Citizens Energy Cooperative of Wisconsin - Will It Dissolve? |
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By Robert Park Dec. 20, 2007, updated Dec. 24, 2007, Jan. 15 and 24, Feb. 12, 14 and 24, 2008 The Director of the Citizens Energy Cooperative (CEC) and all but 3 of its 7 member Board of Directors have resigned. One of the remaining Board members has proposed a dissolution vote. (Dissolution of cooperatives is regulated under ch. 185 Wis. Stats. and ch. 193 Wis. Stats., subch. IX.) The Coop was thrown into crisis by closure of its thermal collector supplier, Solar Mining Co., at the beginning of January, 2007. The CEC Web site was taken offline in November 2007. The CEC Bylaws require the Board to set a date and site for the annual meeting of members each February. In Jan. 14, 2008 email, the 3 remaining CEC Board members decided to meet on Saturday Jan. 19 at 1 pm at the RENEW office, 222 S. Hamilton St. in Madison. (Copied on the email, besides the Board members, were former CEC Director Debra Lindgren, Kari Heinrich of Focus on Energy, and CEC member activist Robert Park.) The Board members decided to schedule an annual membership meeting for 1 pm on Feb. 23 in Madison, and asked that the CEC web site mirror at http://solar.madisonwi.us/cecofwi/ be continued. Email to CEC members about the Feb. 23 meeting was sent out on Feb. 11, and the meeting agenda was posted by Solar Owner News on Feb. 12. Prior to the Feb. 23 meeting, answers to member questions were posted below:
Q. WHY WAS SOLAR MINING SO DIRECTLY TIED TO CEC--HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?
Q. What is the status of the 3 large scale systems referred to as owned by CEC in the 2005 Annual Report? The CEC annual membership meeting was held between 1 and 4 pm on Feb. 23 at the WECC building in Madison. Those attending voted not to act on the resolution to dissolve the cooperative at present. Minutes of the meeting will be posted here. |