Pedernales Electric's Board of Directors, management, and employees made great strides in 2009 to refine financial controls, enhance operations and infrastructure, and reinforce our commitment to transparency and democratic control. Ultimately, our goal is to meet our members' expectations to make the Cooperative an efficiently operated, fiscally sound organization with outstanding member service, reliable electric service, and reasonable rates.
We worked hard in 2009 to make PEC a better cooperative for our members. Select any of the topics below to see what we accomplished and initiated during the past year.
Navigant Summary
- To date, management has addressed 128 of 137 of Navigant's recommendations
- PEC has implemented 63 percent of all the recommendations and is in the process of implementing the other 31 percent already addressed
- PEC plans to address the remaining recommendations in 2010 by working with our internal auditors, as well as the appropriate Board Committees
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Achievements in Financial Controls- Continued eliminating unnecessary consulting contracts
- Merged Envision operations into PEC
- Dissolved Texland Electric Cooperative, Inc. and secured ownership for PEC of $566,498.93 in Texland funds, which were transferred to the Cooperative and properly recorded on its books
- Began evaluating PEC’s activities supporting charitable contributions, including in-kind, Board matching contributions to United Charities, and the Member Assistance Program
- Created variance reports to establish controllable, discretionary expense areas
- Had general and administrative expenses reclassified to functional areas to conform to industry practices
- Implemented a more comprehensive travel and business expense reimbursement policy for employees
- Expanded Accounts Payable's role to ensure compliance with written policies and reasonableness of expenses
- Had an independent review conducted of all Accounts Payable invoices and coding
- LINKS project focusing on more robust and functional chart of accounts for detailed reporting by functional area and controllable, discretionary expense areas
- Developed the Equity Management Plan, an equity rebuilding plan, with input from C.H. Guernsey's Cost of Service Study
- Submitted an Operating Budget for 2010 to the Board
- Submitted a Capital Improvement Plan for 2010 to the Board
- Retained Bridgepoint Consulting as an internal auditor; Bridgepoint reports directly to the Board's Audit Committee
- Delegation of authority established for expenditures
- Developed a draft procurement policy and initiated work to centralize procurement
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Reforms for Open GovernanceEnhancements to Operations and Infrastructure- Contracted fiber-optic cable service for most offices and substations, increasing data throughput and bandwidth capacity
- Planned for installation of PEC-owned fiber optic cable as part of Smart Grid initiative
- Contracted with the Lower Colorado River Authority for land mobile radio system
- Engaged the services of a real estate broker for future land and building purchases
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Impacts on Member Services- Disbursed capital credit checks to members
- Independent Cost of Service Study completed
- Designed and implemented a new rate structure that separates the cost of power from PEC's costs
- Established a new Line Extension Policy that aligns better with industry standards
- Revised the Member Assistance Program to ensure assistance is need-based and has greater coordination with administering agencies
- Developed a new Debt Collections Policy
- Returned duplicate membership fees to members who had paid fees for each meter in their name; members now pay a membership fee only for the first meter under their name
- Introduced online MyUse Energy Analyzer conservation tool
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Improving Organizational Alignment- Reduced the number of direct reports to the General Manager to five employees:
— Deputy General Manager
— Two Assistant General Managers
— Chief Financial Officer
— General Counsel - Realigned safety and training staff into the Leadership, Education, and Employee Development Department
- Conducted Servant Leadership training for every employee at PEC
- Eliminated automatic cost of living adjustments and Christmas bonuses for employees
- Met or exceeded the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) established by the Board to evaluate performance
- Instituted a redesigned individual employee performance evaluation process to ensure expectations of employees are clear
- Conducted comprehensive research of key industry stakeholders, members, and employees as a foundation for a strategic plan
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Our Partners in Learning program is awarding $1,000 each to education foundations serving students in our service area. These foundations make possible innovative academic programs, grants, and scholarships.
