On September 18, members and guests gathered at CVEC’s main office in Arrington, VA for the 87th Annual Meeting. Those who were unable to attend in person were able to watch a live stream of the meeting.
Executive Vice President and COO, Bruce Maurhoff discussed the significant changes that have taken place for CVEC and its Board. In late 2023, CVEC’s longest serving director, Henry Chiles, announced his plans to retire after 46 years of service. Mr. Chiles graciously continued to serve until an interim Director was chosen. Mr. Maurhoff read aloud the resolution that was presented to Mr. Chiles in July thanking him for his unwavering commitment and dedication to CVEC and its members.
In January of this year, CVEC was deeply saddened by the passing of Director Gloria W. Vest. Mrs. Vest was a dedicated member of the Board for over 2 decades and helped guide the Cooperative through times of significant change and transformation along with the foresight of the need for fiber to the home broadband in rural areas. Director Chair H.T. Brown and President and CEO Gary Wood presented a resolution in her memory. In attendance to accept the resolution were daughters Cameron Vest and Jana Harrison, as well as son-in-law Chad Harrison. “My mom loved CVEC. She loved Firefly… It’s such an honor and humbling experience to be here to accept this for her,” stated Jana. “We appreciate you for loving our mom for the years and allowing her to serve.”
Executive Vice President and CFO Tina Mallia provided an updated on the Cooperative’s strategic planning initiatives, which included a recap of CVEC’s efforts to transform lives in the communities it serves. Mallia also recognized the 4CVEC students who earned scholarships from the VMDAEC and the CVEC participants who earned awards at the 2024 Gaff-n-Go rodeo.
Director Chair H.T. Brown provided a recap of the Cooperative’s achievements and touched on some of the new projects that will help the Cooperative provide better service to its members. He provided an update on CVEC’s subsidiary, Firefly Fiber BroadbandSM, noting that Firefly continues to expand in neighboring areas through construction of its own fiber as well as partnerships with Rappahannock Electric Cooperative and Dominion Energy. With the help of significant state and local grant funds over the next 3 years, Firefly will more than double the number of locations with gigabit speed service available as we continue to work to bridge the digital divide in the rural areas of our central Virginia region.
After an update on the Cooperative’s financials by Director Treasurer Jace Goodling, CEO Wood provided a look into the probability of higher rates in 2025 and the future of power supply. “We have an issue in the nation, and we have an issue even more in our region because we are not getting enough generation, but are continuing to see load growth,” stated Wood. He went on to explain that the growing number of data centers combined with limitations on generation will lead to higher prices, a stressed transmission system, and an increased likelihood of rotating outages in the coming years.
Wood assured members that CVEC plans to take steps to address the short-term issue, as well as sound the alarm with elected officials, urging them to act before an impending failure happens on our critical infrastructure.
In the conclusion of the meeting, Attorney Phil Payne announced the results of the election. Congratulations to the following Directors on their election or re-election:
Dr. Brian Bates – reelected to serve CVEC’s South District
H.T. Brown – reelected to serve CVEC’s West District
Francis Caruccio– elected to serve CVEC’s West District
Lisa S. Jackson – elected to serve CVEC’s West District
Director Jackson was elected to fill the vacancy left by Director Gloria W. Vest, who would have been up for reelection this year. Director Caruccio was elected to serve a 1-year term after the retirement of Henry Chiles. Next year, he will be up for election for a 3-year term.
CVEC would like to thank the members, employees, and special guests Jim Robertson, Sam Brumberg, and Marin Sanders who were in attendance.