| Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE) leadership highlighted its current and future innovations, updated cooperative members about the status of the organization and answered questions during its livestreamed Annual Meeting Saturday, Aug. 27. In their report to the membership, Board Chairman Mike Woods and CEO Chris Jones discussed the great strides MTE made during 2021 to increase growth, provide better service to its members and fulfill its goal to be its members’ trusted energy professionals. “Now more than ever, electricity is at the center of everyone’s daily life – home, work, education, travel, recreation, entertainment, healthcare – very little happens without a reliable source for electricity,” Woods said. “MTE has delivered on our mission of reliability for many years, and now we are investing in new solutions to meet today’s needs.” In 2021, MTE partnered with TVA to pilot several renewable energy and community outreach programs. Its broadband subsidiary, United Communications, continued to expand its service area to unserved and underserved MTE members. As a strategic response to the surge of electric vehicles, MTE founded the first EV car club run by local electric cooperatives in the country. MTE continues to strengthen its infrastructure and incorporate SmartGrid technology to improve reliability and efficiency, allowing the co-op to provide power to its members at some of the lowest rates in the Tennessee Valley – 25 percent lower than the national residential average. MTE leadership also emphasized the cooperative’s continued commitment to the communities it serves through a variety of programs, like its SharingChange foundation, which contributes thousands of dollars annually to charities and community causes. MTE also made its largest ad valorem tax payment in company history in 2021, directly benefitting the counties and cities it serves. “Middle Tennessee is our home, too,” Jones said. “We were founded to serve our neighbors not only by providing safe, reliable and affordable electricity, but also by helping bring in jobs through economic development efforts and contributing however we can to make Middle Tennessee a wonderful place to call home.” Following this update from leadership, a Q&A session was conducted and questions from members were answered live. Members inquired about TVA’s Fuel Cost Adjustment, electric vehicles, renewable energy and broadband expansion across MTE’s service territory. Per the cooperative’s bylaws, the results of the election for four seats on the Board of Directors were announced during the Annual Meeting. Four members were re-elected: Gloria O’Steen – Williamson County, Mike Woods – Rutherford County, Charlie Bowman – Cannon County, and Vanessa Hickman – Wilson County. MTE board members serve staggered three-year terms, and the Nominating Committee is responsible for nominating next year’s Board of Directors’ candidates. The 2023 Nominating Committee election resulted in the appointment of Karen Paris and Juanita Patton from District 1 – Williamson County; Thomas “Teb” Batey, Jamey Faulkner, Danny Sapp and Richard Stone from District 2 – Rutherford County; Jeanne Melton from District 3 – Cannon County; and Zachary Butler, Ken Howell and Quintin Smith from District 4 – Wilson County. In an organizational meeting following the Annual Meeting, the board re-elected Mike Woods of Rutherford County as chairman, Steve Seger of Williamson County as vice chairman and Jim Mills of Wilson County as secretary-treasurer. To watch the Annual Meeting video, visit mte.com/AnnualMeeting. |
