Annual Meeting: a good time was had by all
Over 1,770 members and guests gathered at the Scott County Fairgrounds for the 72nd Annual Member Appreciation Day and Annual Meeting on June 17.

Speakers for the Annual Meeting were MVEC's General Manager Roger Geckler, Wayne Backman, Senior Vice President of Generation at Basin Electric, and Mark Glaess, General Manager of the Minnesota Rural Electric Association.
All four incumbents were re-elected to three-year terms: Tom Wolf and John Wagner in District I, Gordon Bates in District II and Bob Hauer in District III.
Event highlights included a visit from the Minnesota Zoomobile, bucket truck rides, face painting, inflatibles, free gifts, prizes, fluorescent bulb recycling, and exhibits on how to save money and discussion on the future of energy.
Prize winners:
$250 Free Energy Bernard Sobczak of New Prague
$100 Free Energy Robert Swank of Prior Lake
$50 Target gift card Richard Rosival of Montgomery
$50 Cub gift card Richard Worm of Henderson
$25 Target gift card Glenn Tuma of Montgomery
$25 Cub gift card Joe Ziskovsky of Webster
Crockpot from Resco Manley Winterfeldt of Belle Plaine
Kids’ Prizes
$50 Target gift card Kathy Wu of Savage
$50 Target gift card Trevor King of Webster
Backpack Dakota Skluzacek of New Prague
For photos of the event, see our gallery here. Also see a recap and photos in the July Electric Eye.

Minnesota sales tax sees increase to 6.875%
Beginning July 1, 2009, the Minnesota state general sales and use tax rate increased from 6.5% to 6.875%, an increase of 3/8ths of one percent. Unless an account is tax exempt, your electric bill will reflect this increase as of July 1. For more information, visit the Minnesota Department of Revenue website at www.taxes.state.mn.us.

See the story behind MVEC's support of Pignon, Haiti
Every spring and fall, MVEC hosts a
shrimpdinner fundraiser.The food is tasty,
and the socializing is great, but here's
the real reason we put so much effort
into this twice-a-year event.
Click on the videos to the right to see
how MVEC's Distribution Engineer
Mike Callies helped MVEC became invoved in bringing reliable and
affordable electricity
to a developing country.

We have an energy challenge America.
It’s time to come together and change our future.
When it comes to finding solutions, we must meet climate change goals while keeping costs down and electricity available. America needs a plan. Because we all know that our energy needs keep on growing – every day.
Now is the time to have a candid conversation with your elected officials. Together, we can find answers and take action. Start by asking your elected officials these questions to get the dialogue headed in the right direction:
- Capacity – Experts say that our nation's growing electricity needs will soon go well beyond what renewables, conservation and efficiency can provide. What is your plan to make sure we have the electricity we'll need in the future?
- Technology - Our country faces a crisis as electricity use increases faster than available supply. I believe that by unleashing American ingenuity we can solve this problem. What are you doing to speed the development of new technology which will allow me to have the electric power I need while meeting our national climate policy goals?
- Affordability - Balancing electricity needs and environmental goals will be difficult. How much is all this going to increase my electric bill and what will you do to make it affordable?
- Jobs
How will you keep existing jobs and attract new businesses to Minnesota if our electric rates are higher than those in neighboring states?
Start the conversation today at www.ourenergymn.coop

Everyone likes getting a good report card:
MVEC member-owners score their cooperative high in recent member satisfaction survey
Results of a recent member satisfaction survey showed Minnesota Valley Electric Cooperative (MVEC) members are extremely happy with the level of service they receive from their electric cooperative.
In an effort to gauge the perceptions of MVEC members, the cooperative conducts yearly surveys to help maintain and improve services to their member-owners. Part of the survey contains questions on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). ACSI is a uniform and independent measure of household consumption experience which provides benchmark levels of member satisfaction for many American industries. Unlike traditional surveys that only allow you to benchmark against your own past performance; the ACSI survey compares us with the entire utility industry.
Recent results from the ACSI survey of investor owned utilities showed an average score of 72. Member owned cooperative utilities scored considerably higher, with a customer satisfaction index of 81. MVEC conducted their survey in October and MVEC members rated the cooperative with an ACSI score of 88 out of 100 points. This score puts MVEC well ahead of industry averages as well as any individual investor owned utility.
MVEC will continue to strive to provide reliable electric service, competitive rates and great member service. We owe this to the 32,000 member-owners we serve each day.
Review MVEC’s report card

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