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Doug Bechtel
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Since January, OPALCO's board of directors and management have been working to identify those issues that will affect OPALCO and you in the future. We came up with a Strategic Plan which has identified four areas that are critical to OPALCO's future.
The most important issue identified by the board is our need to get BPA to replace a failed cable from the mainland and to prepare for the period after 2001 when our current power supply contract expires. To accomplish this, our Strategic Plan has identified dozens of individual tasks for us to complete. We are working with BPA to develop a schedule for replacing their failed cable. Once we have established the schedule, we can move on to the thorny issue of who is going to pay for it. We are also working with our elected representatives at the county, state and federal level to insure that they understand OPALCO's problems and needs in the future.
The second strategic issue is to prepare OPALCO for customer choice. We are committed to positioning OPALCO to be the utility of choice for our members. Much of what this is going to take is technical in nature. We have to make sure that our rates are competitive. We have to work at the state and federal levels to insure that the unique needs of our members are addressed during the deliberations. In the future, we will offer different products and services and are working with BPA and others to provide these services.
The third strategic issue is to make sure that OPALCO has an informed and active membership that understands the issues and will help us in the future. The board and I realize that our success as a cooperative depends on the support of you, our members. We are going to redouble our efforts to talk with you one on one and in small groups. We are going to schedule meetings on many of our islands to talk to you, and we are going to visit our smallest islands to find out firsthand your problems and needs. We are in the process of putting together information packages that will help you understand OPALCO and how we have to work together in the future. We also need to provide exceptional service. We continue to improve, and we are not going to stop until we are the best electric utility out there.
The final strategic objective is to look at our role in the community and see what we need to do to improve the quality of life in San Juan County. We will look at other activities where there are needs that are not currently being adequately met. It also includes redoubling our conservation efforts and other energy related services. We remain convinced that electricity is the energy source of choice for San Juan County, and we are looking to see what we can do to improve our market share while reducing costs. Low cost, off peak electricity for home heat and water heaters, surge protectors to protect your electronic equipment, standby generators, and uninterruptible power supplies are areas in which OPALCO may have a role in the future.
Altogether, our Strategic Plan runs over 80 pages. It is a road map for the future that is going to take us several years to accomplish. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, if you don't know where you are going, you might not like where you get to.
Doug Bechtel
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