CEO’s Message: The Power of Learning

February 2024

Being part of a cooperative family has lots of benefits. Our consumer members get to enjoy the safe, reliable, and affordable electricity everyone at Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative (SVEC) works hard to provide every day, while also sharing in the ownership of the co-op. If the money we bring in for that power is more than we need to keep the system working and growing, we don’t pocket it or send it to shareholders. Instead, we allocate it to our members and use it as operating capital for the co-op. Over time, these allocations are returned to members in the form of retired capital credits. Also, each of you has a voice in how our cooperative runs when you cast your vote for the trustee who represents you.

These are things that make a cooperative profoundly different from any other type of electric utility. But they wouldn’t count for much if we weren’t also actively invested in the communities we call home. No one at SVEC wants to simply go through the motions before heading home at the end of the day. As a team, we want to make our local community a better place for everyone to live, whether they’re on the grid or off.

That was the thinking when we first started Operation Round Up® in 2019. Over the last 5 years, those of you who participate have been rounding up your bills to the next dollar to be set aside for our local schools. Each participating account contributes an average of 49 cents a month, which adds up to less than $6 each year. But by adding all those small donations, we’ve been able to award more than $500,000 in grants to help students in our area.

In the years since the first grant was awarded, we’ve been able to pay for much-needed classroom items such as books, lab equipment, and online learning tools for both public schools and accredited private or independent schools in our community. Because of the generosity of our consumer members, SVEC has been able to create new learning opportunities for these students.

This month you’ll be able to read more about some of the newest ways Operation Round Up® is supporting local classrooms. From giving kindergartners more chances for hands-on learning to helping chemistry students discover science in action, you’ll see just how much these improvements impact our kids.

In recent days, I’ve also fielded questions from some of our consumer members about the new Idalia Recovery Charge. No one ever likes to see a new charge, but I want to assure you that we wouldn’t have implemented it if it wasn’t necessary for our cooperative to recover from last year’s hurricane and stay financially strong.

It’s the least we can do for the people who built this cooperative and make it possible for us to give back to this area. You can bet we’ll continue working hard each day to bring you the high quality of service you deserve.