Co-op Board Holds Public Meetings Regarding Rate Change
This month, Cherryland’s board of directors will hold two special meetings at the cooperative office in Grawn regarding a proposed rate change. If approved, the rate change would go into effect in May and first appear on bills in June.
A meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 12, at 5:30 p.m. to provide information regarding the proposed rate change and allow members to ask questions of Cherryland staff and board members while offering feedback before the official public meeting. RSVP HERE
An official public meeting will be held on Monday, March 18, at 9 a.m. before the monthly board meeting. Members are welcome to provide public comments to the board during that time. For more information regarding the proposed rate change, visit our website, www.cherrylandelectric.coop/rate-change.
Cooperative staff will meet with you or your civic group, neighborhood, or home association at any time to discuss the proposed rate change and answer your questions.
Serve On Cherryland’s Board
Any qualified Cherryland member can be elected to serve a three-year term on the cooperative’s board of directors. Two directors will be elected at this year’s Annual Meeting, including one at-large director and one Grand Traverse/Kalkaska County director.
To be nominated in 2024, candidates can file a petition with the cooperative’s administrative assistant starting the first day of March until 4 p.m. on the last business day of March. To receive an official petition to begin collecting signatures, please fill out the board candidate interest form available on our website.
Review Article III of the co-op’s bylaws on our website for more information regarding board nominations and the election process.
Cherryland Offers Five Scholarships
Cherryland offers five scholarships—three worth $4,000 ($1,000 for four years) for high school seniors and two for $1,000 each for adult scholarships (post high school).
Applications for both scholarships are available on our website. The deadline for applications is Friday, April 5.
Save The Date For Cherryland’s 86th Annual Meeting
Cherryland’s 86th Annual Meeting will take place Thursday, June 13. The Annual Meeting’s planned location is Incredible Mo’s in Grawn. Cherryland will provide updates regarding the 86th Annual Meeting in Michigan Country Lines, on our website, and through social media.
As a member I would like to see the Availability Charge be Reduced NOT increased. Pay for what you use.
The availability charge is designed to recover fixed costs. It represents each members’ share of the fixed costs it takes to provide our service. It captures costs that aren’t impact by how much a member uses. As our fixed costs go up, the availability charge goes up. And, as our volumetric costs (power supply, etc.) go up, that will be reflected in increases to the energy charge.
I am concerned as once again lower Kwh users are paying a larger percentage increase. I use under 250 and my increase is 14% according to the chart on page 8,March issue. Those using 500 should be at least $8.00 not just 6% and so forth on the chart. Energy is vital and conservative users should be rewarded not continually penalized by this system. It is unfair to go on the usage plan and restrict when I can and can’t use electricity for a higher rate as I am already conservative and watch my usage. Life does work with your high hours of use.
In addition, why is CE average rate 700 kWh when Consumers rate hike says average user is 500 KWh regarding their rate increase?
CE will tell me it is more costly for low conservative users for the co-op, but you charged those conservative users with a large delivery increase last year. I am clearly disappointed and frustrated at these unfair rate increases for conservative users who understand the importance of energy. I sincerely believe this is a done deal and rates are already determined.
Hi – I can’t speak to what Consumers’ average user uses, but I would guess their averages are likely impacted by their service territory which is spread across all of Michigan and includes more urban areas with multi-family housing than what we serve.
Anyway, we know that the lowest users feel the increase in the availability charge more. As I’m sure you remember from last year, the availability charge is designed to recover fixed costs that your cooperative incurs regardless of how much energy you use. A lot of the cost pressures we are facing – supply chain, cost of borrowing – are tied to the fixed cost of owning and maintaining infrastructure that lets you have electricity at the flip of a switch. So, our fixed costs continue to rise and our availability charge has to keep up. That said, we also heard the feedback from members like you last year and you will notice that this year the increase also includes an increase in the energy charge which will not impact you as much as it does a higher energy user.