If you are without electricity or have an electrical emergency on your side of the meter, we have a master electrician on staff available 24 hours a day.

Board of Trustees

Flint Hills RECARobert E. Reece, General Manager

NEWS

P.O. Box B1564 S. 1000 Rd, Council Grove, KS 66846

620-767-5144www.fl inthillsrec.com

F L I N T H I L L S R U R A L E L E C T R I C CO O P E R AT I V E

Member ServicesfACH / Bank Draft Program

fOnline Payment Options

fOutside Security Lighting

fPower Surge Protection

fRebate Programs

For more information, call us at 620-767-5144.

Roger ZimmermanPresident

Duane KaiserVice President

Duane CarlsonSecretary/Treasurer

Dale AndresTrustee

Korby E� andTrustee

Tim MiserTrustee

Terry OlsenTrustee

Shawn PottsTrustee

This institution is an equal opportunity

provider and employer.

79th Annual Meeting Highlights

The 79th Annual Meeting of the Flint Hills Rural Electric Cooperative Associ-ation, Inc. was held on Tuesday, March 7, 2017, at the Herington Commu-nity Building. There were more than 325 meals served to 169 registered members and their families. The meal was prepared by Kathy’s Herb and Spice, and once again was wonderful. Operations Manager Damien Hebert presented a program on electrical safety around overhead power lines and many other safety tips using a safety demo trailer.

All registered members who at-tended the annual meeting received a $10 energy credit on their April 2017 electric bill courtesy of Flint Hills Rural Electric Co-op.

Board President Roger Zimmer-man called the meeting to order, and Bob Reece, General Manager, reported on the 2016 fi nancial status of the cooperative, the plant improvements completed throughout the last year, and also commented on the Patron-age Capital payout to past and present

members that began on Feb. 28, 2017. Trustee election and bylaw

amendment ballots were collected at the meeting, counted, and approved by the members. Randy Heilman, attorney for Flint Hills RECA, an-nounced the trustees elected to serve for three-year terms on the Board: District 1 ROGER ZIMMERMAN, Alta Vista; and District 4 TIM MISER, Cot-tonwood Falls. Heilman also reported that the proposed bylaw amendments were approved.

Flint Hills Board of Trustees enjoys a joke told by guest speaker Dave Baker.

Past and present youth camp winners Raelyn Scott, Paige Craney, Meghan Eidman and Maya Eidman, unite with Shana Read (middle), KEC Youth Camp coordinator.

APRIL 2017 KANSAS COUNTRY LIVING 16-A

Kansas Electric Cooperatives’ POLICY PRIORITIESAs a member of Flint Hills Rural Electric Coop-erative, you know that providing safe, afford-able and reliable electricity is our top priority 365 days a year. But it might surprise you to know how much of the work we perform can be affected by what lawmakers and regula-tors are doing in Topeka and in Washington, D.C. That’s why co-ops all across the country join together in making sure our leaders know what’s important to co-ops and their members.

We do this, in part, through membership in our statewide association Kansas Electric Coop-eratives, Inc. (KEC) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). Both groups represent the interests of electric cooperatives before lawmakers and regulators—and they count on our participation to be most effective.

Electric cooperatives across the country were active in the recent Co-ops Vote initia-tive to encourage rural participation in grass-roots political initiatives and increase voter turnout. Electric cooperatives from Kansas led

the nation in engagement in this initiative, and Flint Hills RECA was named a 5-Star cooperative for our participation in Co-ops Vote.

In April, more than 30 electric coopera-tive leaders from Kansas will join hundreds of other electric cooperative representatives at the NRECA Legislative Conference in Wash-

ington, D.C. Electric cooperatives use this opportunity to advocate for public poli-cies that are driven by our member’s in-terests and needs. Overreaching federal regulations have a significant negative impact on rural America, so co-ops are

asking Washington policymakers to revisit a number of federal rules

that have hurt rural com-munities and threatened

co-ops’ mission to pro-vide affordable and

reliable electricity.We’re also

looking at poli-cies such as the

Endangered

Species Act and Clean Power Plan to ensure that they carefully balance the nation’s environ-mental and economic goals without imposing undue burdens on rural America.

We’ve got our hands full in Topeka as well. The Kansas Legislature currently has at least six different pieces of legislation that would bring disruptive change to the electric utility industry. We hope none of the bills will be considered seriously, but there is a movement underway to enact retail wheeling.

Advocates note that about a dozen states allow retail wheeling, or customer choice of their electricity provider, but that doesn’t mean it has been good public policy. Several states rescinded the legislation before it was implemented. Several more wish they could return to the previous structure. But once this change is enacted, it is probably irreversible. Kansas considered this concept 20 years ago and determined it wasn’t a good idea then. We believe it has even less merit today.

Retail wheeling would mean that consum-ers would have to deal with not one but sever-al utility entities. Your current electric provider would still be responsible for maintaining the poles and wires to deliver electricity, but in ad-dition, consumers would also have to carefully evaluate different rate plans and choose a new company or two to secure the actual kilowatts needed to keep your lights on. Those plans can be complex, misleading and fleeting. And in the end, a market price doesn’t mean a lower price.

Like we said at the beginning, providing safe, affordable and reliable electricity is our top priority 365 days a year. Your coopera-tive employees and their representatives are dedicated to this mission, whether they work on a line crew, in engineering, customer service, ac-counting, administration, or management—and sometimes even in Topeka and Washington, D.C.

As your cooperative, providing safe, affordable and reliable electricity is our top priority 365 days a year.

KANSAS COUNTRY LIVING APRIL 201716-B

N E W S F RO M F L I N T H I L L S R U R A L E L E C T R I C CO O P E R AT I V E

Guests at the meeting were SHANA READ, Director of Communi-cations for Kansas Electric Coopera-tives, COLEEN WELLS, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and MARK DOLJAC, Director of Rates and Regula-tions, both of KEPCo; and Kansas Representative DAVE BAKER from the 68th District.

The 2016 Youth Tour attendees were introduced by Diann Diehl, Flint Hills RECA Member Service Manager, and presented a certificate for their participation in the Youth Camp. MEGHAN EIDMAN (daughter of D.J. and Alison Eidman, Strong City) and PAIGE CRANEY (daughter of Vincent

and Jessica Craney, Hillsboro), gave a short review of their experiences at last year’s Cooperative Youth Lead-ership Camp at Steamboat Springs. They also expressed their apprecia-tion for the opportunity afforded by the cooperative to attend camp.

The two youth winners for the 2017 camp were also announced: RAELYN SCOTT, Council Grove High School, and MAYA EIDMAN, Chase County High School. Raelyn is the daughter of Lancer and TinaRae Scott, Council Grove, and Maya is the daughter of D. J. and Alison Eidman, Strong City. Prizes were awarded and the meeting was adjourned.

Right: Leo Hultgren of White City won the 43-inch Sanyo HDTV.

Below left: Operations Manager Damien Hebert and Lineman Brock Nieman dem-onstrate the many dangers of electricity to Flint Hills members.

Below right: General Manager Bob Reece reports on cooperative business at the annual meeting.

Lineman Appreciation Day—April 10"Whereas linemen leave their families and put their lives on the line every day to keep the power on; Whereas linemen work 365 days a year under dangerous conditions to build, main-tain and repair the electric infrastructure; Whereas linemen are the first responders of the electric cooperative family, getting power back on and making things safe for all after storms and accidents; and Whereas there would be no electric cooperatives without the brave men and women who comprise our corps of linemen; Therefore be it resolved that NRECA rec-ognize the Second Monday of April of each year as National Lineman Appreciation Day and make available to electric cooperatives, materials and support to recognize the contributions of these valuable men and women to America’s Electric Cooperatives."

79th Annual Meeting Highlights Continued from page 16-A

f43-inch Sanyo LED HDTV LEO HULTGREN

f24-inch Vizio HDTV (Kriz Davis) MELVIN ROSFELD and VINCENT EDMONSON

f40-watt LED Work Light MARK HAWK

fMr. Coffee 12-cup Coffee Maker LAWRENCE BIEHLER

fGarmin GPS ROBERT RHODES

f4-quart Slow Cooker WANDA WILLIAMS

fBlack & Decker Electric Drill ROBERT MOWAT

fVidal Sassoon Hair Dryer SCOTT MIESSE

fNinja Kitchen System (Altec) MALCOLM STROM

fWeather Radio DAVE BAKER

fUtility Space Heater GEORGE MILLER

f 16-inch Pedestal Fan LLOYD SKLENAR

f$50 Bass Pro Gift Card (ETI) MELVIN WEEMS and RUSSELL SIGLE

f$50 Amazon Gift Card (ETI) EDWARD ESAU DENNIS FRIESEN

fLenovo Tablet 2 (KEPCo) EVERETT BROOKS

f$25 Energy Credit GARY KANNENBERG

f$50 Energy Credit (KSI) ROBERT EHRLICH

f$50 Energy Credit (KEPCo) GLEN SCHLESENER

Annual Meeting Door Prize Winners

APRIL 2017 KANSAS COUNTRY LIVING 16-C

Help Us Locate Former Flint Hills RECA MembersFlint Hills RECA has been unable to locate the former members listed below who have unclaimed Capital Credit refunds that were retired more than three years ago. If you know any of these former members, please have them call us at 620-767-5144.

In accordance with the Cooperative’s by-laws, failure to claim the refunds within 60 days of this notice (May 30, 2017) will cause the total amount of the refund to be irrevocably gifted back to the Cooperative. A list, which includes the city and state of the last known address listed on the Cooperative’s records, is located on our website www.flinthillsrec.com.

Barry H AdamsMike AlexanderGary R AllenWarren AndersonWesley AndersonLarry L AndresDonna E AspelinGerald V AuchardPaul AyersThomas Bartley EstCalvin BeckerDilwyn D BeckerBedell Oil PropertiesWilliam BeseckerBelle BestDelbert BishopRobert BitnerJoseph BolandJohnny C BolteRaymond BolteDoyle L BondC L BoothEdwin L BowersWillis R BowersBeulah BoyerRobert BrandtSteven E BraunClaude BrazellChuck BredemeierHarry BrownMichael T BrownRussell BrownMark C BrunnerPaul BuchmanCharles F BurdetteElmer Callesen

Jerald R CameronDuane E CampbellMarjorie CarterJohn S ChapmanJames E CharlesCherokee Energy IncMark ChestnutJohn W Clark SrThomas E ClarkLoyd Clark LKaren A CoadeHarold W ColeDon ColletteCharistopher CostelloDouglas CusickAlvin A DaetwilerE L Davis Gary DavisDanny L DayClyde DeckerCraig DibbenJoel DoaneGerald DuerksenRichard A DuerksenJames DuganAlice DvorakGerald DyckE And R Hog CoAm G. Edmett WilliDenise I EdmondsEric EjarqueDavid E ElliottMarcia EngstromJohn H EshbaughFred FerrallPaul Filak

Douglas FisherFrancis W FlamingLance FlamingRay FlamingFlint Hills CountryFlint Hills CountryFlint Hills SpeedwayFlory DavidEric R ForsbergNannie ForsbergMarie FosterBen B FrantzClarence E FreemanJohn FriendDennis C FriesenRichard D FriesenMarvin C Funk .Gene GagnonC F GallagherMelinda GallawayErrol GarberLouise GarciaStanley L GardnerLarry M GehrkeTed GfellerWarren GhereMabel GinavanRederick F Grimaldi Cathy A GroverDonald G GuardClayton D GuhrR Neal HanesJames E HanshewHappy HarryHoward L HarmanLester L Harmon

O G HarperRobert L HarrelsonHarris MaryWalter HassenplugRobert F HaydenCharles W HaygoodKaren J HeckJerry HeimReuben HeinGalen R HelmerMarvin HenryLinda R HepburnHarry HerbelLucy HertleinTimothy J HettWarren R HettHerman J HillWarren HochRobert L HoffmanDavid N HolmanTheo HolubPatrick J HopkinsRobert G HoppesHarold HovanderDonald HowardJames W HowardJimmy L HugginsKenneth HumphreysJames R IglerHarold JamesHenry E JamesJonathan Oil CompanyKan-Go-IncKatana ResourcesAlma KelseyLonnie W Kemp

Daryl KendrickJim KirkemindeArnold P KlassenKlassen TrustJohn KlusenerAllen KnappDarrel L KoehnRodney KoehnDale KoopJohn KraushaarMarion KroeningCharles E LackeyEnnis LacyMelvin LaizureOrval LambertJohn LandisMichael LaytonDorothy E LeakeyJae Tok LeeJoseph W LeightyWallace LoewenGabriele B LouisTrinidad MaldonadoGeorge Malik JrGeorge E MalikRobert C ManisJim MaredaMarion Oil ProjectTheodore MartinMary L Blythe EstatePaul MatthewsWalter L MatthewsVern MayberryOran McallisterMark McdonaughDavid Mcginness

KANSAS COUNTRY LIVING APRIL 201716-D