” Roark added.

In closing, Roark touted CEC’s affordability of power to its members and said the rates have not increased since 2014 and remain very competitive and are lower than most neighboring utilities.

Although some adjustments will be implemented to the rate structure in late September, Roark said it’s simply a difference in how costs are calculated and the average residential customer member should not notice a difference in the total of their bill.

“Tonight we’ve talked about things to celebrate from our work in the community, reliability and financial stability…that’s what can happen when we all work together,” Roark said.

“We’re still focused every day, day in and day out, on making sure that we’re reliable for our members and that power remains affordable.”

Before the business meeting, members were served a barbecue brisket meal prepared by Iron Wheel BBQ and musical entertainment was provided by the Dean Jackson Band.

Members also received registration gifts as well as the chance to win a number of larger cash and gift prizes drawn for at the close of the meeting.