Menu
DES Power Board holds monthly meeting, discusses heat, recent court action
WILLIAM NORTHCUTT
DES and the Power Board met Wednesday, June 28, to discuss monthly charge-offs, collections, purchasing powers, and a recent court action in which the DES recovered $50,000 from Dyersburg Elevator Co., and UMB Bank.
Attending were board members Chairman David Hayes, Tommy Allmon, Rawlin Fowlkes, Walt Bradshaw, and Dyersburg Alderman Dennis Moody. Others present included Dyersburg Electric President/CEO Stephen Lane, Dyersburg Electric V.P. of Construction and Maintenance Robert Smith, Dyersburg Electric V.P. of Finance/Secretary Robby Richards, Dyersburg Electric V.P. of Information Technology Alan Davis, and attorney John Lannom of Lannom Coronado Haight PLLC.
The meeting began with an approval of minutes from May and continued with an accident report. Richards noted that as of June 29, 2023, the DES had operated 2,195 days accident free, resulting in zero hours of lost time.
Richards noted that “May and June are normally tough on financials, and with the weather we’re anticipating, the numbers will not be kind to us as we close out the year,” he said.
Richards reported that DES is still waiting for Covington to reimburse them for costs associated with assisting that city during the wind and storm events of late January. Bradshaw asked if the reimbursement would go into the expense fund, and Richards affirmed.
Richards again emphasized that DES workers did a professional job of it, completing in 10 days what would usually take two full weeks to achieve.
In terms of monthly collections and charge-offs, Richards distributed information pointing out that total office collections for May amounted to $864.25, whereas bad debt charge-offs equaled $833.41.
Moody motioned to approve the figures, Allmon seconded, and the motion carried.
The board moved on to the DES’s “Cyber and Information Security Policy,” a standard policy protecting consumer identity and information. Bradshaw moved to approve the policy, Fowlkes seconded, and all said, “Aye.”
The next agenda item dealt with property damage charge-offs, which amounted to $15,881.29. The board was reminded that these charge-offs occur only once or twice a year. Lane noted that around 50% of drivers are insured and that the DES collects a majority from those responsible for damages. Moody moved to approve the charge-off figures, Allmon seconded, and the motion carried.
Up next, the DES asked for a revision of the CEO’s purchasing limit, from $50,000 to $100,000. Citing instances which required speed to remedy a situation, Lane said, “It would be helpful. You don’t have to do that, but it would make my job a lot easier.” Hayes noted that the board would raise the limit, with the proviso that Lane would report to them when purchases exceed $50,000. Lane agreed, and the board voted to approve the measure.
The meeting then saw a discussion of energy resources. Lane mentioned the push toward the “greening of America,” which, he asserted, didn’t consider that solar energy still had to rely on batteries or coal power. He further criticized the move away from the nation’s reliance on coal as an energy source. He said that the TVA “has to use gas” to power it’s solar works.
The meeting concluded with discussions of nuclear power, members of the board and DES having recently visited a nuclear facility. Discussing nuclear waste, they remarked that the half-life is 1,000,000 years. “Forever,” Hayes said. “That’s a long time,” Lannom responded..
The meeting concluded with a discussion about a recent lawsuit between the DES and the failed Dyersburg Elevator Co. along with their representative UMB Financial Corporation. Settled out of court, the suit resulted in a recovery of $50,000. Dyersburg Elevator Co. allegedly continued using DES services, even as it was going into receivership and the company’s leaders knew it couldn’t pay for the services. Lane noted that although DES didn’t recover the full $65,000 plus penalties, the court action was “a matter of principle.”
The board will meet again on July 19, 2023, noon, at DES.