Annual Meeting a success

Thank you to all our members who attended the 2025 Annual Meeting. Our employees put in tremendous effort to make the event a success, and I couldn’t be prouder of their dedication and teamwork.

As the saying goes, “The show must go on.” That truth was tested when I unexpectedly became ill during the meeting and required emergency surgery. Even in my absence, the team stepped up and got the job done. They didn’t miss a beat. That’s the mark of a strong organization— one where people are equipped, confident and committed to the mission.

I’m deeply grateful to everyone who reached out with prayers, calls and messages of support. Your kindness meant a great deal to me.

Since I wasn’t able to address you in person, I want to take this opportunity to share some important updates with our members.

As our communities grow, we have to keep up with the demand for reliable power. Growth costs money. We’re building two new substations, and each one costs about $4 million. Instead of asking members to cover the full $8 million right away, we’re borrowing the money and paying it back over 30 years. That way, we can handle growth without raising rates too much.

We’re seeing growth across our system, especially in the Pageland area. Right now, we’re working on projects that include about 500 new homes and 200 townhomes. And that’s just the start—there is talk of another development nearby that will add roughly 1,400 more homes.

Individual residences are booming too. When you look at the drawing of the houses below, remember—those kinds of costs happen every day. Overhead services are currently free to members, but they still cost the cooperative money to provide. The underground services cost to the member is a fraction of the entire cost.

That’s the cooperative way: we spread costs out over time, so we can keep rates as low as possible for everyone.

Our overall debt remains among the lowest in South Carolina. Starting a new f iber company on top of this growth has required us to borrow money, and we’ll continue to do so when it helps keep rates down. Even with these investments, we haven’t raised our rates since 2014.

As your trusted leader, I will continue to guide Lynches River Electric Cooperative and RiverNet Connect with integrity and sound decision-making. I’m committed to doing what’s best for our members, our employees, and the communities we serve. Together, we’ll keep building a stronger future.