Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative, Inc. consumers exercised their rights as member/owners when they re-elected three trustees at the Cooperative’s April 15 annual meeting at the Hardin County Fairgrounds in Kenton.

Incumbent trustees Gene McCluer, District 7, John Thiel, District 8 and Paul Trihaft, District 9 won new terms.

John Metcalf, president/CEO, spoke with the approximately 500 members and guests about what he and the board think the future holds for Mid-Ohio and the electric industry.

Metcalf and the board are concerned with major changes coming to our energy supply in the near future. He stated “These changes have and will continue to have an impact on what you pay for electricity. Networking together to solve these challenges will be our best strategy as we move forward.”

Metcalf explained that an extensive grassroots political effort, led by the Cooperative’s political action program known as ACRE® (Action Committee for Rural Electrification) worked with state legislators to educate them on the unique qualities of Ohio Electric Cooperatives. Past successes of the ACRE program include keeping Cooperatives exempt from deregulation and state kilowatt-hour tax legislation.

Metcalf added that more recently, two new issues have developed for electric consumers: Ohio’s energy bill introduced by Gov. Ted Strickland and the federal global climate change debate.

He asked members to educate themselves on the changes facing their electric cooperative as well as the electric utility industry. He added that by joining ACRE, members could “support Congressional and Ohio legislative candidates, regardless of party, who share public policy goals that are consistent with the mission of member-owned electric cooperatives.”

Pat O’Loughlin, Vice President, Engineering and Power Supply and COO with Buckeye Power, Inc., outlined several factors that could cause increases in power costs, such as rising fuel prices and increased environmental controls at the cooperative-owned Cardinal Generating Station in eastern Ohio.

“One of the biggest challenges is that we continue to use more energy,” O’Loughlin pointed out.

Madeline Lowery of the Mid-Ohio Energy Community Fund provided an update on the fund’s 2007 activities, noting that $34,000 was awarded to area groups during the year.

Mid-Ohio Energy serves more than 8,000 members in parts of 10 counties: Marion, Hardin, Allen, Morrow, Wyandot, Crawford, Union, Auglaize, Logan and Hancock.