News

4/23/2010

Annual Meeting results

Citizens Electric Corporation (CEC) held its 62rd Annual Shareholders Meeting on April 22, 2010 at the American Legion Hall in Perryville. There were 92 shareholders in attendance.

Presentations were given by CEO Van Robinson, CEC Board President John "Skip" Lottes and Greg Wagoner, Wabash Valley Power Vice President of Business Development. The business meeting was conducted by Corporate Counsel Andrew Sporleder.
Topics addressed in Mr. Robinson's presentation included: CEC's history, CEC's rates compared to other utilities, CEC's cost-cutting efforts, results of the 2009 Member Survey, overview of the May 8, 2009 storm, governance changes and current issues facing CEC. Mr. Robinson also informed attendees that CEC plans to retire approximately $1 million in capital credits in late summer 2010.

Mr. Lottes reported on governance changes made in 2009 in the Board's effort to improve transparency. These included the new Director nomination process, the new mail-in voting process, a policy change that makes it easier for members to attend Board Meetings, and the formation of a large industrial shareholder group that will be meeting at least twice each year. The first meeting of the group was held in November 2009.

Greg Wagoner provided information about Wabash Valley Power Association (WVPA), its generation portfolio and its fuel mix. WVPA supplies power to approximately 800,000 people in Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. Their generation portfolio consists of ownership in various power plants and purchased power agreements. Although the majority of their fuel source is coal, it also includes natural gas, petroleum coke, and renewable resources (wind, solar, methane gas from landfills and bio-fuels).

Questions asked from the crowd were pertaining to electric rate stability and structure, the minimum Customer Charge, tree trimming, the financial statements in CEC's Annual Report, and the composition of CEC's Board of Directors.

Mr. Robinson stated that he believes the future stability of electric costs will depend a great deal on whether "Cap and Trade Legislation" is passed in Washington DC. He urged members to join the Our Energy Our Future campaign to speak out against legislation that would put a financial burden on U.S. consumers, especially in the Midwest where coal is the primary source of generation. Mr. Robinson also stated that WVPA projects power supply costs may increase 1 to 2 percent each year over the next five years.

Votes cast at the meeting and mail-in votes were counted. The incumbents Marion Kertz, Doyle Oehl, and John "Skip" Lottes were reelected to the Board of Directors.
The voting count was as follows:

Ste. Gen./St. Francois Counties
Marion Kertz: 15,583 votes
Dennis "Toupie" Huck: 788 votes
Wayne Schweigert: 614 votes

Perry County
John "Skip" Lottes: 15,915 votes
Michael K. Kiefer: 947 votes

Cape Girardeau County
Doyle Oehl: 16,550 votes

The Board elected the following Board Officers for 2010 to 2011:
- Alvin Franke, President
- Herb Fallert, Vice President
- Karl Klaus, Secretary
- Rich DeWilde, Treasurer

Thank you to everyone who attended and who took the time to mail in your vote. For additional information, the 2009 Annual Report is available at CEC's local offices and online at www.cecmo.com.

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