Socorro Electric Co-op annual meeting, short one for quorum

Manuel Gonzales, the new CEO of Socorro Electric Cooperative, was the keynote speaker at the Socorro Electric Co-op 80th annual meeting on Saturday.

Gonzales shared his military background and spoke about his experience as the new CEO in the last four months.

“I’m not from Socorro, and I’ve already learned don’t mess with Socorro or Magdalena. These communities are tight, but it’s been overwhelmingly receptive and supportive, and I can’t be more thankful for that,” Gonzales said. “I am the new guy, and it did not take me long, once again, to recognize and to see and correlate the same type of commitment.”

He thanked and recognized community leaders Mayor Ravi Bhasker, New Mexico Tech President Mahyar Amouzegar, Socorro Police Chief Angel Garcia and Caleb Kerr land owner and Alamo Chapter President John Jr. Apachito. He praised them for putting community needs first and demonstrating a spirit of service.

Also recognized were long-serving SEC employees Marilyn Madrid, who has been with the company for 30 years, Tony Lopez, who has been with the company for 31 years, and David Montoya, who has been with the company for 42 years, who were awarded plaques for their dedication to the company.

He discussed the cooperative’s future plans, focusing on talent development, improving technological tools, and enhancing outage response capabilities. He also stressed the importance of serving cooperative members and being open to renewable energy solutions. Throughout his speech, he repeatedly emphasized the theme of “service to others” and his commitment to improving the cooperative’s operations.

He announced the new Credentials and Election committee members as Jason Moore, David Lynn Wade and Dave Dickey, who ran uncontested.

One short

Board Secretary Eileen Latasa said the total number of co-op members is 8970. The SEC bylaws state that in order to conduct business, they must have a 3% quorum, which is 269 registered members.

“Unfortunately, today we have, you’re not going to believe this, 268 members registered. So we do not have a quorum, and therefore, we’re unable to conduct any official business of the co-op,” Latasa said.

Financial report

Chief Financial Officer Rauni Montoya presented a 2024 financial report.

“2024 presented a complex landscape of economic challenges that tested the resiliency of businesses and households alike, persistent inflationary measure pressures, elevated interest rates, supply chain disruptions, labor market fluctuations and global geopolitical uncertainties that shaped our financial environment,” Montoya said.

She said that the 2024 financial audit was clean, with no findings.

Montoya reported that revenue was $632,373 higher than last year due to increased kilowatt-hour sales, power costs increased, partly from higher wholesale rates in August, operation and maintenance expenses increased by $541,035 due to outage responses and administrative and general expenses rose by $261,845.

Member comments

Former District One SEC board member Ward McCartney raised concerns that the board was not responsive to ways of reducing power costs. He suggested generating power through solar, wind, and battery storage, which he believed could save about $2 million annually. He hoped the new board members would be more cognizant of their fiduciary responsibility.

Gonzales responded to McCartney, confirming that all renewables, including solar, battery, and nuclear, are “on the table.” He acknowledged McCartney as a visionary who cares about the environment and promised to communicate transparently with members about renewable energy efforts.

Two other members spoke about tree trimming concerns and getting power to the Forget Me Not Veterans Park. Gonzales promised to follow up with them on Monday.

The meeting concluded with prize drawings, including a 2017 Dodge pickup truck won by Juanita Davis, along with an assortment of appliances and gift cards.