Financial Facts
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A message from WFEC Board Secretary-Treasurer and District 5 Trustee A. C. Miles
One of the most important decision-making processes your board of trustees at West Florida Electric Cooperative goes through each year is the adoption of an annual budget for the Co-op. As we focus on cost-effectiveness and the interests of WFEC’s membership as a whole, our choices aren’t always easy ones. But I believe the actions we’ve taken in recent years are paying off.
WFEC ended 2001 under budget in all expenses categories, despite revenues being down due to overall mild weather that lowered energy sales. The Co-op’s 2002 operating budget is even less than last year’s. In addition, by controlling expenses, WFEC has managed to hold rates steady for nearly a decade.
How has WFEC decreased its operating expenses? Primarily by streamlining the workforce. Through attrition, or distributing retiring employees’ responsibilities among the remaining workforce rather than hiring replacements, WFEC’s workforce has shrunk by nearly 10 percent since 1998. In this way, WFEC balances an effort to provide good local jobs with a need for cost-efficient operation in today’s competitive electric utility industry.
WFEC also saves money through outsourcing of metering and most right-of-way maintenance functions. The employees formerly performing those tasks are now serving in other capacities; none have been laid off. In addition, an employee safety incentive program WFEC’s board adopted in 1999 has saved money by significantly reducing workers’ compensation claims and insurance premiums.
Like other non-profit rural electric cooperatives, WFEC will ultimately return the money remaining after expenses to the consumers who paid the money on their monthly electrical bills. These net margins are returned to WFEC’s members, normally on a 24-year rotation, in the form of a cash patronage refund, called a "capital credit." This year, WFEC will refund approximately $329,000 in net margins from 1978, so if you were a WFEC member during that year, you’ll receive a check for your portion of that amount by the end of February.
As your board secretary-treasurer, I’m encouraged by the financial strength our co-op has achieved over the past several years. As we work together, my fellow WFEC trustees and I look forward to building upon this success over another year.
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