In last month's issue, I was introduced as the new Executive Vice President and General Manager of your cooperative. This month, I would like to share with you a few of my thoughts and philosophies of managing your Cooperative now and into the future.

In today's fast paced society, it seems the level of service is decreasing in many business areas, and decreased customer service is becoming a means to drive larger profits for investors. This is an unfortunate trend for all of us as customers, and I would like to assure you this is one trend your Cooperative will not take part in. At SouthEastern, future plans are to use new technology to increase our level of service to you, our member customers. 

A prime example of your Cooperative increasing the level of service is the implementation of the new Automated Meter Reading

(AMR) program. This technology will allow your Cooperative to automatically read your meter, tabulate your energy usage,

calculate the amount of your bill, and mail you a prepared invoice monthly; therefore, eliminating the need for you to remember to

manually read and figure you electric bill. 

In addition, this AMR program will give your Cooperative the ability to monitor your service voltage three times daily, monitor your

account for outages and momentary interruptions (blinks), identify equipment that needs to be upgraded prior to the actual equipment failure, improve bill processing and reduce the number of billing errors, etc. Yes, this AMR program will significantly increase the level of service provided to you, our members, while saving on some

unnecessary expenses. 

Another example of SouthEastern increasing our level of customer service is the implementation of new computer technologies. Not only will this increase your Cooperative's ability to respond to customer inquiries faster and more efficiently by having more information readily available, but it will assist your Cooperative in reducing the duration of outages by providing the technology whereby we are able to identify outage locations on a more timely basis. It will also help to eliminate manual and routine

processes, which will allow for better efficiency. 

The above are only a few examples of your Cooperative's commitment to increasing our customer service while at the same time providing service to you at the most competitive rates possible. I am pleased to inform you your Cooperative has one of the lowest rate schedules of the 24 electric cooperatives operating in Illinois. 

As your new Manager, I want all of you to know that SouthEastern remains committed to providing the highest level of customer service while continuing to keep rates as competitive as possible. Your Cooperative is owned by the people it serves and will continue to be an electric cooperative that is truly operated "for the people and by the people."

See you next month and as always, "We'll keep the lights on for you."