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Discover how Tri-State and our members are embracing the opportunity to power the West in our new podcast, Western Watts!
We'll dive into the heart of energy issues, from reliability to wildfire mitigation, and share firsthand insights relevant to rural, agricultural and mountain communities across Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Wyoming.
This podcast may contain certain forward looking statements concerning Tri-State's plans, performance, and strategies. Actual results may differ materially because of numerous factors, and Tri-State undertakes no obligation to update these forward looking statements. We urge you to review Tri-State's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a discussion of these factors.
Lee Boughey:I'm Lee Boughey, Vice President Strategic Communications here at Tri-State G & T. Co-ops around the world are member owned, member governed organizations, and each one has an annual meeting every year where the members come in, they hear reports from their board chairs, their board officers, and their staff. And they learn what's happening in their co op and help to govern and make the decisions in their co-op. Here at Tri-State, we have an annual meeting every spring. In April, our members come from across 200,000 square miles from the border with Montana and Wyoming, all the way down to the border with New Mexico and Mexico.
Lee Boughey:They all convene together and really celebrate the cooperative movement, the things that they do together through Tri-State. And it's really the one time every year when our membership all comes together. So it's a really important meeting for us. At each annual meeting, we have a theme that really reflects where we're at with our membership as a cooperative. This year's theme is focus, and it really focuses in on our mission as a not for profit electric cooperative, our focus on our members' needs, and our focus on the future and how we're going to ensure that we can continue to deliver our members reliable and affordable and flexible power well into the future.
Lee Boughey:I look forward to the annual meeting because we get to see the members that were always going out and visiting in their service territories. It's so good to keep those connections, to be able to commune with one another, learn even more what's important to them. And I think most importantly for our membership, they get to visit with one another. In our large cooperative, our members don't always get to see one another. A member in New Mexico may not spend a lot of time with members from Wyoming.
Lee Boughey:When they come to our annual meeting, they all convene. They learn that they share some of the same opportunities, some of the same challenges. And we've got a diverse cooperative. We've got very large co-ops. We've got very small co-ops.
Lee Boughey:We've got some co-ops that are heavy into irrigation, others that have large oil and gas loads, others that have large residential loads. When they come together, it really speaks to the diversity our members have. It's one of the strengths in Tri-State. This meeting just demonstrates that strength.
Ruth Marks:We're coming to you today from the Tri-State Annual Meeting. I'm Elizabeth Schilling. Today, have the pleasure
Elizabeth Schilling:of talking with Mr. Corey Robinson. So as an intro, if you can let us know your name cooperative, your role, and how many Tri-State Annual meetings you've been to.
Corey Robinson:Great. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks for having me. My name's Corey Robinson.
Corey Robinson:I'm from Empire Electric. I serve on the board of directors there, and I am the owner representative to the Tri-State board from Empire. I live in Cortez, Colorado in the very Southwest corner of the state, and Empire serves the Southwestern corner of Colorado and up into a little little bit of Utah even. Right. And it is my first annual meeting.
Corey Robinson:I am the new guy.
Elizabeth Schilling:Yay. Well, we're glad to have you here. Yeah. So I hear you self describe as an energy nerd and that you also have a background as a photographer and documentarian. So it seems like you have a love for protecting and preserving the land.
Elizabeth Schilling:So how do you think about the role of your cooperative and what it plays in balancing and maintaining reliable service while also protecting the history of Cortez?
Corey Robinson:Yeah, big question. But I think a lot of it gets to a lot of the reasons we love where we live. Right in our backyard, we have big mountains, we have big steep red rock canyons and kind of everything in between. So the physical geography is a huge draw for us and, it's not too busy either. One of my favorite stats about Montezuma County, where we live is there were more people living there a thousand years ago than there are today.
Corey Robinson:That gives you a sense of kind of the rural nature of things and the evidence of those people are everywhere as well. Whether it's at Mesa Verde or Canyons Of The Ancients, the archeological sites in our area are really remarkable. So while those are all really wonderful things for us as we live there, it's a really big challenge to serve our member owners with electricity. So it makes me really proud of the work that Empire does and Tri-State to affordably and reliably serve our member owners, and meet their electrical needs. One of the other things that I love about where we live is that it is one of the sunniest places in the state, and that's a resource that is in need now and, is is in demand.
Corey Robinson:And so we're really proud in our service territory to host the Dolores Canyon Solar Project, which is one of Tri-State's first owned projects and, certainly hope to bring more of the tax dollars and jobs to our rural community in smart, responsible development in that area. So it's a difficult area to serve, but we love it. We call it home, and we're really proud of the work that Empire and Tri-State does keep it viable and affordable.
Elizabeth Schilling:That's great. Yeah, difficult to serve, but definitely beautiful.
Corey Robinson:So when
Elizabeth Schilling:thinking about things like wildfire mitigation out there, why is that important to Tri-State's board and to the cooperatives?
Corey Robinson:Yeah. Wildfire is a big one. It's certainly an existential threat for any utility. We worry about it from financial reasons, but also because we're members of the community. And if we were to be responsible for a fire, that would be just devastating for our neighbors and our businesses and our on our economy.
Corey Robinson:So we we take it very seriously, certainly. At Empire and Tri-State, I know we're we have significant vegetation management policies that we adhere to and constantly are working on. We're also using advanced technologies to try to prevent that first spark from ever happening. You know, one of the things that we're talking to our policymakers are about is, you know, that this risk that all utilities face in providing reliable service, there there is risk of fire all the time. It's just in the nature of the business that we are in.
Corey Robinson:So we're hoping that by communicating the superior business model that we as a non-profit cooperative enjoy, all of the benefits of this slide down to our member owners, but on the other side of the coin, all the risk does it well. So we need to have a better policy framework in place to kind of hedge the risk and acknowledge that we need a system to take care of the members at the end of the line just as much everybody else when it comes to wildfire liability and risk and that sort of thing. So that's on the top of mind for us as well.
Elizabeth Schilling:So enhancing those local voices, it sounds like, is really important. And knowing you were just involved in Tri-State's first DC fly in, can you tell me a little bit about that experience?
Corey Robinson:Yeah. That was really unique. I've never done anything like that, so I really appreciate the opportunity. Thanks to Evan and Shelby for putting together a really productive, what ended up being twenty four hours for me there. And and also thanks to my in laws for watching my son.
Corey Robinson:My wife works. So it's like I think a lot of board members will say it takes a village to be able to travel up to Denver or DC wherever we're needed. So just shout out to them. But yeah, we had a really compelling story to tell. We were there to talk about the new era money as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Corey Robinson:And like I said, when it comes to the member benefits and the member risk, it's all our member owners that get to enjoy this. And the new era money was one of the first large investments in rural electric cooperatives in decades. And the benefits were gonna be felt by our members, not by Wall Street, not by our investors. It really, the story of being able to level the playing field for our rural communities as we compete against investor owned utilities was really strong for really anybody that listened. Yeah, it was a busy day, but also a lot of hurry up and wait, which we learned.
Corey Robinson:When you have the attention of the policymaker, you have to really pounce on that, and then you might get delayed for an hour or two. So I really valued getting to learn from the other member CEOs and board members that were able to go just in those little in between moments. I think that the you know, it's no secret that the board certainly has diverse opinions on a lot of different things. And while at times that gives me some major heartburn, I think there's a lot of times where there's a lot of value in that. And and being in DC was absolutely one of those times.
Corey Robinson:We we were able to get basically any door open for us and had a trusted messenger for whoever we were talking to across the political spectrum. And and it just comes back to this really strong story that we have to tell around the benefit of these dollars to all rural Americans when it comes to reliable and affordable energy. So I thought it was very interesting, really eye opening to see kind of the halls of Congress and get to speak with these people that you read about in the newspaper and tell them about the important work that our cooperative is doing for this essential service that we all enjoy. And I'm certainly ecstatic about the news last week that the money was unfrozen, and we'll be able to continue on as planned with those dollars in the mix.
Elizabeth Schilling:That's great to hear. I think that local perspective that you can share, that's just huge. And doing it face to face, it feels like really makes a difference.
Corey Robinson:That's what we were told. I more and more am a believer in that as well. I mean, just with the attentional economy these days, we're pulled in so many different directions, and a phone call, an email, even our lobbyists going to talk to them is is different than than spending the precious few minutes that you have in a day face to face with someone. There's some psychology piece there that gives it a much a larger outsized impact that I think I I initially guess, certainly. So I think that it was worth it.
Corey Robinson:It's a big lift for everybody, certainly, but I I really do I'm coming to learn that those conversations make a bigger difference than you might expect.
Elizabeth Schilling:Sounds like they do. Well, on the topic of in person and the difference that it makes, speaking to things like the annual meeting and the membership meeting, why do you feel like these kinds of in person meetings are important as well?
Corey Robinson:Yeah. I think it comes back to my you know, what we choose to spend our attention on is really, you know, what we deem important, how we kind of manage our lives. And I think with our phones and emails and everything, it's just trying to be extracted from us in all of these terrible ways that waste a lot of our time. And by people investing the time into these really, really important decisions that are being made at both distribution co-ops and at the G & T level, I think shows deep understanding that these decisions matter a lot. And whether it's the conversations in the hallways or being able to ask a question from a staff member that you bump into, that doesn't happen from a newsletter.
Corey Robinson:It doesn't happen from a Zoom call even. And there's certainly a time and place for that as well. We all have crazy lives. There are times when you just can't make it work to go in person, and I'm so thankful for the technology that we have available. But it makes a big difference, certainly for me in the position of being asked to make some pretty weighty decisions around the future of the association.
Corey Robinson:I feel a lot more comfortable when I can have a face to face conversation with somebody, when I can have, you know, just a a small conversation in a hall where there was this one thing that I didn't quite understand, and I can bug Lisa Tiffin about it, and she's so gracious about answering all my questions. And it just makes me feel a more comfortable when I go to vote on something in the boardroom that I've explored every avenue that I think is important when when considering these decisions that have a huge effect on on a a big population.
Elizabeth Schilling:Right. Well, we're glad to have you here for the event, and thank you for taking the time to chat with me today.
Corey Robinson:Yeah. Thank you very much.
Speaker 6:I believe the annual meeting is important because it does give the Tr-State employees a chance to meet with our members in a non-traditional venue.
David Spradlin:My name is David Spradlin. I'm the CEO of the Springer Electric Cooperative, and I think this is my twentieth Tri State Annual Meeting. So Springer was one of the original New Mexico members, and then the merger of Plains Electric with Tri-State back in February. So RG & T was merged into the Tri-State Cooperative and so that's the point when I started coming to Tri-State Angiomes.
Molly Lynn:Wow, All right. Well, glad to
Elizabeth Schilling:have you here today. So you started at Springer in 1986, and then you've been the CEO since 1990. Also serve on the board of directors for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association or NRECA. So you have had that front row seat to all the things changing in the electric co-op world. But looking at today and into the future, what are you most excited about?
David Spradlin:Oh, boy, I'm excited about a lot of different things. You know, when you look at what the co-ops stand for working for people, the safety, reliability, and affordability of energy, I think there's some very exciting developments for us to pursue going forward. The continual advancement of AI and those type technologies drones I think gives us a great opportunity to actually provide even better, more reliable service to our members. I'm really excited about we have two different grants that we're doing. One of them is with the NRECA consortium, which is wildfire mitigation.
David Spradlin:And part of that grant is to incorporate technology, it's called the PIRE, which is a system, AI generated system, which will help us determine if there is a fire, which direction it might go. And so we can kind of plan our system around that. And then kind of in conjunction with that, we're doing another grant with the Department of Energy. And one of the things they're doing is a predictive AI system that will show the impacts of climate change on our specific area. And so we can kind of plan our system around those things and figure out, okay, how can we provide the most reliable service and also ensure the safety of our employees and the safety of our members?
David Spradlin:So I think those are very exciting things and I'm a type person who's always tried to be at the forefront of things and even in a small system like Springer, we've always tried to put ourselves at the tip of the spear of some changes. We were a very early adopter of solar technologies, so we've developed some solar stuff, and so we've always been in that kind of mode. And partly serving a very rural part of New Mexico. I don't want our employees to feel like they're part of this very isolated system. I want them to think that they're working for a company that is moving forward and going with the times and actually being out in front.
David Spradlin:So I think it gives them a sense that they're part of something bigger. So I think that's been one of the things that we've tried to do at Springer and I think there's plenty of opportunities going forward with technology to continue that.
Elizabeth Schilling:That's beautiful. Yeah, feels like that combination of your role as co-op CEO, board member for NRECA, You've got that balance of showing up locally for your cooperative but also contributing to the national conversation surrounding co-ops. How does that play out for you?
David Spradlin:So I kind of think of it in three different ways. So on the NRACA board, you typically have CEOs and board of directors that are from larger systems And so I'm one of the few that's at a very small system. And so I try and bring that perspective to the national conversation. We talk a lot about programs that NRECA does and I always bring the focus back to what is achievable by a small co-op with limited resources and get them to think in those terms. And then so you take my local experience at my co-op and then secondarily I'm there to represent New Mexico and so I try and bring the New Mexico perspective as well.
David Spradlin:And then at the third level, I'm part of Tri-State and so Tri-State serves four states And so with the ability to talk to people in four different states, I always try and make sure that I bring that perspective into the national conversation as well.
Elizabeth Schilling:That's great. That's perfect. I think just to have that view that you have, but then taking it and amplifying that voice of your members, that's huge. So cooperatives emphasize, obviously, a focus more on people than profits. So how does that guiding principle influence your day to day decisions?
Elizabeth Schilling:When you're thinking strategically at Springer, how does that play in?
David Spradlin:So I think it plays in from the aspect of always at the forefront of anything that we do is our member at the end of the line and our employees. And so with anything that I do there when I'm looking at stuff is I'm thinking about, okay, how will this affect my employees? How will this affect the member at the end of the line? And so the focus right now with wildfire mitigation and those type of things kind of highlight what that is because really when it comes down to it, I want to go to bed at night every night thinking that I've done my best to ensure the safety of my employees, safety of the public, and ensure the reliability of the system to provide that service to the members. Because being born and raised in rural New Mexico that's where my heart is.
David Spradlin:And so even though I was born and raised in a different town but the same people that I grew up with are basically the same people that I'm serving now. The names and the faces are different, but it's the same heart and soul that I grew up with. And so with that in mind, I think that really focuses all of our efforts. And then when you pull in the boards, which are of the members, that gives that added emphasis for making sure that everything you're doing is in service to those members at the end of the line.
Elizabeth Schilling:These are people you're gonna see in your community anyway, it's like you have be able to answer to them.
David Spradlin:Yeah, we're in touch with them every day. You see them at the grocery store, you see them at school events. One of the things early in my career that kind of bought me into the co-op program, two years of being CFO, the basketball coach in our town asked me if I would help him coach the basketball team and he knew my background from playing basketball in the neighboring town and so he said, Hey, why don't you come help me? I need some assistance. I went to the co-op CEO at that time and said, hey, would you allow me to go help coach them?
David Spradlin:And he said, Sure, as long as it doesn't interfere with your job here. And so I would go up and coach every evening. Sometimes I'd have to go back to the office to get stuff done but they allowed me to do that and that was talk about buying into the community and when you're in a little community like that and you're traveling to all the other communities that you serve, coaching with the basketball team, you just meet so many people. And so it just bought me into the whole co-op concept of this is for our members and everything we do should be for those members.
Elizabeth Schilling:So the job description can get a little bit bigger than what's on paper at times. It's that connection at all opportunities. Oh, yeah.
David Spradlin:Oh, absolutely. There's nothing more satisfying. I worked for a year out of college at a big corporation and after a year I just knew that wasn't for me. I just can't go to work every day working for this kind of cold organization and so looking for a place to land that would give me more of that feel for the small town feel and the people getting reconnected with that and the co-op was the perfect place. I tell people I have been extremely blessed.
David Spradlin:Blessed with where I grew up and blessed to have a career that has been in that same sort of environment serving those same people. So it's been an unbelievable journey and just a true blessing.
Elizabeth Schilling:That's beautiful. So on that topic of connecting with people, thinking about events like this annual meeting, what kind of value do you see in everybody coming together in person for these meetings once a year?
David Spradlin:So mostly the big value is looking people in the face and having discussions and looking at their response, can get a better feel for how people are reacting, what they're thinking, and just the discussions that happen in the hallway like right now are the best. I mean you can really get a feel for where people are at. In the years that we were under COVID and everything was virtual, it's just after a while I couldn't take that anymore. It's like please get us out of this because I need that personal interaction. I need to see your reaction when I say something and vice versa so we can have a true conversation about the issues that we're facing.
David Spradlin:And all of us are we're all different as they say, when you've met one co-op, you've met one co-op. Well, yeah, but there are a lot of similarities to what we all face the challenges of employees, affordability, all those kinds of more generic challenges, we're all facing those and we all deal with those differently. And you can learn just so much from stepping aside with someone and saying, hey, how are you dealing with this? And having a good conversation about that. So I think that's the value of coming to these in person.
David Spradlin:So I think it's something that I'm very happy that we're back to doing that and I hope it stays that way. And I think it just brings huge value to us.
Elizabeth Schilling:Well, we're grateful that you're here for the connections that you're making throughout the meeting. And thank you for taking the time to talk with me today.
David Spradlin:Absolutely. My pleasure.
Ruth Marks:This is an opportunity for a lot of people to get in the same room and talk about things that matter to all the four states in different ways, and everybody leaves energized and ready to work. My name is Ruth Marks. I'm the CEO at Mountain View Electric. I think this is maybe my twenty fifth Tri-State Annual Meeting. So yeah.
Ruth Marks:I've been here a time or two.
Elizabeth Schilling:We're glad to have you here this year. You have experience on both the G & T side and then also with multiple distribution systems and now as CEO of Mountain View. Can you tell us about how that plays into how you make decisions, how you do your work?
Ruth Marks:Absolutely. It's definitely helpful having experience on both sides of the business. I started out on the distribution side and learned a lot about the members at the end of the line. When I went to Tri-State, particularly in transmission maintenance, I could keep that perspective of who really pays the bills, where the money comes from, and who we're really serving and the challenges that they're facing in mind as I make decisions at Tri-State. Also, knowing how Tri-State functions helps me every day at Mountain View Electric.
Ruth Marks:I understand the decision making processes, the roles at Tri-State, and more importantly, I understand the resources that are available and the level of expertise that the people at Tri-State really have in terms of supporting the distribution co-ops. That's huge, seeing how
Elizabeth Schilling:it all comes together. Yes. And then at a distribution system, you are really working to provide value to your end use consumers nor members. What does that look like for you? What are you focusing on?
Ruth Marks:It's actually the same as the mission that Tri-State's also accomplishing. So it's reliability, supportability, resiliency, and responsibility. And those are the very same values that we have at the distribution co-op, so it works nicely together. For sure, the most important thing to our members is reliability. Doesn't matter how affordable electricity is if it's not there when the member needs it.
Ruth Marks:So, that's kind of the point that we start on is reliability. But if at the end of the day they can't pay their bill, that doesn't help either. So those two are always working together. You have to balance reliability and affordability, but that truly is what the members care about. And it's nice to see that Tri-State has the same values as the distribution co-ops.
Elizabeth Schilling:Yeah. And you were talking too about how that sense of reliability and resilience, you're learning from your members about what's important to them. What does that look like?
Ruth Marks:Yes. So, every day you hear from members, particularly in the winter months when there's storms, and if you unfortunately have outages, very quickly you find out what your members value and what they yield from you. That is, particularly on those cold winter nights, you know, they want to be warm and they want to be cozy that's what's important to them. So therefore, that's what's important to us as well.
Elizabeth Schilling:That's huge. So yesterday, you moderated the member panel during our membership meeting, and we got to hear from a diverse group of members. What's the value that you get or that everybody gets out of those kinds of discussions and hearing from different members?
Ruth Marks:I think I heard so much after that panel from so many people about how nice it was to hear how different we all are, particularly Molly from a very small co-op and the struggles and challenges she has. But really the entire panel has something different going on that makes it unique. And when there's so many of us, we have so many different pieces that we're all working on to bring together to serve our members. At the same time, there's so many things that are very, very similar between the distribution co-ops. I felt like it was really nice to talk about that and to bring that to light for other people.
Elizabeth Schilling:That's great. And that's not your first experience with one of those panels. Do you have historical experience that you want to share, too?
Ruth Marks:I do. About four years or so ago, Chris Pink and I moderated, well, wasn't a panel, it was a presentation on Tri-State rebuilding a line that had come down, gosh, maybe eight months earlier, out by Brush, Colorado, where we lost 10 miles of line, and how the Tri-State transmission crews from all three regions came together to rebuild that line. And so, it was fun to tell that story of really the folks from Tri Tri-State working day and night to get that line put back up to serve our members. So that was a fun panel.
Elizabeth Schilling:Awesome. It feels like meetings like this gave you that chance to tell those stories in a more complete fashion Yeah, absolutely. Well, that is great. I think we will wrap it up here. Thank you so much for joining us.
Elizabeth Schilling:A pleasure talking to you today.
Ruth Marks:Thank you, Elizabeth. You too. We get to hear about challenges and successes from the entire group, and it's a moment of celebration and planning that we all look forward to.
Molly Lynn:Thank you for having me, first of all. This is pretty exciting. I've never did something like this before, so I kinda feel special. My name is Molly. I've been with Garland Light and Power since 2018 and I serve as the general manager and I believe this is my seventh Tri-State Annual Meeting something I look forward to every year so try not to That's great.
Molly Lynn:Well, we got
Elizabeth Schilling:to hear from you yesterday a little bit on the member panel. So I learned a little bit about Garland and that you are the smallest member. Six employees, is that right?
Molly Lynn:That is correct. You grew up in
Elizabeth Schilling:a family of six. So you really are like a family.
Molly Lynn:Yes. Yes. We are. So it's it's we get a lot done. We say we're small, but mighty.
Molly Lynn:Have to. It's definitely a different dynamic when there's only six of you. We wear a lot of hats so but It's what's nice about it is you know my linemen aren't afraid to pick up a phone if the phone's ringing or if the they need something out they can call to the office and we can run something out to them or help them out. So it's a very different dynamic, has challenges but some definite perks.
Elizabeth Schilling:So yeah. Requires teamwork, I'm sure.
Molly Lynn:It does, it does. I say it's the no drama zone because we are too small. We don't have time for that. Yeah, gotta get ready for we're gonna come to work, we're gonna get rolling, and we're gonna go home at the end of the day and take good care of each other. That's great.
Molly Lynn:It works out for everybody.
Elizabeth Schilling:Sounds like a great team. It is. And then being a smaller co-op, what is the value for Garland as being part of a larger cooperative association? What does membership in Tri-State bring for you all?
Molly Lynn:Oh, absolutely. Again, a small if we were running independently, a small co-op is just a little blip on the radar. I mean, we wouldn't have say in anything. We would just be along for the ride. And by being a member of Tri-State we have a seat at the table.
Molly Lynn:I mean and it starts at the members they know that when they rep when they they elect their board members they're going to represent them well, and they know they're gonna those board members are gonna serve on boards and look out for their best interests. Just the fact that I'm sitting here says that I have just as much right to be here and our voice counts from Garland as much as the other larger ones because we're all at the same table, we're all talking about the same things, and we all matter. And that just if we were not part of that, we'd be along for the ride.
Elizabeth Schilling:Yeah. So that's good. Shows the benefit of your members getting that voice, you all getting that voice, and just elevating or amplifying the voices and the needs of the people in your community. And they really are in your community. Hear you get to face the grocery store and search or all of that.
Molly Lynn:That's their voice. I mentioned that a little bit yesterday. So, I mean, we all know that we work for our members, you know? I mean, that's what we do. That's what a co-op is.
Molly Lynn:But when you're in a small community and I mean you have that very personal connection and they are at the grocery store. They are at you know when you you come out of church they'll grab you and say what's going on or you know the folks come into the after the annual meeting we have this couple that comes in and brings us candy every time you know because they just love us you know and so it's very front facing you know when I go to the gym in the morning not really awake. I don't have my coffee yet, but I have two members and they will tell they will ask me how my Tri-State meetings went because they are engaged and they know that when I'm gone, this is where I'm at. And so they'll catch me on Friday and they'll say, hey, what's going on?
Elizabeth Schilling:That's great. We've gotten the whole connection. That's powerful.
Molly Lynn:It leads to a lot of responsibility. I mean when I took the position I didn't realize how strong that commitment was because I just wasn't, I knew what co-ops were but I wasn't really vested in them you know before and so when you look at these folks and they look at you and you think, Oh man, the decisions we make every day are so important. These are my peeps. I take care of them. We take care of them.
Elizabeth Schilling:That's huge. So the next question was gonna be about the benefits and challenges of the idea of being in this cooperative business model, but I think that is one of the things that highlights it right there, a benefit that you have that connection, but also the challenge of feeling that responsibility to each of your end use consumers at the end of the line. What other benefits or challenges do you see as part of being a part with Lawford is?
Molly Lynn:I think there's definitely more benefits. I mean, gosh, just the fact that we're so small, we lean into our other co-ops quite a bit because we need that support. And sometimes it comes from Tri-State and sometimes it comes from other members. The Wyoming co-ops are so close. My gosh, I can't even say enough about the relationships we have.
Molly Lynn:The managers get along, the boards get along and if I need something I know that I don't have to recreate the wheel, I can call somebody, I can throw an email out and say, hey, what do you guys are doing? Or have you ever seen this before? Or whatever. And I'm not just sitting up there by myself with a, you know, a very limited staff. We'll work it out.
Molly Lynn:They sent there's no there's nobody that says, Well, I'm not going to share that with you. Yeah, we've done it. Now you can do the hard work. They just fired off whether it's to me or my staff or whatever they just so when I just think the benefits are huge. I came from a from a banking industry where it wasn't where it wasn't like that.
Molly Lynn:You know, there was just more competition. There was just a different feeling. And so when I was blessed enough to become part of a co-op, I just thought, wow, what a gem. I mean, you actually come to people, come to these meetings and they're happy to see you and they're all like that. My annual meeting is the same way.
Molly Lynn:I mean we just had our annual meeting in March. We had over 200 people. Wow. And they were just happy to be there. They loved the meal.
Molly Lynn:They were happy to see all of us. It's just a community thing. It's more of something to do, and they come and they visit with their neighbors and their friends. They've learned what's going on in their co-op. And so I think they get it.
Elizabeth Schilling:They get it. It really does make sense, like, cooperatives being more about people than profits, and it feels like it plays out in all the things you do. When you think about strategic decisions at Garland, how does that idea of, you know, people versus profit play into how you move forward? Oh,
Molly Lynn:absolutely. So that's on the top of our minds every day. I think all co-ops run really lean. That's why we have six employees because we just choose to wear many hats and it keeps those costs down. But when you're looking forward, we're looking at how are we going to pay for things because we have a very small member base to spread those costs out.
Molly Lynn:And so we have to be strategic on how, what are we going to dive into? How are we going to pay for it? How long is it going to take? How do we spread those costs over this membership, the future membership, things like that. So for example, we've we tossed around a new shop remodel.
Molly Lynn:We needed some extra space and and we batted it around for several years because it's expensive. Yeah. And so we looked at new buildings and all of this, the different options. And at the end of the day, the boards and we were completely on board as let's do the best with what we have. It's not great, but we can do this.
Molly Lynn:We can take what we have. We can make some adjustments and we'll be fine. And so we did. And last year in March, we started new shop project and finished it up and we were actually able to kind of get rid of a grassy area that served no purpose whatsoever because you don't need grass out there. And we put a shop in there and we made some other adjustments and flipped the roof and just and it's all it looks beautiful.
Molly Lynn:I mean, if somebody were to come into town, you would think that it was built that way. And so now we have, but we did with, know, we kept it minimal and our members are very supportive, you know, they never said, oh my god, what are you guys doing? Are you, you know, they were they looked at it. It was something they could be proud of and they understood why we did what we did. So now we're done.
Molly Lynn:Now it's the next project. And like I mentioned, we have to do we need to get to AMI. So how are we gonna do that? And again, it comes down to cost. And so it's just a balancing act Yeah.
Molly Lynn:Constantly, but it's worth it. I mean, because you always go, you always think how is the membership going to, you know, how can is this something they're going to accept and understand or is this something they're going to say, no, this a bad idea. So it's a daily thing that you factor in.
Elizabeth Schilling:Yeah, well I mean and you have to be looking to the future. What's the technology needed for the future? What's the space needed for the future? So you're making decisions with that in mind, knowing the co-op needs to be around. Yes, for as far as the eye can see.
Elizabeth Schilling:Yes, exactly. That makes sense. I'll just give you one more final question. I know you talked about Garland's annual meeting, and you're here at Tri-State's annual meeting. What do in person meetings like this mean for you?
Elizabeth Schilling:How does it add value?
Molly Lynn:Oh, they're super. You just, you get everybody in one room for a couple days and you just, first of all, it's that family feeling. You know, everybody's glad to see each other. But the information that gets shared at annual meetings, whether it's a small one in Powell or whether it's down here, that information is so important because everybody's paying attention to what's going on in the industry. My folks in Powell are wondering how are all these changes going to affect us?
Molly Lynn:And so when I can come to these meetings and I can go back and say this is Tri-State, this is our power supplier, this is what they're doing and when Tri-State folks show they love it when they show up because this is is them. These are the people that are making these decisions on your power. And so it's invaluable. I mean, I have enjoyed the last couple days because you kind of hear it throughout the year, but when it's everything comes together right now and you just come, leave feeling good, you feel like you're in good hands, you feel like you can go back to your members and say, we're doing the best we can. We're going to take care of you.
Molly Lynn:Yeah. We're on the right path. So definitely, I love it.
Elizabeth Schilling:Well, we're glad to have you here and thank you for taking the time to chat me. Thank you. Wrap it up for today and let you get back to the meeting.
Molly Lynn:Thank you so much. Thank you. Excited. Alright.
Elizabeth Schilling:They get to see people in person that we work with all year and just enjoy catching up on business and getting to know them better. Thanks for tuning in to Western Watts. You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcast, YouTube, or on our website at tristate.coop/wwpod. We'll catch you next time.