By Rick Lemonds, president & CEO
Here at South Central Power Company, we take great pride in doing things differently from other businesses. One of the key differences between us and other kinds of utilities is our annual meeting. Sure, large investor-owned companies conduct shareholder meetings that are attended by representatives of the big investment banks that own lots of stock. Who they don’t invite to those meetings are the individual consumers who purchase the business’ goods and services.
We’re different at South Central Power Company because our investors and our consumers are the same — that’s why we refer to our “customers” as members. Everyone who purchases power from South Central is a “member” and that means you’re an owner. We answer to you, not the big guys on Wall Street. Not everyone has time or interest to attend a utility annual meeting, and that’s understandable. You can participate in the business of the cooperative in other ways, such as:
Voting
Though the results of our annual trustee elections are announced at the annual meeting, voting is conducted in advance, through the mail and online. All members received a ballot in July, and the deadline for voting is Aug. 11.
Member meetings
As a cooperative serving parts of 24 counties, we recognize many members live a long way from Lancaster, where our annual meeting is held. That’s why we host regional meetings each spring that are in the evenings and closer to where more of our members live. If you’ve never attended, we hope to see you next year.
Digital engagement
Many of our members live busy lives and do much of their business online. If you want to engage with your cooperative using digital platforms, we’re here for you. Visit our website or download our app to view your usage, pay your bill, or get customer service, including live chat with an employee during regular business hours. You can also follow us on social media to stay informed and be part of the conversation.
Finally, we’re relying more and more on texting and emailing members for real-time information during events like outages and storms, as well as scheduled tree trimming, construction work, and planned outages. If you don’t already have your email address and cell number on file with your cooperative, now is a great time to let us know so we can contact you as needed. You can update contact information on our app, or give us a call.
Now, those are only a few of the ways you can stay involved in your cooperative, but if you’re interested in being part of the annual meeting this year, we’d love to have you. Meeting details here. Thanks for reading, and for being a member of South Central Power Company.
From the August 2025 issue of Ohio Cooperative Living.