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At Pedernales Electric’s July 21 board meeting, the PEC Board approved decreasing its compensation package even further than initially proposed by the Compensation Committee last week. The approved compensation package is more than 40 percent less than 2007 levels based on an estimated 12 regular meetings and four committee meetings per year.

After a thorough discussion, the plan approved unanimously by the Board includes a monthly fee of $1,500, in addition to fees of $750 per regular meeting and $500 per committee meeting. The original proposal recommended a monthly fee of $2,000 and meeting fees of $750. “It is beholden on us to make a statement to our membership,” said District 7 Director Patrick Cox. “Every business I know, every family I know, is making belt-tightening decisions. We need to make a substantive reduction.”

The Board also agreed to eliminate PEC’s payment of all health, dental and life insurance benefits for Board members and their dependents; they also would only be compensated for one meeting per day. Board members will have the option of purchasing group health and dental insurance as an out-of-pocket expense. One provision of the new compensation package, consistent with a previous Board resolution, applies only to Board members elected or appointed before June 21, 2008, and provides them with Medicare Supplemental Insurance at PEC’s cost, provided they have served for a minimum of 10 years and are 65 years of age or older.

The Board also discussed 10 Board committees — which will meet on topics ranging from governance to finance to PEC’s power supply contract — proposed by Board President R.B. Felps. Felps provided tentative committee assignments and gave latitude to Board members to review and comment on his proposal at the next Board meeting.

Members commented from the floor on several topics, including Board compensation and election results, renewable energy and PEC’s conservation efforts. One member commented on the PEC Board receiving payments for multiple meetings held on the same day, a practice that has been eliminated with the approval of the new compensation package. Members also voiced concerns about PEC Board members’ potential conflicts of interest with their positions on other boards, and video depositions not being available on the PEC web site.

PEC4U representatives asked the Board to consider implementing a more aggressive conservation program with added incentives for members. Clean Water Action representative David Foster asked the Board to increase the amount of renewable energy within PEC’s mix to 30 percent and to reduce energy use 20 percent through conservation by 2020. Foster also brought 4,500 letters and cards signed by PEC members in the Cedar Park, Leander, Dripping Springs and Travis County areas supporting Clean Water Action’s requests.

Representatives from the Canyon Lake Community Library District appeared before the Board seeking a $100,000 naming opportunity to help in their effort to expand their facility. While the Board was unable to grant the group’s request for funding, they did commit to help them in their fundraising efforts through PEC’s grant writing assistance and other charitable giving. PEC donates funds annually to various nonprofit organizations throughout its service area through its Light the Way program, and the PEC employee-funded United Charities program allows employees to contribute to 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations.

In other business, Communications Manager Michael Racis presented top line results from the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study, which ranked PEC sixteenth out of 120 utilities nationwide in customer satisfaction. Board members approved a power bill of $36,544,805.65, the largest in PEC history and a 50 percent increase from 2007. The jump was attributed to record-high use and the escalating cost of fuel used in generation and transport. Chief Financial Officer Mike Vollmer presented financial information, including capital credit allocations for 2007 totaling $19,964,136.85, which the Board approved. Capital credits accumulate when revenues exceed expenditures, and each member accrues a balance reflecting their ownership in the Cooperative. Allocations will be assigned to members’ existing capital credit account balances. Members can call PEC toll-free at 1-888-554-4732 anytime for their capital credit balance. The PEC Board also approved Vollmer’s recommendation of a vendor to conduct a rate analysis and cost-of-service study for the Cooperative.