1. General Manager’s Report
James R. Webb
General Manager – Beartooth Electric
President/CEO – Lower Valley Energy

2. General Manager’s Report
Mission
System Reliability
Competitive Rates
Exceptional Customer Service
Safety

3. General Manager’s Report
Observations
The BEC Board and Committees have worked extremely hard to navigate through some very difficult situations
The BEC Employees are very talented and work hard on your behalf
The BEC system is in very good shape

4. General Manager’s Report
Observations
High number of meters per employee
343 meters per employee – 250 state average
1,798 miles of line
5,800 active meters
17 full-time employees (now 14)
Power supply issues
High line losses – about double the national average

5. General Manager’s Report
Observations
Electric rates are high
17.0/KWh BEC
11.9/KWh National
10.9/Montana
Customer usage is low
785 KWh/month BEC
1,199 KWh/month National
1,112 KWh/month Montana

6. General Manager’s Report
Observations
Low density – meters per mile of line
High number of seasonal accounts
81% residential sales

7. Significant Financial Points for year ended June 30, 2015
General Manager’s Report
Significant Financial Points for year ended June 30, 2015
Equity rose from 25.9% to 29.2%
Paid down Long Term Debt of $647,000 and our share of an additional $250,000 on a Southern Montana line of credit
No new borrowing of Long Term Debt
Administrative and General Expense down $136,957 or 10.1% from 2014 to 2015
Contributions-In-Aid of Construction rose $1,476,700

8. General Manager’s Report Lower Valley Management Agreement
April 1, 2015 start date
Three year agreement
beartoothelectric.com
Who is Lower Valley?
lvenergy.com

9. General Manager’s Report

10. General Manager’s Report
Lower Valley Energy
Cooperative
Afton, Wyoming
27,000 electric meters
4,000 gas meters
Lowest residential electric rates of all cooperatives

11. General Manager’s Report Meet the Lower Valley Management Team
Beartooth has access to a team of 9 professional staff with over years of experience to help manage your cooperative.

12. General Manager’s Report
Lower Valley Management Team
Rick Knori
Director of Engineering, 35 years in the utility industry
Bill Spaulding
Director of Electric Operations,
35 years in the utility industry

13. General Manager’s Report
Lower Valley Management Team
Wade Hirschi
Chief Financial Officer,
15 years in accounting and finance
Angie Jennings
Staff Assistant, 25 years, Customer Service, Operations and Engineering Departments

14. General Manager’s Report
Lower Valley Management Team
Tammy Spracklen
Chief Financial Officer,
20 years in billing and customer service
John Edwards
Information Technology,
20 years in the IT industry

15. General Manager’s Report
Lower Valley Management Team
Gay Peterson
Human Resources,
20 years in the industry
Brian Tanabe
Communications,
17 years in communications and marketing fields

16. What has Lower Valley done to assist Beartooth since April 1, 2015?
General Manager’s Report
What has Lower Valley done to assist Beartooth since April 1, 2015?

17. General Manager’s Report
Five percent rate reduction
New power supply contract through 2020
Transmission agreement with NWE
CFC financing for Southern G&T Exit
Estimated at $1.4 million
Evaluation of NWE option

18. General Manager’s Report

19. General Manager’s Report
*Photo source – Great Falls Tribune, Annisa Keith

20. General Manager’s Report
Eliminated four positions
General Manager
Chief Financial Officer
Work Order Clerk
Part-time Administrative Assistant
Engineering services
Reduced costs of the Tippet Rise Project
Negotiation of the 5 mile NWE underbuild project
Evaluation and prioritization of long-term work plan
Evaluation of line losses

21. General Manager’s Report
Operations
Pole replacements and other jobs being done with BEC employees instead of contractors
LVE instructors for some safety meetings
Material and warehouse savings
New HD Supply contract
Employee exchanges
Administrative
Customer billings – being done in Afton
Credit and collections
Streamline work order and material processes
Cross-training

22. General Manager’s Report
Communications
Board reports & minutes
Rural Montana articles
Update website
Video conference system
Member survey
Finance & Accounting
Financial forecast
Rate decrease study
Budget process

23. General Manager’s Report
Next Steps
Present budget options to the board to further reduce costs and rates
Follow the transition plan
Streamline communications
Possibly reduce the number of meetings
Set company goals
Formalize employee exchanges
Reduce line losses

24. General Manager’s Report
Next Steps
Reduce legal and consulting fees
Establish an energy conservation program

25. General Manager’s Report
The Future is
in Your Hands
Merge with Lower Valley Energy
Merge with another cooperative
Hire a new BEC management team
Consider selling to another utility
Two-thirds vote of the members

26. General Manager’s Report
Survey
Thank you
for participating.
Your feedback
is very important.

27. General Manager’s Report
Questions?

28. General Manager’s Report
Thank You!