Clarke Electric Cooperative’s Board of Directors approved the 2021 budget during the November Board of Directors meeting.
Board duties include overseeing and guiding the cooperative’s capital and operational budgets. Each year, board members review the budget and workplan developed by the management team with a focus on Clarke Electric’s mission to be “Safety Driven, Energy Smart, and Community Invested.”
The budget process takes several months and involves numerous formal and informal meetings. The cooperative management team meets with their department employees to ascertain budget needs and receive feedback on budget requests. When that is completed, the management team then meets first with the cooperative board finance committee, and then the board of directors as a whole, who will vote to approve or amend the proposed budget.
The budget process focuses on various projections for the coming year. We look at what we anticipate for purchased power, usage, our general workplan, and other capital and operational needs. Maintaining the financial integrity of the cooperative and meeting industry benchmarks are a major focus of this process since the budget serves as the cooperative’s financial guide for the upcoming year.
Below are some of the budget highlights approved for 2021, including vehicle purchases and system upgrades to help deliver on our commitment to you, our member-consumers:
- Replace a 2009 International truck with a 2020 Altec bucket truck;
- Add new underground and overhead lines and services;
- Loop upgrades;
- Pole inspections and replacements;
- Substation upgrades and improvements;
- Right-of-way clearing – tree clearing;
- Replacement projects for underground services and 8A wire; and
- Building renovation.