Pioneer Electric Cooperative Holds 89th Annual Meeting of Members
ST. PARIS, OH – Pioneer Electric’s 89th Annual Meeting of Members took place on March 22, 2025, at Graham Elementary School. The meeting was led by Pioneer’s board chair, Mark Bailey, who reflected on the cooperative’s history and its continued strength over the past nine decades.
Bailey emphasized the cooperative’s dedication to strong governance and active member involvement. He encouraged members to consider serving on Pioneer’s boards and participating in the annual election process. He also shared updates on a three-year strategic plan designed to shape Pioneer’s future direction.
“This plan will help us address current challenges, embrace new opportunities, and position our cooperative for long-term success,” Bailey said. “As part of this effort, we are reviewing our mission statement and developing a vision that reflects our goals for the future.”
During the president’s report and management update, Pioneer President & CEO Tom Musick discussed local cooperative initiatives, increasing strain on the electric system, and the future of electricity costs.
“Our distribution rates have increased twice in the past 10 years — in 2016 and 2024 — an average increase of less than 1% annually. The rising electricity prices are due to the elimination of generation plants requiring billions of dollars of transmission investments to serve the power grid,” Musick said. “We know these rising costs are challenging, so I am also happy to announce we will not need to raise distribution rates in 2025.”
Steve McClay, Pioneer’s director of operations and safety, highlighted the cooperative’s focus on safety, training the next generation of lineworkers, and providing mutual aid to other utilities when needed.
“Our first priority is always our members here at Pioneer,” McClay said. “When our outages are under control, and we are asked, we do provide mutual aid. We first look to our sister co-ops in Ohio. We then help investor-owned and municipal companies in Ohio and cooperatives outside of Ohio.”
Jodi Borger, manager of communications and marketing, spoke about Pioneer’s community engagement efforts, which include building relationships, investing in the next generation, and fostering a strong employee culture. She also announced the return of safety demonstrations for schools, first responders, and community members.
“Over the years, these efforts have led to increased member satisfaction and have reinforced the cooperative principle of concern for community — these are all things we are incredibly proud to be part of,” Borger said.
Election Results
A total of 1,742 Pioneer members voted in this year’s election. Results for the Pioneer Board of Trustees, each of the county boards and three changes to the Code of Regulations were announced during the meeting. As a democratically controlled organization, Pioneer allows members to elect fellow members to serve on their respective boards. Voting was conducted via mail, online, and through Pioneer’s SmartHub app.
All three changes to the Code of Regulations were approved. Those changes included requiring a quorum for nominations, filling vacated seats on the county nominating boards and changes to the notification method for unclaimed capital credits.
Elected to three-year terms on the Pioneer Board of Trustees are: Mark Bailey of Champaign County, Colleen Eidemiller of Miami County, and John Goettemoeller of Shelby County.
A total of twelve individuals were elected to three-year positions on the county boards of the Champaign, Miami, and Shelby districts. Those elected to the Champaign County board are: Gary Clark, Daniel Beasley, Keith Perdue, and Brad Lutz. Elected to the Miami County board are: John Probst, Kimberly Cope, Robert Zimmerman, and Marinus “Ben” Bosma. Those to serve on the Shelby County board are: Bernard Zircher, Terrence Householder, Steve Elsass, and Ryan Spicer.
The election was tabulated and certified by a third-party company, OSG.
