May 2025 – Pioneer Electric officially opens its petition period for nominations for its upcoming board elections at its 2025 Annual Meeting. Interested members in districts 5, 6 or 9  and who can abide by the outlined qualifications for the board may submit a completed application packet by July 14, 2025, to be placed on the ballot for nomination.

“Democratic control is a pillar of the cooperative model and sets us apart from other organizations,” says Rae Gorman, Energy Services Manager for Pioneer Electric. “We rely on our board to ensure that we maintain a member-focused mission of service and a healthy and strong business for those we serve.”

New Election Process: 

In 2024, members voted to accept the proposed bylaw change to accept nominations for the board solely through petition. Before the change, Pioneer Electric utilized a “Committee on Nominations” to elect nominees for its board of trustees, voted on by the membership at the cooperative’s annual meeting. The approved bylaw change now stipulates that nominations be accepted by petition only.

Petition packet:

Pioneer Electric members interested in pursuing the nomination for Pioneer Electric’s board of trustees must submit a completed petition packet before the application deadline at 5:00 PM on Monday, July 14, 2025. A packet can be picked up in person at Pioneer Electric’s headquarters or online.

Qualifications:

Per the qualifications outlined in the cooperative bylaws. Interested parties must:
(a) is not a member in good standing, at least eighteen years of age and bona fide resident for a minimum of one year of the particular district served or to be served by the Cooperative, which such person is to represent. Place of residence shall be defined as where a member is registered to vote and spends most of his/her time;
(b) is employed by or holds a material financial interest in a competing enterprise or a business directly and substantially competing with the Cooperative;
(c) sells goods or services in substantial quantity to the Cooperative, or to a substantial number of members;
(d) is employed by or has a material financial interest in a business or enterprise that sells goods or services in substantial quantity to the Cooperative, or to a substantial number of members;
(e) holds office in the Cooperative for which a salary is paid;

House Bill 2149 introduces consumer protection for Kansans when purchasing or financing renewable energy systems from vendors and includes specific rules for vendors regarding maintenance and repair obligations, warranties and transparency. The bill also provides for certain changes to the existing parallel generation statute, including provisions for how electric utilities must size and compensate for distributed energy systems owned by members that are installed behind-the-meter and interconnect under a parallel generation rider.

 

The Pioneer Electric Board will meet at 8:30 a.m. on June 25, 2025, at Pioneer’s headquarters, 1850 W Oklahoma, in Ulysses, KS, to discuss and vote on the changes as they relate to Pioneer Electric’s Parallel Generation Rider. This meeting is open to any member wishing to attend.

Members with questions regarding the changes to Pioneer Electric’s Parallel Generation rider, or who would like more information, are encouraged to contact its Energy Solutions department by calling 620-356-1211 or attend the June 25, 2025 meeting. Additional information regarding HB 2149 is available on the state of Kansas’ website.

 

How This Affects Co-op Members

As of July 1, 2025, when members want to install solar systems, the retailers selling those systems must do the following:

• Be properly registered in Kansas and in good standing
• Provide clear disclosure documents in at least 10-point font
• List total aggregate costs in bold, highlighted type
• Explain ownership of tax credits, rebates, and incentives
• Show proof of proper permitting and installation
• Pause customer payments if systems aren’t operational within 90 days

These protections will help members avoid misleading sales practices. Kansas Electric Co-ops will have input through an Attorney General advisory group that will develop standard disclosure forms

Pioneer Electric’sResponsibilities

Under this law, Pioneer Electric will need to:

• Share accurate interconnection requirements with solar retailers upon request
• Disclose historic compensation rates for the past five years
• Process member applications within 90 days (unless studies are needed)
• Install and maintain necessary meters at the co-op’s expense
• Allow distributed energy systems, including in total those utilizing net-metering and parallel generation, on the grid each year:
  • 6% of the utilities’ peak demand by July 2025
  • 7% by July 2026
  • 8% by July 2027 and beyond

How Will This Be Implemented into Pioneer Electric’s Parallel Generation Tariff?

• Parallel Generation will be made available to Pioneer Electric members on a first-come, first-served basis until the total of all distributed energy resources interconnected on its system reaches the stated percentage of Pioneer’s historic peak load.
• The nameplate capacity limits of distributed energy systems will be removed from the rider. Limits set in Pioneer’s net metering rider (20-NM) will remain.
• Distributed Energy Systems interconnected with Pioneer Electric’s infrastructure will still be required to be sized to the load. Per HB 2149, this will be based upon kilowatt hour usage.
• The compensation paid for excess energy will be based upon 100% of Pioneer’s avoided cost of energy. HB 2149 provides for a reduction of this percentage from 150% down to 100%.

• • Avoided Costs is defined as the incremental cost to a utility of electric energy that such utility would generate itself or purchase from another source, and as “avoided cost” is interpreted by the FERC from time-to-time.