908 4th ave. ne watford city, nd | outpost - killdeer,...

71st Annual MeetingJune 21, 2016

Serving with a Strategy

PHOTOS BY KEVIN BONE

Official Noticeof Annual MeetingTo the members of McKenzie Electric Cooperative Inc.:

You are hereby notified that the 71st annual meeting of McKenzie Electric Cooperative will be held Tuesday, June 21, 2016, at Outlaws’ Bar & Grill Ballroom, 120 N. Main St. in Watford City, with the following agenda:

Registration and complimentary meal ..................5 p.m.Children’s movie ...........................................5:30 p.m.Business meeting ..............................................6 p.m.InvocationCall to orderNational anthemAppointment of parliamentarianApproval of minutesReport on bylaw changes ... Dennis E. Johnson, attorneyFinancial report by audit firm ..................Eide Bailly LLP

Board president’s report .......................Clayton MonsonCooperative update ................................John SkurupeyElection of directorsService award presentationOperation Round Up reportScholarship awardsOld and new businessClean Power Plan Update ........ Mike Eggl, Basin ElectricAdjournmentDrawing for door prizes

$1,000 cash PRIZEGIVEAWAY

Serving with a StrategyServing with a Strategy

908 4th Ave. NE Watford City, ND | Outpost - Killdeer, ND | 701-444-9288 | 800-584-9239

JUNE 2016

www.mckenzieelectric.com McKENZIE ELECTRIC NEWS , JUNE 2016 C1

MEC awards scholarshipsKarissa Monsen$1,000 Basin scholarship winner

Th e Basin Electric Power Cooperative $1,000 scholarship winning student for McKenzie Electric Cooperative’s service territory has been named. Karissa Monsen’s scholarship application stood out amongst her peers, as the Basin judges carefully reviewed each of the candidates.

Karissa is the daughter of Clayton and Vicki Monsen, Watford City. She currently attends Watford City High School, and is planning to further her education next fall at North Dakota State University (NDSU). Karissa will be working toward a degree in agribusiness, in hopes of becoming an ag loan offi cer. She was inspired to follow this career path aft er working part time for one of the local banks in Watford City. “I knew that I wanted to do something with banking, but I also still wanted to remain involved in agriculture,” she said.

As she fi nishes the remaining days of her high school career, she says she will miss getting to see her friends every day, getting to play sports and being home all the time with her family. However, she is looking forward to the next chapter of her life at NDSU, because living in Fargo will be a big change from life in Watford City.

“It’ll be a lot diff erent, but also fun getting to attend more NDSU football games and other sporting events,” Karissa states.

Eric Hellandsaas$500 MEC scholarship winner

Eric Hellandsaas will be attending Bismarck State College (BSC), aft er he receives his diploma from Watford City High School. He plans to obtain his electrical lineworker degree from BSC. Eric was inspired to follow this career path aft er attending a career fair at his school, where he learned about line

work and his interest was sparked.Eric is a native to the Watford City

area, and is excited to work for MEC this summer, in the warehouse and shop before he leaves for college. As he prepares for life aft er high school, he is excited for college and to meet new people.

“I’ve lived in Watford City my whole life and it will be very diff erent to be away,” he states. Eric looks forward to returning to the area aft er his schooling is completed at BSC, and hopes to join the lineworker team at McKenzie Electric!

Alli Mogen $500 MEC scholarship winner

Alli Mogen, of Watford City High School, was chosen as a $500 McKenzie Electric scholarship recipient. Alli is the daughter of Andy Mogen of New Town. Alli intends to attend Bismarck State College next year. She is still undecided on a major for next fall, but is thinking that elementary education might be the right career path for her.

Alli is interested in elementary education, because she enjoyed working with and helping younger kids during her VOE program at Watford City Elementary School. Alli thinks that kindergarten would be a fun grade to teach, if she pursues this career path. Being a teacher would also coincide with her hope to become a coach, aft er obtaining a degree.

Alli will be playing soft ball for BSC, when she starts classes there in the fall. “I’m really excited to be a part of the team, and a few of my teammates from here will also be playing there,” Alli states. Alli also confesses that she is going to miss all of her classmates, friends and teammates who she gets to see every day, and also the small-town atmosphere. “I’ll miss all the sports. It’ll be a big change, but I’m really excited!” n

MO

NS

EN

HE

LLA

ND

AA

SM

OG

EN

C2 JUNE 2016 , McKENZIE ELECTRIC NEWS www.mckenzieelectric.com

Thank you, Don Link33 years of service on the McKenzie Electric board of directors

Your commitment, leadership and integrity have been second to none!Best wishes onyour retirement, from the board and sta� of McKenzie Electric.

1983 - 2016

Welcome Carissa Suter

Carissa Suter recently

joined the McKenzie Electric Cooperative (MEC) team as the new human resources

generalist. Carissa will be responsible for benefits administration, training and development, recruiting, maintaining compliance with federal and state laws and regulations,

and working closely with the MEC safety department to maximize the cooperative’s safety standard.

Carissa received her bachelor of science in public relations and advertising from North Dakota State University in 2012. Before joining MEC, Carissa worked at BlueCross BlueShield of North Dakota as a marketing service representative, and held HR positions in the oil industry. Carissa is currently pursuing a master’s of science in business with a concentration in human resources from the University of Mary.

Originally from “coal country,” in Beulah, Carissa has always been interested in the energy industry. Carissa looks forward to getting a better understanding of the cooperative system, and how her work can best serve the members and staff at McKenzie Electric.

When Carissa isn’t busy with work or school, she enjoys being with her family, running, reading, cooking, gardening, and (most recently) hunting. n


Summer adventure is calling, right in your backyard!BY JESSIE VEEDER-SCOFIELD

School’s out, the grass is green, the birds are chirping and resi-dents are making plans to enjoy

the warm weather months. It’s official. Summer has finally

arrived in western North Dakota. And this year, there seems to be more reason than ever to celebrate the season right in our backyard.

The New York Times placed the Theodore Roosevelt National Park number five on the its list of the “Top 52 Places to Visit in 2016.” And as

the National Parks Service celebrates its centennial this year, the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

“Longtime residents of this area hold a special place in their hearts for the beauty of the badlands in the north unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and now it seems our best-kept secret is getting the attention it deserves,” said Doug Bolken, McKenzie County tourism director. “Each season, we welcome guests from all over the globe who

have made plans to hike the trails, view the wildlife and camp under the stars. This year, there’s even more to celebrate, and more to do.”

In April, the nation celebrated its national parks by offering free admission for a week for guests, and the staff and rangers of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) are continuing the celebration by offering a variety of events throughout the summer and into the early fall, including special trail days,


picnics, star gazing, birdwatching and guest speakers.

One particularly special event is the celebration of the official release of TRNP America the Beautiful Quarter, which will take place Aug. 25 at Painted Canyon in the south unit of the park near Medora.

“As we celebrate the past 100 years of National Park Service resource stewardship, we are also asking ourselves, ‘What do we need to be to the United States and the state of North Dakota in the future?’” said Wendy Ross, superintendent of TRNP. “President Theodore Roosevelt is a central figure in the centennial because of his shrewd foresight in preserving resources and public lands.”

The centennial’s goal is to connect with and create the next generation of park visitors, supporters and advocates. As part of that outreach, the TRNP is one of only three parks in the nation that is offering the electronic entrance fee where guests can purchase an annual seven-day pass online at www.yourpassnow.com.

But the vacation adventure doesn’t stop in the park. Now more than

ever, the community of McKenzie County is poised to entertain residents and guests alike.

With more than 500,000 acres of public land and miles of shoreline on Lake Sakakawea and along the Little Missouri River, the area has always been known as a nature enthusiast’s dream, but it’s the community’s accommodations and special summer events that help make the area a topnotch tourist destination. In the past few years,

Watford City in particular has made huge strides in its vision for growth with the development and additions of five high-end hotels and more than 20 new restaurants and retail establishments.

“Guests can go hiking in the morning and come to town to shop, stop for ice cream, bring the kids to the pool and top it off with supper at one of our unique restaurants,” said Bolken, who also adds that McKenzie County is also full of opportunities to learn about the history and culture of the area by visiting one of the community’s museums or attending powwows or rodeos that take place during the summer’s many festivals.

From street dances, to rib contests, to small town Fourth of July parades, you can find plenty of reasons to celebrate.

Because the days are warm and the nights are long, and summer adventure is calling, right in your backyard!

For day trip ideas, maps and a list of accommodations and festivals visit www.visitwatfordcity.com Form more information about the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, visit www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm n


Flipping the switch

April 1 was a milestone day in McKenzie Electric Cooperative (MEC) history.

It was a crisp spring morning at just 35 degrees, as Tim Wasem and John Skurupey pulled up to the new Halliday substation. Hard hats in hand, they stepped out of the truck and made their way into the newly constructed substation, which will serve MEC members, who are currently being fed power from the old Halliday substation. Aside from being a newer substation, the big diff erence between the two Halliday substations is that the old substation gets its transmission feed from an Montana-Dakota Utilities transmission line, while the new substation is fed from MEC-owned lines.

“When service was initially brought to this area, it financially did not make sense to build a separate transmission line to serve the old Halliday substation when MDU had a transmission line to take delivery from. Even though the electricity MEC’s members consumed over the MDU transmission line had

to be purchased at an increased rate,” states Skurupey, CEO of McKenzie Electric. However, thanks to a recently booming economy and increased load on the existing lines, McKenzie Electric was finally able to facilitate the infrastructure improvements needed for this area.

The larger transformer and higher transmission voltage will help provide the capacity needed to serve the growing loads in this area. Another big difference between the old and new substations is that the old substation was fed from a single direction, or radially fed. Radially fed means if the transmission line feeding the substation fails, the members served by that substation would be out until the transmission line was fixed. Conversely, the new Halliday substation is being served by a MEC transmission line that is looped. A looped transmission line is one that comes from different directions and can therefore be served from two different sources. If one of the sources or transmission lines to the new Halliday substation fails, the other line (provided it is still

operational) will serve the substation, which is a 100 percent improvement in reliability.

These improvements to MEC’s power delivery system will play a key role in our ongoing mission to improve reliability for our members, particularly in the Twin Buttes area. Shorter outage times and less interruption to your daily lives is what we strive for.

During a scheduled outage on April 1, MEC’s crews carefully made the necessary adjustments along our line, so that the first breaker could be closed at the new substation. At 9:20 a.m. MT, the MEC line crew gave the go-ahead to close the breaker. For this momentous event, Director Tim Wasem made himself available, and closed the breaker which began serving MEC’s members from the new substation.

Soon all of MEC’s members in Dunn County will all be moved from being served from the MDU transmission lines. That final member who gets moved to MEC’s new system will not know the difference, but we will. n

John Skurupey and Tim Wasem take a look around before powering up.

Tim Wasem closes the breaker at the new Halliday substation.


Do you have money waiting for you?Th e following people have capital credit checks for which we do not have a current address. Please notify us if you

have a current address for any of these people, or if you are entitled to the capital credits in the case of an estate.Information must be received by Nov. 30, 2016, to McKenzie Electric, P.O. Box 649, Watford City, ND 58854-

0649; or call toll-free 800-584-9239 or 701-444-9288. In December 2016, checks will be reissued with the updated information for the eligible members.

American Tele & Telegraph Anderson, Susan Anr Production Armbrust, Rocky Baker, Ethel Bartels, Lucille Bears Tail, Daryl Becken, Lola Beimler, Marilyn aka Marilyn Quale Berkley, Terri Beston, Britnee Big Back, Eugene Buckingham, John Bull, Lois Chamberlain, Ronald Charging, Mcroy Chase, Belle Costilla Energy Inc Country, Michelle Crutcher, Michael Dakota Poultry Danks, Maurice Jr. Dean, Iva Deegan, Dana Defoe, Toni Dollinger, Megan Dubois, Gabriella Dubois, James Dubray, Rhonda Duckett, Delores Dukart, Cody Dukart, Kerry

Duvall, Desri Dvirnak, ElmerDwyer, Ben Eberts, Catherine Edward, Mike Eide, Tim Ficek, Mary A. Fimbres, Bonnie Fox, Bernie Fox, Justin Fox, Th omas Freeman, Beulah Fru-Con Const. Corp Good Bird, Ann Good Bird, Renae Grady, Calvin Sr. Grady, Donna Grubb, Tawna Hale, Geralyn Hall, Melvin Halsey, Jonelle Hamilton, Charles Hammel, Terral Haugan, Syvert Henderson, Michael Highway 8 C-Store Hovland, Blaine Hull, Ken Hutchinson, Patti Jacobs, Sharon Jensen, Rusty Kinden, William R. Koch Service Koozer, Raily

Koplow, Steve Koy, Gary Kummer, Vera Lamarr, Allen Bea Lapierre, Clayton Lindvig, John Little Cubs Daycare Center Lone Fight, Brenda Lone Fight, Sharon Long, Nikki Loyas, Jackie Main Energy Mann, Jennifer Marvel, William Mckenzie, Tami Mcpherson, Brian Mellmer, Reuben Meridith, Loretta Mingus, Michelle J. Mosbrucker, Kenny Motschke, Jeff rey Nunberg, Teina Ott, Vince Paulson, Susan Pelton, Patricia Phelan, Randy Pinky’s Club Portley, Sharon Precision Cleaning Reed, Jason Reserve Royalty Corp. Rettig Family Trust Rivet, Pierre Rockeman, Tamy

Rosario, Katherine Satermo, Dwight Schwindt, Beverly Sherman, Lorrie Siers, Jolene B. Smith, Alan Smith, Brenda Smith, Larry Sobolik, Bill Standish, Leroy Sr. Starr, Mavis Stevenson, Jerry Th rams, Bryan Tipperary Petroleum Tortalita, Sherry Tschetter Shawn Union Pacifi c Res Weidert, Alda White Eagle, Wayne White Owl, Kathleen White Owl, Eugene Willcox, Kenneth Wilson, Carla Wolf, Clinton Young Bird, Darryl Zahnow, Vernon

CAPITAL CREDITS


April 27, 2016The regular meeting of the McKenzie

Electric Board of Directors was held at the Headquarters Building in Watford City, North Dakota. Directors present were: Clayton Monsen, Rondee Hanna, Travis Thompson, Ray Tescher, Glen Houghton, Cameron Wahlstrom, Tim Wasem, Donald Link and Ken Sanford. CEO John Skurupey, Attorney Dennis Johnson and staff personnel of McKenzie Electric were also present.

PRELIMINARIES: The agenda for the meeting and minutes of the previous board meeting were approved by the Board of Directors. Director expenses were also approved.

DIRECTOR DISCUSSIONS: The Board continued with their board policy review and spent considerable time on the authority given to the CEO policy. The policy required extensive updating and will be continued at the next board meeting due to the full agenda. The Board reported several conversations with members regarding the recent rate increase notification to members and line extension costs.

ASSOCIATED ORGANIZATIONS: Director Donald Link reported on the recent North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives (NDAREC) board meeting. Items of interest included a report on the study committees reviewing ND One-Call legislation, the extension of natural gas services into rural communities, federal legislation and REPAC committee actions. Due to Donald Link’s upcoming retirement from the MEC board and subsequently the NDAREC board effective June 21, 2016, Tim Wasem was selected as director and Glen Houghton as alternate director to the NDAREC board.

POWER SUPPLY: Director Travis Thompson reported on the recent Upper Missouri Power Cooperative board meeting and discussed several issues. Director Ray Tescher also reported on issues related to the Mid-West Electric Consumers Association.

EIDE BAILLY INDEPENDENT AUDIT REPORT. Mark Martens, partner with Eide Bailly, presented the 2015 independent auditor’s report of MEC’s financial statement. Mr. Martens reported a clean audit and reviewed the financial and cash flow statements with the Board. The audit was accepted by the Board of Directors and will be presented to the membership at the annual meeting in June. During the report, the Board approved establishing a regulatory liability for retirement of plant paid for by contribution in aid of construction.

ATTORNEY’S REPORT: Attorney

Dennis Johnson reported on several issues relating to easements and bankruptcy.

CEO REPORT: CEO John Skurupey reported on a recent NDAREC managers meeting, an Upper Missouri manager’s advisory committee meeting and a RESCO board meeting. Management also completed the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) that was included in the Audit Report. The Board approved Policy 100 Rate Schedules that had been updated with new electric rates approved at the previous board meeting.

HUMAN RESOURCES. The Board approved a new Family and Medical Leave Act Policy which was required due to MEC’s employee count now exceeding 50 employees.

OFFICE REPORT: Financial and statistical reports for March were reviewed with the Board along with a budget-to-date comparison and the comparative cash report. A review of the headquarters project and project to date expenses were provided to the Board. Business Manager Jamie Cross reported on conversations with members concerning the recent rate increase and the progress to investigate policy revisions and processes to limit risk from delinquent accounts. The Board approved the allocation of capital credits from 2015 margins.

ENGINEERING REPORT: A report was given on the progress of the headquarters building, a theft of power issue, information technology, substations and metering. The Board approved an amendment to the Budget for non-budgeted items.

OPERATIONS/CONTRACT MANAGEMENT REPORT: An update was provided on projects currently being worked on by MEC contractors and a work order progress report. The report also indicated the following: MEC energized the Timber Creek Substation, the 115kV line that feeds the G9 Substation transmission line was energized, new load was added to the Halliday Substation, the 69kV Hay Butte to Alexander Substation transmission line was retired and crews are retiring de-energized substations.

SPECIAL PROJECTS COORDINATOR: An update was given on the continuing process to develop policies and programs for MEC to become NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation) compliant—the Asset Management Program continues to be populated, disturbance monitoring is being reviewed and staff is working to incorporate NERC communication requirements into MEC’s Switching Standard Operation Procedures. An update was given on the status of substation land acquisition and the

progress of right of way acquisition for transmission projects. The Board approved the purchase of a Cyber Insurance Policy from Federated Insurance, MEC’s liability insurance carrier.

MEMBER SERVICE REPORT. The winner of the MEC scholarship is Alli Mogen, and the winner of the MEC electrical related scholarship is Eric Hellandsaas. All scholarship recipients are selected by NDAREC staff with no input from MEC. Annual meeting details were reviewed with the Board; the annual meeting is scheduled for June 21, 2016 at Outlaws’ Bar & Grill in Watford City,

NEXT MEETING DATE: The next meeting date was set for May 24, 2016 at the Watford City Headquarters building.

ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned n

Board report

Tescher

Link

Hanna

Thompson

Wahlstrom

Sanford

Monsen

Houghton

BOARD OF

DIRECTORS

Wasem

908 4th Ave. NEWatford City, N.D. 58854

Phone: 701-444-9288Toll-free: 800-584-9239

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS:Clayton Monsen, President Director, District 2B, Arnegard .................. 586-3336 Donald Link, Vice President Statewide Director Director, District 2A, Alexander ............... 828-3427

Rondee Hanna, Sec.-Treas. Director, District 2C, Watford City ......... 675-2516

Travis Thompson, Director-At-Large Director, District 1C, Charlson ................. 675-2373 Upper Missouri G&T Director

Cameron Wahlstrom Director, District 1A, Alexander ............... 770-6631

Ken Sanford Director, District 1B, Watford City .......... 842-2581

Ray Tescher Director, District 3A, Beach ....................... 565-2342

Glen Houghton Director, District 3B, Grassy Butte ........... 863-6606

Tim Wasem, Director, District 3C, Halliday ................... 938-4376

GENERAL MANAGER/CEO:John Skurupey701-570-3542

Web page: http://www.mckenzieelectric.com

Email: [email protected]


908 4th ave. ne watford city, nd | outpost - killdeer,...

Documents