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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 5, 1996)
---------- -------------- -----------------— J - — — — WOEC 1995 audit report shows nearly $9 million in long-term debt costs on a per-mile basis, even after being asked to do so, several times, by people in the audience. He did say that Oregon Public Utilities Commission representative Jim Stickles inspected the Coop’s lines recently and found no infractions. Two members of Kenneth Kuhn & Co., the auditing firm employed by the board, re ported the findings of their just concluded audit. After a brief explanation of what was included in the audit, they launched into the figures: At the end of 1995, the Coop’s assets totaled slightly more than $15,000,000, of which $13,000,000 represented the physical plant (poles wires, transformers, etc.). Also in cluded in assets was $84,800 in the checking account, an amount the auditors noted was less than the prior year. Balancing the assets were $15,000,000 in liabilities, most of which—almost $9- million— is long-term debt to RUS and CFC. The auditors noted that a significant por tion of that debt has been ac quired in the last two years. The C ood also has to come up with $1,300,000 soon to repay a short-term loan from CFC. The coop will owe its employees $230,000 in retire ment, and its members equity of $3,450,000, which repre sents a 23% ownership of the Coop. According to the audit re port the Coop lost $37,000 on power sales of $5,076,000, but other income (pole rental, investments, etc.) gave the Coop a net operating margin of $16,286 for the year. The Coop should have made $240,000 to be in compliance with their mortgage agree ment with RUS, the auditors told the board, and added that, so far as cash was con cerned, the Coop spent $700,000 more than it took in last year. The auditors gave the Coop a “Clean” opinion, how ever, saying that work orders are cleared promptly, depreci ation is in line, etc. They said the Coop’s internal controls are OK, except that the gen eral plant records project of itemizing and tagging desks, chairs, computers, etc., which they suggested last year, was set back by the flood and not finished. Also, Coop did not meet the 1.5 TIER (Times In terest Earned Ratio) as re quired by RUS. The audit report was ac cepted by board vote. The board and auditors clearly stated that questions from the audience would be fielded by the board and not auditors. Nevertheless, people in the audience asked questions of auditors; they were answered by members of the board. General Manager David Seuss discussed power sup ply issues with the board. One issue that had potential impact on WOEC was a BPA plan to charge a higher rate for delivering power at 34.5 kilovolts than at 115 kilovolts. WOEC receives its power at the lower value. Fortunately, BPA changed its mind and will charge the same for both val ues. Also discussed was the potential for “retail wheeling” (delivering power supplied by one utility to a customer over another utility’s lines). Bills are in congress and may be introduced soon by Oregon and Washington industrial customers to require utilities to wheel power. Industry ex pects a 25 percent rate re duction if approved. Accord- Boy, I can't believe that N a tio n a l F rig id a ire D a y s u p to $200 L im ite d I im e Uncle Pete can make such good offers! cash L ack Offer. Buy a qualifyingF rigidaire Gallery™ appliance during N ational Frigidaire Days, May 2 3 tkrougk July 6 , and receiv e up to $2(M ) cask hack from Frigidaire plus 0 % interest for I 2 monlks.* Or, get up to a $ 1 0 0 U S . Savings B on d w itk tke piu-ckase o f a Frigidaire G reat Buy appliance. ft k 1J i * N kF - - >------- • ® Miper C a p a city Washer .O « lll? « 1 V C I F rig id a ire G a lle ry C o llc c tio n D rye r • Full 2 -y e a r w arranty • Exclusive two-wav tum ble dry • B alanced drv system I ri-A c lio n ™ a g ita tio n I 2 wash cycles F ou r w a d i/riu s e te m p e r ai t ir e "C. i< » m ln n . i l it m s • Press Silver • In te rio r drum light / — ■ Gallery Gallery l : \ c n t o i’k n n iv c c tio n oven S c lf- c lc a iiin g oven u it li aiitoinalic saletv la tc li C eram ic sinoollitop surfacc 1 IVO tc ll-.-tc p ll. llo g c ll (6 and 0 ) clciucnls O n e 6 " to 0 cxp a n da klc a nd onc ( l r a llia n i c le m e n t Puli 2 -vear » arran tv R e tire m e n t of W O EC g e n e ra l manager is announced by Co-op feat for a small rural electric cooperative. No other BPA customer had signed such an agreement at the time. Member Service Manager Russell Green will serve as acting general manager until a successor is named. David Seuss, West Oregon Electric Cooperative (WOEC) general manager, retired from the electric utility, effective May 24. Seuss’ tenure at WOEC began in 1990. He was instru mental in bringing significant improvements to the utility at a time when the cooperative was under scrutiny from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for inefficient management practices. In addition, the Oregon Public Utility Com mission (OPUC) required the cooperative to correct prob lems resulting from years of deferred maintenance. Under Seuss’ leadership WOEC met or exceeded all RUS and OPUC mandates. “West Oregon Electric owes David Seuss a debt of gratitude,” said Robert Van Natta, WOEC board presi dent. “His management skill helped bring the cooperative from difficult times into an era of productivity and efficiency. Service quality and reliability have improved dramatically over the last six years as a re sult.” Seuss is also credited with bringing WOEC into the era of electric industry deregulation by negotiating an innovative contract with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) that was hailed as a major W O R A m e e tin g s e t The next meeting of West Oregon Ratepayers Associ ate will be Sunday, June 9, 2:00 p.m. at Washington Grade School in Vernonia. Soccer planned A group of parents have or ganized an informal soccer group for children and adults in Vernonia this summer. Play will start Monday, June 10, behind Washington Grade School at 7:00 p.m. It will continue Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:30. Anyone interested, from small children to adults, can join by just showing up. If enough interested adults show up, an adult game will be played on Mondays. For more information, call Cory Colburn at 429-4351. Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. — Mark Twain Our Fantastic Pricing Will HELP YOU REBUILD! 120 Colors, Starting at... ¿ le c lr ic S in o o t lit o p ¿ litle - ln Ixange stances. Due to a meeting conflict, the regular June board meet ing has been moved to Mon day, June 17. The board held two execu tive sessions. The first was with representatives of WORA concerning personnel matters. The second session concerned “ Employee mat ters”. CARPET, 8 Styles BFRIGIDAIRF BFRIGIDAIRF ing to VanNatta, the savings to industry implies that other customers’ rates must rise to cover that 25%, which could affect a rural coop like WOEC adversely. After much discus sion with a member of the au dience, VanNatta agreed that it was possible that WOEC members could benefit from a retail wheeling arrangement under the right circum 22-C ulnc-Foot ¿ulc-B y-S ide • i'p illi'a fc ™ s lid in g J shelve# $C45 . vz sq. yd. PAD....... STARTING AT $1.50 SQ. YD. 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