The general manager of Columbia-based Boone Electric Cooperative says talent retention within the labor force and technical skills are among the biggest challenges facing Boone Electric and other electric cooperatives.
Boone Electric’s Todd Culley joined host Fred Parry in-studio Saturday morning on 939 the Eagle’s “CEO Roundtable”:
“And trying to look at who are we going to pass that baton off to in the future. And so we’re really big on succession planning and training that future leader,” Mr. Culley says.
He tells listeners that Mother Nature and cybersecurity are other important challenges electric cooperatives face. Boone Electric was Missouri’s first electric cooperative and started in 1936. They’re celebrating their 90th anniversary.
Columbia-based Boone Electric has seen a significant escalation of prices for materials and vehicles, according to Mr. Culley:
“The things that it takes to actually build and maintain an electrical system. Significantly higher increases than what we would see in a standard inflation number or consumer pricing index number,” he says.
Mr. Culley tells listeners that there’s been a 300 percent increase in the cost of transformers in the last decade.
Boone Electric serves about 30,000 voting members in Boone County and five other mid-Missouri counties: Audrain, Callaway, Howard, Monroe and Randolph. Rocheport and Harrisburg are served by Boone Electric.
You can listen to Fred Parry’s full interview with Mr. Culley here.