RUSHFORD, MN 11 a.m. March 18, 2020 — As of today, MiEnergy Cooperative’s offices in Cresco, Iowa and Rushford, Minn., are closed to the public until further notice due to COVID-19. Members are encouraged to call the cooperative at (800) 432-2285 if they would like to talk with someone regarding electric service as employees are working and crews will continue to respond to outage calls 24/7.
Members who normally come into the office to make a payment can drop off payments in the drop box at the office locations. Other alternatives include using the payment phone line (1-877-853-6517) or submitting a payment online through SmartHub (www.MiEnergy.coop).
Annual meeting
and election notice
The date was set, the announcement was made, the ballots will be mailed, but due to COVID-19 precautions, MiEnergy Cooperative will not have an annual meeting for members to attend on April 22.
The elections for District 1 board directors will continue as planned. A ballot package will be mailed to members living in District 1 on March 20 with details on how to vote. Contrary to what the cover letter will say with the package, as it was already pre-printed for mailing prior to changes due to the pandemic, members will not be able to cast their ballot in person.
“Information in the ballot package will explain how to cast a vote by mail with the paper ballot or online with an electronic ballot. There will be no in-person option,” explained Brian Krambeer, MiEnergy’s president and CEO. “Consistent with our bylaws, mail ballots and electronic ballots will be counted toward a member quorum to allow for director elections to proceed.”
MiEnergy’s directors will meet on April 22 to accept the elections results and adjourn the meeting. Results of the elections will be made available.
An independent firm is collecting and tabulating the ballots. Security measures are in place to protect the confidentiality of votes and to prevent duplicate voting. The cooperative encourages its members living in District 1 to submit their vote by mail or online. All details on how to submit a ballot are included with the mailed ballot package. No ballots will be accepted at MiEnergy’s office locations or in payment drop boxes.
MiEnergy Cooperative is a member-owned electric distribution cooperative and is the result of a merger between Hawkeye REC, of Cresco, Iowa and Tri-County Electric Cooperative, of Rushford, Minn. in 2017. It maintains 5,500 miles of power lines covering most of Fillmore, Houston and Winona counties in Minnesota and Chickasaw, Howard and Winneshiek counties in Iowa. The cooperative also serves small pockets bordering those counties. It provides electricity to more than 18,800 members in northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. MiEnergy is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative.