January 2017 – Goodbye to 2016 and Hello to 2917! –
Posted: April 25, 2017Patronage Capital Checks Mailed
If you were an AVEC member in 1992 or 1993, you should have received a check or notice of credit in late December. Earlier this year, the Alaska Village Electric Cooperative Board of Directors made a decision to refund $1.75 million of our accumulated patronage capital. This payment reflects credits that were allocated through 1993, as well as part of those allocated for 1994.
Patronage capital is what a for-profit entity calls profits. Because the federal government holds the mortgage on all of AVEC’s assets, it requires us to operate the utility as a business and to make margins (profits) to pay back our loans and build up equity. Since AVEC does not have stockholders, those profits are credited to the members who bought the electricity from us originally.
In other words, the profits belong to you.
Annual Meetings are Underway
Annual community meetings are in full swing. Most villages have either already held their meetings or will have by the end of January. If your village has not scheduled its local meeting to elect your delegate and local officers, contact your chairman. If you do not know who that is, give member services a call and we will help you out. The highlight of each year is the AVEC Annual Meeting, which occurs Wednesday, April 5, in Anchorage. Two board seats will be filled at the 2017 annual meeting. Those seats are currently held by Charlie Curtis and Robert Beans. The nominating committee has received the names of a number of interested candidates, and will narrow down the list to present to the membership.
Ballots will be mailed in late February.
Our Family is Growing!
In November, Oscarville officially joined the AVEC family and the Regulatory Commission of Alaska began consideration of the transfer of Yakutat’s electric utility to AVEC. We expect to welcome Napakiak into the AVEC family sometime during 2017 as well.
On January 17, the 29th Alaska Legislature will convene for its first 90-day legislative session. All the bills not passed into law last year by the 28th legislature are now by the wayside, but many will undoubtedly be resurrected for consideration during the next two years. The state continues to face a significant reduction in revenues, which means that budgets are tight and all programs are on the table.
The governor has included full funding for power cost equalization in his proposed operating budget for FY2018, with funding coming from the PCE endowment fund. Maintaining PCE and protecting the endowment fund is the top AVEC priority as the legislature looks for funding sources to close the fiscal gap. We also continue to advocate for our Alaska Grid project—the only energy project on the table that could truly meet all Alaskans’ energy needs affordably and reliably.
I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year!
