Pioneer Electric Cooperative Celebrates 90th Annual Meeting
PARIS, OH – Pioneer Electric’s 90th Annual Meeting of Members took place on March 21, 2026, at Graham Elementary School, bringing together cooperative members to review the past year and look ahead to the future.
The meeting was led by Board Chair Mark Bailey, who highlighted the cooperative’s continued focus on strong governance, member engagement, and long-term planning. He shared updates on a newly completed three-year strategic plan designed to guide Pioneer through an evolving energy landscape.
Treasurer Roger Bertke reported that Pioneer received a clean audit for 2025 and returned $3 million in capital credits to more than 20,000 current and former members. Since 1981, the cooperative has refunded more than $62 million, reinforcing its commitment to financial stewardship.
During the management update, President & CEO Tom Musick emphasized safety, reliability, and responsible growth. He recognized recent storm restoration efforts and outlined infrastructure investments, including construction of the Roberts Substation and future plans for a Troy substation.
“We are focused on delivering safe, reliable electric service at the best possible value,” Musick said. “We will not raise rates for local distribution in 2026.”
Members of the management team also discussed the role of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, as a tool to improve efficiency and outage response while maintaining a strong focus on people and service. The cooperative addressed growing electricity demand from large power users, such as data centers, and reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring those costs are not passed on to residential members.
Election results were also announced, with voting conducted and certified by Survey & Ballot Systems:
For the Board of Trustees, John Vulgamore (Champaign County), Trevor Lavy (Miami County), and Roger Bertke (Shelby County) were elected.
For the Champaign County Nominating Board, elected members include Wes Duer (Area 1), Danielle Bair (Area 2), Rodney Wilkins (Area 3), and Dale Thompson (Area 4).
For the Miami County Nominating Board, Jerry Walter (Area 5), Daniel Rittenhouse (Area 6), Tyler Mumford (Area 7), and James Sommer (Area 8) were elected.
For the Shelby County Nominating Board, Jennifer Henke (Area 9), Eric Ditmer (Area 10), Neil Zumberger (Area 11), and Seth Middleton (Area 12) were elected.
Elected board trustees were sworn in during the meeting.
