When I was a young boy, my family lived on the Cooperative's lines and Mom always kept a kerosene lamp setting on the closet shelf ready to go in the event of a power failure.  Since power failures were rather common in that day and carried with them the double whammy of being without electricity and water, much of my career at SouthEastern has focused on providing a reliable source of power.  Comparing vital statistics of the Cooperative from the year 1989 through the present indicate we have elevated our total utility plant investment from $51,881,350 to $113,666,661, an increase of almost $62,000,000 or 119%.   In addition we have increased our total annual electrical distribution maintenance expense (which includes tree-trimming) from $1,415,000 in 1989 to well over $3,500,000 in 2005.  Yes those are big numbers, but such a commitment is necessary in order to provide our members with the quality of service they deserve.

Wow!  It doesn't seem possible but March 15th marked my sixteenth year of employment as your General Manager and my overall 39th or 41st year with the Cooperative, depending whether or not the two-year absence from the Cooperative between 1968 and 1970 as a result of the Viet Nam Conflict is included. 

Since I have informed SouthEastern's Board of Trustees that I plan to retire on or about the 3rd of July of 2006, I wanted to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to all the member/owners of this Cooperative who have been so kind to me over the years.  It has truly been a blessing to work for and with such a great group of members, fellow employees and Board, not to mention being able to work in a technological field that has done more to improve our lives and life styles than any other invention in history.

This column is being written on the 17th of March well in advance of its appearance in your home or business around the last of April, but I wanted to inform our members that your Board of Trustees is using due diligence to select a new General Manager, and to date some 42 applications for the position have been received.  Your Board met on March 13th and pared those applications down to four candidates, which they plan to interview on April 4th and 5th, with the goal of selecting the new General Manager on the latter date.

Thanks once again for being so great to work with all of these years and as always,  "We'll keep the lights on for you."