{"id":100119,"date":"2018-03-22T07:46:09","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T12:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=100119"},"modified":"2018-03-22T07:46:09","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T12:46:09","slug":"ppec-has-well-attended-annual-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2018\/03\/22\/ppec-has-well-attended-annual-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"PPEC has well-attended annual meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"

VW independent\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n

PAULDING — Paulding Putnam Electric Co-op (PPEC) held its 81st Annual Meeting on March 17.\u00a0 It was a well-attended event, where both Board Chairman Dr. John Saxton and President and CEO George Carter reflected on 2017 and discussed plans for years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur employees rise to the challenge every day to provide great service to our members,\u201d Carter said, going on to explain that, over the past several years, the co-op has made great progress in member satisfaction, outage times, and he emphasized how PPEC has the lowest rates in the region.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cPPEC hasn\u2019t had a rate increase in over four years. While we don\u2019t like to ever increase rates, members will see around a $3 per month increase on their bill in March,\u201d Carter added. \u201cEven with the slight increase, when compared to other utilities, this is still lower than surrounding utilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The small increase was deemed necessary after a Cost of Service Study was conducted in 2017, and will be used to continue making necessary improvements to PPEC\u2019s aging infrastructure. This will aid in continuing the co-op\u2019s efforts in improving reliable power to members.<\/p>\n

During the Annual Meeting, PPEC Board Chairman Dr. John Saxton pointed out several highlights for the year 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to be part of PPEC,\u201d Saxton said. \u201cWe have held controllable expenses to one-half of the national average\u00a0and we\u2019ve done all this while improving our reliability.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the meeting, PPEC also recognized its \u201cWho Powers You\u201d nominees. Paulding Putnam Electric\u00a0launched the #WhoPowersYou contest last year to recognize and reward community volunteers. #WhoPowersYou is in partnership with America\u2019s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives and is a national contest to promote volunteerism. This contest is designed to celebrate local heroes. It\u2019s a chance for our co-op members and employees to nominate someone who\u2019s making a difference in our community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile our nominees didn\u2019t win the national contest, we still want to thank them for making a big impact in our community,\u201d said PPEC Marketing Manager Erika Willitzer.<\/p>\n

The following were nominated for the national contest and were recognized: Griffin Waltmire of Van Wert, Phyliss Bidlack of Paulding, Doug Deitering of Glandorf, Kylee Baumle of Paulding, and Stan Jordan of Antwerp.<\/p>\n

In other business, attorney Brian Gorrell reported that Doug Fortman (District 8), Ken Niese (District 7), and Tim Derck (District 3) all ran unopposed and, therefore, were re-elected. Following this announcement, the PPEC Board took its oath of office.<\/p>\n

Several local high school students were also recognized during the meeting. The Youth Tour winners were Madelyn Lamb from Crestview High School and Adrienne Rosswurm from Payne (home schooled). Youth Tour\u00a0is a week-long trip which includes visits to many of the most famous sites in Washington, D.C., and includes visits with the students\u2019 Congressional representatives.<\/p>\n

Scholarship winners were also named, as follows:<\/p>\n