2026 Annual Meeting Program
2026 Financial Report
2025 Audit Report
2026 Polk-Burnett At-A-Glance
2026 Scholarship Winners
2025 Operation Round Up Grants
2026 Bylaws Amendments, approved by members
1. Notice of Meetings of Directors
2. Dispute Resolution
3. Joint Memberships
4. Director Election Process
Polk-Burnett Electric Cooperative Bylaws
See end of article for Annual Meeting & Member Appreciation Day prize winners
Members gather for 88th Annual Meeting and Appreciation Day
Employees and directors of Polk-Burnett Electric Cooperative welcomed 650 members and guests to their Centuria office Friday, June 5, 2026, for Member Appreciation Day and the 88th Annual Meeting of the cooperative.
The day began at 11 a.m. with food, fun and giveaways for all ages, including bounce houses, DJ music and wagon rides. Employees served burgers, beans, potato salad and root beer floats for lunch. Members received logo beanie hats and were entered into an appreciation drawing for 10 $50 electric bill credits. Children received $5 DQ cards, co-op coloring books and mini hard hats.
“We thank all who attended. We enjoy meeting our members, sharing our appreciation and talking with you about co-op performance, especially our mission to keep the lights on with efficiency and extraordinary service,” said General Manager Steve Stroshane.
88th Annual Meeting
Polk-Burnett Board President Ed Gullickson called the Annual Meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. with a salute to Veterans and board introductions. The one-hour meeting included reports on co-op financials, reliability, member satisfaction, community involvement and 2026 board election results. The meeting concluded with a vote on four bylaw amendments and a member Q&A forum.
All members who stayed for the meeting received a flowering plant from Endeavors Greenhouse and were entered into an additional drawing for 10 $50 electric bill credits.
Cooperative performance
General Manager Steve Stroshane reported on cooperative performance during the past year, highlighting investments in the local electric grid.
“Some of the projects we’re most proud of are the new Cedar Lake Substation, local solar to benefit co-op members and our conversion to underground power lines,” said Stroshane. “Today, we have more miles of underground line than overhead.”
Polk-Burnett delivers power to more than 22,000 electric services across 3,500 miles of power line; about 2,000 are underground and 1,500 are overhead. The co-op installed 274 new services in 2025 and invested $6 million to maintain and upgrade the electric system.
Stroshane announced Cedar Lake Substation, Viola Solar and Luck Solar. All three became operational in December 2025.
“The new substation is a significant milestone for Polk-Burnett and our members,” he said. “It’s our first new substation since 2001 and is important for modernizing the grid and meeting your electricity demand.”
Cedar Lake Substation will improve reliability in East Farmington, Somerset and Star Prairie areas. The $2.2 million substation investment includes new technology that helps restore outages faster and saves the co-op about $25,000 in operational costs per year.
Stroshane reported that the outage time is trending lower for co-op members over the past two decades, with an average of 40 to 50 minutes per year without power, when you factor out major event days.
“When I started at Polk-Burnett, the average was four hours without power,” he said.
When the lights go out, Stroshane said the co-op works to keep members informed through an outage map on the website, outage text alerts and Facebook.
“We know your number one expectation is reliable power. We’re always working to reduce outages, restore power faster and communicate better,” he said.
At the conclusion of his report, Stroshane announced that members gave the co-op a score of 87 out of 100 on the 2025 American Customer Satisfaction Index. “We’re proud of the level of service and satisfaction we provide.”
Financial report
Heather Gerber, Polk-Burnett’s finance and accounting manager, reported that the co-op has $116 million in electric assets, with electric operating revenue of $39 million and electric operating margins of $2.8 million.
“Polk-Burnett does not own power plants; 56% of our revenue, just under $22 million, goes to purchase wholesale power from Dairyland Power, a La Crosse-based generation and transmission cooperative,” said Gerber. “We use 56 cents of every dollar we collect to purchase power on your behalf. The remaining 44 cents is what we work with to deliver power to our community.”
Gerber also explained the co-op’s rate history, and the difference between the daily availability charge and the kWh energy charge on member bills.
“The availability charge covers your share of the cost to build and maintain the electric grid and make sure electricity is available at your location,” she said. “The availability charge is higher in rural areas because there are fewer members to share these fixed costs.”
A 3% rate increase went into effect in July 2025. There will be no increase in 2026.
Gerber reminded members about co-op programs to help with electric bills, including SmartHub, EnergySense rebates, prepay, auto pay and budget billing. She reported that Polk-Burnett gave $153,262 in rebates to help members boost energy efficiency and lower bills in 2025.
During her report, Gerber introduced Luck and Viola Solar, two new arrays connected to our local power grid in December 2025.
“Each array generates power for about 600 homes,” she said. “Local solar benefits us by locking in our price of power at a fixed rate for the next 30 years. This helps offset power market costs,” said Gerber. “Additionally, the power stays on our system and relieves high summer demand at our substations.”
Each solar development sits on small, 13-acre sites that have been restored as pasture and prairie habitat.
“Polk-Burnett strategically invests in utility-scale solar when it provides financial and operational benefits for members. We do not own these arrays, but purchase the power they generate,” explained Gerber.
Gerber reported that Polk-Burnett Electric Cooperative is financially strong and Board President Gullickson said the co-op returned $2.2 million in Capital Credits to members in 2025. “One of the greatest advantages of co-op membership is Capital Credits. As a cooperative, any money we collect above and beyond expenses is returned to members,” Gullickson said.
Commitment to Community
Gullickson continued with the co-op’s commitment to community report, stating, “We work to improve our local quality of life not only with reliable power, but also with support for our community.”
In 2025, Polk-Burnett’s Operation Round Up donated $69,300 to 68 local nonprofits.
“More than $1.2 million has been awarded through Operation Round Up since its beginning in 1998 thanks to the generosity of members who round up their electric bill,” said Gullickson.
“Polk-Burnett’s scholarship program also makes a difference,” he said. “The board approved $154,000 in scholarships for 77 students in the Class of 2026. Each recipient will receive $2,000 to continue their education, our largest scholarship amount ever,” Gullickson said.
The co-op awards scholarships to the sons and daughters of co-op members who demonstrate community service. Scholarships are funded with unclaimed Capital Credits that would be forfeited to the state if not used for education, and by the generosity of co-op members who donate their Capital Credits.
In addition, Gullickson announced that co-op employees volunteered more than 600 hours in our community. Their 2025 projects included school career fairs and safety demonstrations, blood drives, splitting wood for Interfaith Caregivers and Polk-Burnett’s Holiday Gift Drive for local children.
Gullickson concluded his report with safety reminders for co-op members, asking members to stay away from downed power lines, to move over for crews on the road and to call Diggers Hotline to have underground utilities marked. “Nothing is more important than keeping our homes and families safe,” he said.
Director election returns three incumbents to board
Members re-elected incumbent directors in co-op districts 1, 2 and 3. John Behling of Weld Riley law firm and system counsel for Polk-Burnett, reported the results of the 2026 board election.
Cindy Thorman of Osceola ran unopposed in District 1 and received 266 votes.
Mike Morris of Luck ran unopposed in District 2 and received 278 votes.
Ed Gullickson of Amery ran unopposed in District 3 and received 256 votes.
Voter participation was 11%, with 675 paper ballots and 158 online ballots received.
Directors are elected for three-year terms. The election was conducted by an independent election contractor, with all members in districts 1, 2 and 3 receiving a ballot and voting instructions earlier this spring.
Bylaw vote and member forum
At the conclusion of the meeting, members participated in a bylaw vote and Q&A forum.
Members unanimously approved amendments on four bylaws: notice of director meetings, dispute resolution, joint membership and director election process.
During the Q&A forum, members asked co-op leadership about data centers, underground power lines, funding for EnergySense rebates and building near transformer boxes.
Member Appreciation Drawing, $50 Energy Credit
Dale Mortenson, Luck
Kenneth Prusak, Colorado Springs, CO
Joseph Stinar, St. Paul, MN
Roger Shaide, Luck
Michael R. Johnston, Cushing
Donna Knobloch, Frederic
Robert Welch, Burnsville, MN
Randy Swenson, St. Croix Falls
Judy Becker, Turtle Lake
Emma Bystrom, Balsam Lake
Annual Meeting Drawing, $50 Energy Credit
Allen Sellent, Cumberland
Norma Henning, Bayport, MN
Jim & Connie Siirila, Andover, MN
Craig Swanberg, Frederic
Richard Kaiser, Milltown
Charles Cernohous, River Falls
Lynn Paulke, Somerset
Regis Hammer, Turtle Lake
Carolyn Yost, Osceola
Kenneth Fehlen, Osceola
Congratulations and thank you to all who attended! See you next year!
Polk-Burnett is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative that provides reliable electricity with efficiency and extraordinary service to more than 22,000 homes, farms and businesses.
