Elmhurst Mutual Power & Light > Carousel > Annual Meeting ‐ 2025

Annual Meeting ‐ 2025

Posted: May 1, 2025 at 7:00 am

5 women sit at a table with laptops, smiling and posing for a group photo.The Elmhurst Mutual Power & Light Company annual meeting was held on April 24 at Marvel Café. Thank you to Marvel Café for their hospitality and for hosting us for another year.

Board President John Costanti gave opening remarks and briefed the audience on regulatory and environmental challenges Elmhurst is facing, as well as the progress Elmhurst has made in modernizing our computer systems, responding to community growth, and strengthening our grid.

Ed Ramos from DP&C presented the financial statement audit results.

Clair Allen from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) shared that we had a warm and dry October before heavier precipitation arrived in November and December. There was near-record-high pre‐January snowfall in parts of Oregon’s Blue Mountain range. We had 5 to 6 weeks of colder temperatures and better snow accumulation starting in February. Then we finished with slightly warmer temperatures and a wet finish in March. Because of these conditions, our late winter accumulation improved along the eastern Columbia Basin, from Canada down to SE Idaho.

A group of diverse individuals standing together in a well-lit room, engaged in conversation.Our regional snowpack was 95% of normal starting in April. 2025 is a maintenance and refueling year for the nuclear reactor in Hanford, which was taken out of service this month. Slightly above average temperatures are forecasted for the region through July and the regional water supply through September is expected to be 90% of normal.

All of this weather is significant when assessing the Columbia Basin, which is the source of most of our energy in the Pacific Northwest. BPA is Elmhurst’s sole source of power, which is 85% hydropower, about 10% nuclear and 5% other sources (wind and power purchases as necessary).

A group of people seated in chairs, engaged in conversation within a well-lit room.Andy Gerde from Evergreen Energy shared that Elmhurst customers participated in 77 energy efficiency projects in 2024. This resulted in $165,282 in incentives paid with a 446,034 kWh Bus Bar savings. These savings are equivalent to powering 62.4 homes for 1 year.

Elmhurst General Manager, Bryan Bertacchi, shared information about our metering program, supply chain challenges (31‐37% increases in key materials), cost of power increases 9.8% to 24%, and area growth (800 new customers in 2024). Elmhurst continues to focus on cost‐based reliability and is proactive in tree trimming, pole testing, and cybersecurity.

Thank you to everyone who attended. It was good to see many familiar faces. Thank you for your support of Elmhurst and the great questions and engagement. We hope to continue to serve our community for many more years to come.