First in-person Trico Annual Meeting in 3 years is a success

Thank you to the more than 500 Members who attended Trico’s Annual Meeting on April 9 at Casino del Sol Resort and many others who watched the meeting live on Facebook.

The 2022 Annual Meeting was Trico’s first in-person meeting in three years. It was great to see so many Members come out and enjoy all that there was to offer. Members were able to purchase trees at a discounted rate of $10 and attend workshops to learn more about electric vehicles, SmartHub and energy saving tips. Members also had the opportunity to ask questions and learn about the benefits of Trico Membership.

“Great meeting, thank you to Trico for all you do,” Narda McClain commented on Facebook. “Breakfast was nice too!”

Members also voted for their Board of Directors. Marsha Thompson ran unopposed in District 4 (Sahuarita, Green Valley) and was reelected for a three-year term. There were three candidates running in District 7 (SaddleBrooke, Mt. Lemmon): Jim Ansell, Mark Kimble and Kevin McCarthy. Mr. McCarthy was elected to replace Jim Pyers, who is retiring after nine years.

Board President Lawrence Hinchliffe thanked Mr. Pyers for his years of service on the Board. “He has been an invaluable source of knowledge about the electric utility industry and his wisdom and humor will be missed.”

Trico CEO and General Manager Brian Heithoff thanked every Trico Member who took the time to come out and participate in the governance of your cooperative. “This is part of what makes a cooperative different and we thank you for coming out today.”

Mr. Heithoff gave an update of Trico’s finances. “2021 was another good year for Trico in which we maintained a strong balance sheet and continued to see steady growth in new members,” he said.

During 2021, Trico returned $5.1 million to Members through the Power Cost Adjuster. 

“We are happy to report that Trico is in good financial shape for 2022 and beyond,” Mr. Heithoff said. “This allowed Trico to retire $3.8 million of capital credits for the benefit of our Members.”

In his President’s Report, Mr. Hinchliffe talked about Trico’s future.

“As a Board, we are excited to help guide Trico into the future as we develop new ways to provide power, like the Chirreon Solar and Battery Facility, while continuing to focus on our community,” Mr. Hinchliffe said. “As a cooperative and a non-profit, our motivation is doing what is best for the Members and providing power when and where it is needed.”

In his Manager’s Report, Mr. Heithoff talked about how the energy business is changing and what Trico is doing to meet the needs of our diverse membership.

“We are constantly working to improve and are ‘working on the business’ so that we can not only deliver a great value today, but even greater value tomorrow,” he said. “Our long-term vision, and therefore our aspiration, is to become your energy provider, and partner, of choice.”

At the conclusion of the meeting, we held a raffle drawing for prizes, including Trico bill credits, an iPad, Amazon Echo Dot, TV, a one-night stay at Casino del Sol Resort, and a 2009 Chevy Silverado 1500 truck.

Charles and Lynda Schutt were the grand prize winners of the truck. They have been Trico Members for three years but were Members of a cooperative in Idaho for many years.

“This is our first time coming to the Annual Meeting,” Mr. Schutt said. “It was a very good presentation. I’ll come to another Annual Meeting. It was very professional. I wasn’t expecting to win a prize.”

“We love Trico,” Mrs. Schutt said. “It’s the easiest of all the utilities to call and pay the bill over the phone.”

Photos by Roni Ziemba