CEC’s Board of Directors approves facilities upgrade | News

CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY, MO (KFVS) - The Citizens Electric Board of Directors voted Thursday in a special meeting to approve a building project that will upgrade their facilities.

In 2010, a facilities assessment indicated CEC should relocate its administrative office to a central location in Perryville, reduce facility locations from five to three, move the northern and southern service departments to more accessible locations within their respective districts and build a disaster-resistant facility to protect critical technology.

The board approved designs for all three facilities and established a budget, with the intent to build as soon as possible. The board also selected a general contractor and instructed the firm to proceed with the subcontractor bidding process.

“While there is still much work to do, today represents a significant milestone in the facilities planning process,” CEO Van Robinson said Thursday. “Getting the lights back on during a crisis is vital to the lives of Citizens’ members. Currently, CEC’s critical equipment is located in a flood zone and is also vulnerable to an earthquake or tornado. When things are at their worst, we need to be at our best.”

According to CEC, in the past 65 years, the electric load served by Citizens Electric, a not-for-profit utility, has grown more than any other Missouri electric cooperative and now sells the most kilowatt hours in the state. This development is primarily because of new and expanding industries within its service territory, which includes all of
Ste. Genevieve and Perry counties, the northern portion of Cape Girardeau County and the western part
of St. Francois County.

Specific costs are not available at this time; however, the annual expense of implementing this facilities plan is expected to amount to less than 2 percent of CEC’s entire budget, less than the corporation spends annually on right-of-way tree trimming. At 80 percent, Citizens’ says their largest annual expense is buying power.

“Right now is the most fiscally responsible time to build,” Robinson said. “Construction costs and finance rates can’t get much lower.”

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