July Editorial

In past articles and at our annual and member meetings, I’ve spoken about the ongoing leadership transition and natural attrition occurring at Cass County Electric. On April 1, 2025, our Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) retired after 35-plus years at the cooperative. That date also marked one full year for both our new Vice President of Member and Energy Services and for me as President and CEO. Our Manager of Human Resources brings 25-plus years of cooperative experience and has been with CCEC for the past two years, and our Vice President of Engineering and Operations has been in her role for almost 10 years and with the cooperative for 30-plus years.

After giving our new leaders time to settle into their roles and responsibilities, we have been working on a new Strategic Business Plan, including initiatives, benchmarking, prioritizing, and setting goals with timelines. Looking ahead, we are also preparing for a leadership transition in Engineering and Operations within the next few years.

Part of my role involves working with the executive leadership team to align departmental strategies with our overall company goals and initiatives. Building a strong team is essential to providing the leadership and direction our employees and members deserve.

Reducing our annual budget increase by 0.5% to 1% is one new strategic initiative that I have been working on with our CFO, Andy Weiss. By lowering the budget cap—set by our board of directors—we aim to manage expenses more effectively, preserve a healthy balance sheet, and ensure long-term financial stability. Andy will continue overseeing our long-term debt and ensuring a well-balanced emergency fund portfolio. Andy and I work closely with the board of directors on all financial goals, initiatives, and actions.

I have tasked Mitch Lyter, our CIO, with leading our newly developed Technology Committee. This committee is responsible for evaluating all technology-related matters across the cooperative. Under Mitch’s leadership, the Technology Committee is taking on a key initiative: evaluating the benefits, risks, and opportunities of emerging technologies—particularly artificial intelligence. This team will also continue to focus on cybersecurity to ensure the safety of our members’ data and information.

Chad Brousseau, Vice President of Member and Energy Services, is responsible for engaging with our members, including payment options, online tools, managing donations, community service, and working on our new technology projects. Chad and his team are collaborating with Engineering on a new home battery storage project. This project is taking place at a member’s home that is participating in our residential time-of-day rate. Once sufficient data is collected, we’ll share findings and next steps with our members.

Jodi Bullinger, Vice President of Engineering and Operations, has devoted nearly her entire career to Cass County Electric. Under her leadership, the team has achieved record levels of reliability for our members and made significant advancements in the development of our distribution system. As she prepares for retirement in the next year or two, Jodi is actively mentoring her team to ensure a smooth transition of leadership and responsibilities.

As we navigate this season of leadership transition and strategic innovation, one thing remains unchanged: our commitment to you, our members. With fresh ideas, decades of experience, and a shared vision for the future, we're ready to power the next chapter—together.