CEO’s Message: You Are Our Priority
March 2023By Michael S. McWaters, Executive V.P./CEO
As a customer, you never want to feel like you aren’t a priority. I’m sure many of us can think of businesses that left us hanging with an important question, stuck with a shoddy product or simply seemed to make all of their decisions with only the company’s benefit in mind.
That has never been an option for SVEC. After all, we’re an electric cooperative that was created and continues to be owned by the very people we serve. While there are many organizations out there that might claim to exist for their customers, that isn’t just talk for cooperatives.
For one, we don’t operate for profit. So every decision we make ultimately comes down to whether it will have a positive outcome for our consumer -members or not. When we bring in more money than we need to keep our electric system running and growing, that money comes back to you in the form of capital credits.
The newsletter you hold in your hands or are reading online is one of the most important ways we keep you, our consumer-members, updated on what’s going on at your co-op. In this issue, we take a look back at some of the highlights from the last year. And there is a lot we can be proud of.
Chief among those accomplishments was the announcement of a fiber optic network that will help the cooperative improve the quality of its electric service and open up a world of highspeed internet for our community. We also partnered in the establishment of a facility for studying indoor farming, awarded more than $20,000 in scholarships to local students and helped our neighbors with repairs after Hurricane Ian.
Those are just a few of the things we have been able to accomplish together over the last year, and you can read more about them in this newsletter. For me, it’s a testament to the power of the cooperative model, and I hope that you take just as much pride in these achievements as we do.
But for all that we have done, there is still much more to look forward to this year. We will continue to build our Rapid Fiber Internet network and can’t wait to start bringing those connections to your homes and businesses. Be sure to check back here each month and follow our social media channels to keep up with all the latest updates.
It’s an exciting time to be a part of SVEC, and I hope all of you share our anticipation for what’s coming next. Until then, it’s our privilege to continue bringing safe, affordable and reliable electric service to such a wonderful community.
