Salem Electric's 1998 Annual Meeting is tentatively scheduled for
Tuesday, May 12, at 7 p.m. at the Salem Electric office, 633 Seventh Street NW. Two positions will be up for election at that
meeting: Position 3, currently held by Curt Culver and Position 4,
currently vacant An individual can achieve nomination for a director position only
by written petition as provided in Bylaw 4.4(a) which is reproduced below. Bylaw 4.4 NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF DIRECTORS. (A) Nominations for Director positions shall be made by written
petition not less than 30 nor more than 90 days prior to each annual meeting of
the members of the Cooperative for those Director positions scheduled for
election. Petitions shall be signed by not fewer than one percent of the
members of the Cooperative of record as at the preceding December 31 and
delivered to the Secretary of the Cooperative and posted at the principal
offices of the Cooperative at least 30 days prior to the meeting. No
nominations may be made from the floor at the meeting. A notice identifying
those Director positions scheduled for election shall be mailed to the
membership at least 120 days prior to the annual meeting. Petition packets and more information may be obtained by
contacting Danita Heuberger at Salem Electric at 362-3601. No matter how much maintenance we do there is still a chance of
power outages due to stormy weather. If your home or business is affected by an outage, it's best to
be prepared. Call our office or put a note on the back of your bill and
ask for our brochure entitled "If The Lights Go Out... Don't Be Afraid Of The
Dark." A Special Report Progress, what does it mean to you? For me it means change.
Also for me, and others, it means that our former country living has turned
into an urban area. Some hurt for the loss of old-growth trees, felled to make
way for a sea of blacktop to alleviate traffic congestion. Growth is an issue
here, and we must face it, whether we like it or not. Living in West Salem,
which it was way back when, I've seen progress/change for many of these 40
years. Some of these developments I've liked, much I've disagreed with. This director of Salem Electric spent seventeen days in mainland
China, cruising on the Yangtze River and visiting Hong Kong, an educational
mission via Willamette University. The river area is known as the Cradle of
Chinese civilization, especially through the Three Gorges. This resource, this
river, is undergoing imminent change. You might ask at this point what all this has to do with us in
Salem, Oregon, and as members of Salem Electric. I hope that I can pass on to
you some of the similarities as well as the differences I observed concerning
the use and availability of resources that provide electrical power to the
populace. Oregon is rich in hydroelectric power supply with our many dams on
the Columbia. The mighty Yangtze River in China, the third longest river in the
world, has had but two dams, and these on tributaries. The Three Gorges Project on the Yangtze is two years into a
seventeen year project, with fifteen years to go into the building of this
massive concrete dam, an epic undertaking. First proposed in the 50s, it is now
just out of the starting gate. When completed in 2009, it will be 607 feet
high, more than a mile wide and have the power output of 18 nuclear plants.
Though I went by the dam site at 5:00 a.m., I observed the trucks in the
illuminated darkness, pushing rock, making the coffer dams so that the channel
can be diverted to make possible the building of the large structure. This river is brown, muddy, and full of sediment from yearly
flood waters. The dam is supposed to alleviate this problem, but opponents
contend that the dam will increase this sediment. Many opponents feel that
several smaller dams could have solved the problems of flood control while
boosting the needed power generation, as well as moving the water north where
it is desperately needed. Power at this time is generated almost totally by
coal, except by the smaller dams on the tributaries. The pollution is immense.
I watched the barges carrying coal as they passed by in both directions. I saw
the emission of black smoke from the many tall stacks. The air and the river
were filled with what I call debris. We don't see this in the Pacific
Northwest; our power at this time is clean and durable and is still relatively
inexpensive. I rode on a sampan powered by six trackers, men who rowed our
vessel through the rapids and high cliffs. Our guide told us that four of the
six young men will lose their jobs when the dam is completed and the gorges
flooded. These are river people, as have been their families before them. It
was suggested that they would be retrained to work in factories. Reminds me of
the mill workers in the Northwest who needed retraining when their jobs were
eliminated! Relocation from ancestral homes will be a great sacrifice for the
nearly two million farmers who have tilled their terraced gardens along the
Yangtze for centuries. As our ship sloshed through the muddy waters I watched
the hardworking farmers tending their hilly land, here and there water buffalo
grazing above them and goats tethered nearby. I had to remind myself that this
scene was soon to end. All will be flooded, the younger people to learn a trade
in a factory, the elder generation to remember what was. Centuries old tablets
and artifacts will be lost forever. As a member of Salem Electric, I'm forever grateful that the
15,000 of us don't have to face the extreme challenges that I experienced on
China's waterways. We do have to face deregulation of our industry which will
test our ability to survive as a cooperative. We are eons ahead of
multitudes of Chinese who face such devastating losses of their homes and
farmlands, but perhaps they will experience a better way of life as they move
into a new environment. Who is to know? The September issue of "National
Geographic" gives an excellent, unbiased report of the changes happening on the
Three Gorges Project. I highly recommend its reading. We as a cooperative need to keep abreast of the changes, progress
if you will, in our own area and keep our voice ever loud for what we believe
in. The general population of The People's Republic of China lacks the freedom
of speech that we hold so dear. Let's use it! Sampon Trackers in one of the Three Gorges. The shallow
water shown here will rise about 360 feet when the dam is finished, destroying
the scenic beauty and putting these boat people out of work. One of many coal plants along the Yangtze. Trackers on a tributary of the Yangtze. The Salem Electric Board of Directors met at 7:00 p.m. on October
28, 1997. Curt Culver was absent, and Jeff Anderson was present via
telephone conference call. Bob Speckman reported on two recent awards received by Salem
Electric. One was a second place award from the Northwest Public Power
Association (NWPPA) for the 1996 Annual Report, and the second was from the
Community Coalition for Diversity for Salem Electric's contribution to the
Marion Square Park lighting project. Speckman asked the board for permission to
reschedule the annual meeting date from May 5 to May 12, 1998, due to a
conflict with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
Legislative Conference. Motion carried unanimously to move the date to
May 12. Dyer appointed Speckman to act as Salem Electric's representative
on the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association (ORECA) Restructuring Task
Force. Dyer said he would act as an alternate. Dyer presented a draft of the November issue of The Board
Report. Speckman pointed out that Bonneville has been very flexible during the
contract negotiations, but that the final contract has not yet been signed and
all options are still available. A question was raised as to whether the board
should continue with the green power in light of recent developments in the
power industry regarding restructuring. Anderson felt the board had a moral
obligation to proceed with the green power wind project - he said Salem
Electric has received significant recognition for its stand and has boasted of
its commitment to "go green." It is very likely that the Foote Creek Wind
Project may not have proceeded if not for SE's participation up front. Wolf
agreed and said that there has been significant notification to, and
participation from, members prior to the board's vote. Dyer said he wants to go ahead with the project, but he is
concerned that the previous survey was a bit biased. He was concerned about the
financial impact on the membership. Koho said the credibility of the board is
at stake since the board has previously taken a formal action and made a
commitment to proceed. To reverse its position at the last moment could cause
others to doubt the board's commitments in the future. Towslee said she supports green power, but is concerned about a
rate increase, and that it should be fully disclosed to the members. Wolf
indicated he felt it was too late in the process to poll members on whether to
purchase green power, but agreed that the board should fully disclose to the
membership how this action affects them. He reiterated that this has been
disclosed a number of times in The Board Report. Koho asked to see the article
written in June 1995 by Steve Weiss. Speckman read excerpts from the
article. Motion was made by Anderson, seconded by Koho, and carried
unanimously, that the board reaffirm its support of green power and ask staff
to bring a legally approved contract to the board for consideration. Paul O'Neal from BPA suggested it might be beneficial to alert
the members to the fact that there will be a rate increase, but to tell them it
will be less than the rates before the Bonneville rate decrease earlier this
year. Murray McCreary from Mitsubishi Silicon America (MSA) said that
MSA has developed a comprehensive environmental policy and that they would most
likely support green power. He mentioned that there have been changes in MSA's
management and that he would like to first report back to his company and send
a letter to Salem Electric regarding MSA's position. Dyer presented Koho with a plaque in recognition of his 11 years
on the board of directors and thanked him for his service. Koho will not be
eligible to serve on the board after October due to his change of residence
away from SE's service area. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Mr.
Koho for his great commitment to Salem Electric. He is the person who is
responsible for encouraging me to run for the board. Dennis has worked
energetically and selflessly for Salem Electric. His leadership on the board
will be greatly missed. Regarding the vacancy, Anderson favored leaving it empty to allow
candidates to run for the office when the position is open in May. Culver had
indicated to Dyer that he preferred the position be left open. All board
members were polled and the consensus was to leave the position vacant until
May. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. | Board Reports |
December 1997
It's
That Time of Year Again.
I'd
like to share with you an experience I had this September and October that,
perhaps, makes our concerns of progress seem somewhat more minimal, but
nevertheless, in the forefront of my thinking.-- Alicia Bonesteele, Director
Minutes of the Meeting Held on:
October 28, 1997
Manager's Report
ORECA Task Force Appointment
BPA Green Power
Board Vacancy Position #4
--Bill Wolf, Secretary/Treasurer
