CORNERCo-op

Your monthly report from Your Socorro Electric Cooperative, Inc.

September 2018

SEC Lineman Layne Bugayong performing line maintenance on a tap feeding Granite Mountain. Photo Credits: Nathan Boer Vis

SEC to Apply for Rate Increase - Community Meetings Planned for MembersWhile the SEC Board of Trustees have managed your cooperative expenses for the last seven years

without a rate increase, the fixed costs for providing your electric service have increased while the energy sales for SEC have been in a gradual decline for some time.

In 2016 the SEC Board of Trustees and Management commenced a very dedicated review of all operating expenses and the reduction in revenues from declining energy sales. The Board identified certain expense reductions including, for the first time in the history of SEC, requiring employees to contribute to the employee health benefits. The Board also hired a consulting firm to conduct an independent Cost of Service Study (COSS). The COSS not only identified the contribution by the respective rate classes to the margins - Residential, Small Commercial, Large Commercial, Irrigation and Area Lighting – it also reviewed each rate design in an effort to recover an equitable rate of return from each rate class.

At the August 22, 2018 Board Meeting, the Trustees approved a resolution adopting the findings of the analysis produced by the COSS which identified those changes which appear necessary to recover increased costs, maintain adequate financial ratios and promote rate equitability between the various consumer rate classifications at SEC. SEC will be applying to the PRC for an increase of approximately 5.06% or $1,249,993 in revenue annually. This will be the first increase in base rates for SEC in over 7 years; the current rates being in effect since March 5, 2011. For comparison, the last two rate increases were 7.47% in August 2005 and 6.95% in March 2011.

This proposed increase is necessary because the current rate design does not provide adequate revenues to allow SEC to cover the cost of providing safe, reliable electric service to our Members and it does not provide the financial minimums necessary to enable SEC to borrow additional monies for system improvements.

The Board has directed the General Manager to educate our Members about this process and to provide greater detail on the impact of the proposed rates. To accomplish this, SEC will be conducting several Community Meetings in various locations in our service area. The dates, locations, and times of these meetings are on the reverse side of this page.

August Board of Trustees Meeting Report

• The Board heard a presentation on large scale solar possibilities.

• The Board received a report on the two outages on the Magdalena 69,000 volt

transmission line resulting from separate flash flooding incidents.

• The Board approved a Cost of Service Study and has directed SEC Management

to coordinate Member Community Meetings to review the proposed changes

in rates and rate designs

• The next Board Meeting will be September 26, 2018 at 2:00 at 310 Abeyta.

WEBSITEwww.socorroelectric.com

PHONE1-800-351-7575 or 575-835-0560

PAYING YOUR BILLYou can make your payment over the

phone by check or major credit card, 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week with our IVR

phone system at no charge.

OFFICE HOURSMonday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

REPORTING AN OUTAGEBefore reporting a power outage, please check the circuit breakers in your house first. If you still do not have power after

checking your breakers, please call (575) 835-0560 or (800) 351-7575.

If you get a busy signal, it is an indication that someone else is experiencing an

outage as well; however please continue to call, this will help us pinpoint

the problem.

MEMBER SERVICE/BILLING Marilyn Madrid - Member Service Supervisor 575-835-0560 Ext 1504

ACCOUNTINGRauni Montoya - Accounting Supervisor 575-835-0560 Ext 2502

LINE EXTENSIONS:Bill Harris - Staking Technician575-835-0560 Ext 2503

MARKETING & PUBLIC AFFAIRSJimmy Capps - Director of Communications & Public Affairs - 575-838-9724jcapps@socorroelectric.com

Contact us

SEC Community Meetings - Dates, Locations, & Times (cont'd from Page One)

Date Location Time October 16, 2018 Veguita Senior Citizens Center- 894 Hwy 304, Veguita, NM 87062 6:30 p.m. October 17, 2018 SEC Engineering Offices - 310 Manzanares Avenue, Socorro, NM 87801 2:00 p.m. October 18, 2018 San Antonio - Old School Gym - 4th Street, San Antonio, NM 87832 6:30 p.m. October 19, 2018 Socorro County Annex Building - 198 Neel Avenue, Socorro, NM 87801 6:00 p.m. October 22, 2018 Magdalena Senior Citizens Center- 500 Ninth St., Magdalena, NM 87825 6:30 p.m. October 23, 2018 Alamo Wellness Center - Mile Marker 29, NM Hwy 169, Alamo, NM 87825 2:00 p.m. October 25, 2018 Datil Elementary gym - 7390 NM Hwy 12, Datil, NM 87821 3:00 p.m.

Did you know...? that electric cooperative kilowatt-hour sales growth has been on a steady downward trajectory since 2007? For Cooperatives with tradi-tional rate design, this means the lower kWh sales are, the less revenue there is to cover fixed costs. This would be like a baker who can't sell enough donuts to cover the costs of having a bakery.

NOTICEWinter Moratorium Protection

Protection from winter shut-off begins November 15, 2018.

To avoid potential disconnection of services please contact the human services department at 800-283-4465

or the appropriate tribal or pueblo entity for eligibility information for low income heating energy assistance program (LIHEAP).

Your service will not be disconnected from November 15 2018, through March 15, 2019,

if you meet the qualifications of LIHEAP and have no past due amounts or you remain current on any settlement or installment

agreement for amounts due as of November 15, 2018.Members of New Mexico tribes or pueblos who need help with translation or with other matters may contact the commission’s

consumer relations division at (888)427-5772, who will contact the appropriate tribal or pueblo official for assistance.