CEO Corner

If you tuned into our Annual Meeting in August, you might have learned how the energy industry is changing faster than it has in decades. Demand for electricity continues to grow. Technology continues to evolve. The expectations of our members continue to grow. The way we generate, deliver, and manage electricity is changing before our eyes.

Those changes bring challenges, but they also create tremendous opportunity. Growing demand, rising costs, and the need for significant investments in new generation and upgraded transmission infrastructure are realities our industry is facing. Our job isn’t to predict every change. Our job is to prepare for it – planning carefully, investing wisely, and positioning your Cooperative for long-term strength. We’ve already seen what thoughtful investment and long-term planning can accomplish through White River Connect.

As we move forward, our focus will be on ensuring the continued success of both White River Valley Electric and White River Connect. A strong fiber subsidiary creates opportunities to strengthen our communities, support economic development, improve the way we operate and serve members, which all creates long-term value for the Cooperative as a whole.

We’ll approach those opportunities the same way we approach our electric business – with discipline, good data, thoughtful planning, and a clear understanding that every decision must support the long-term strength of the organization and the members we serve.

That means making thoughtful and sound investments, using data to make better decisions, planning for long-term financial strength, protecting reliability, supporting responsible growth across the communities we serve, and always keeping our focus where it belongs – on you, our members.

As you get to know me, you’ll also hear me talk about innovation. Not because technology is exciting, but because innovation should improve our operations and make life better for our members. Whether that’s improving reliability, responding faster to outages, enhancing communication, or delivering better service – technology is simply a tool to help us fulfill our mission. The future will undoubtedly bring new opportunities and new challenges, but I believe we are positioned well for both. While our industry may continue to change, the principles that define this Cooperative never will.

Beau Jackson, Chief Executive Officer