After two years of virtual meetings, we are excited to host an in-person meeting with our members. Plans are well underway for the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Pella Cooperative Electric Association. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 5 at Pella Christian High School.
While the meeting will return in person, we have decided to continue with mail-in ballots for the election of directors. One of our seven Cooperative principles is democratic member control and voting by mail provides for greater member participation in that process. This year, members will vote for two directors located in District 3 and At-Large. Be looking for your ballot to arrive by mail soon, and please return it by March 25. It is important to note that there will be no in-person voting at the annual meeting on April 5.
The Cooperative finished 2021 in a financially sound and fiscally responsible position. Net margins for the year were $451,590 which were sufficient to meet all the financial requirements specified within our loan covenants. Another one of our seven Cooperative principles is members’ economic participation. Members contribute equitably to and democratically control, the capital of their Cooperative. One of the responsibilities of your Board of Directors is to determine when it is financially appropriate to return that capital back to the members. We are pleased to report that the Board of Directors returned $348,673 in capital credits during 2021.
Reliability is always a priority for the Cooperative. Our reliability factor was 99.993% for 2021. The average member experienced only seventy-three minutes of outage time for the entire year. Our line crews follow a comprehensive maintenance and inspection program to ensure your Cooperative is providing a high level of service reliability.
We are pleased to report that we continue to see modest growth within our service territory. The Cooperative added 63 new accounts during 2021. We also provided additional energy to existing commercial and industrial members who are expanding their operations. That growth translated into a record year with 59.4 million kilowatt-hours of energy sold. As we grow, it is important that we make system improvements to support the energy needs of the membership. Our operations department completed construction on the new Howell and Thunder Creek substations in 2021. The Howell Substation is located south of Pella and will support Lely North America’s new 60-acre campus - plus additional growth in the Pella area. The Thunder Creek Substation is located approximately three miles north of Pella and will support the northern portion of our service territory.
Our power supplier, Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO), continues to provide the Cooperative with affordable and reliable energy. CIPCO partnered with Clenera LLC, which developed a 127.5-megawatt solar facility on nearly 800 acres in Wapello, IA. CIPCO will purchase 100% of the output from that solar facility. CIPCO also completed the Summit Lake Expansion Project in 2021. As part of the repowering project at the Summit Lake generating plant in Creston, IA, three efficient natural gas-fired reciprocating engines were installed that will produce 110 megawatts of power to assist during times of peak energy use. The leadership team at CIPCO continues to make solid resource planning decisions that provide for reliable sources of energy and add diversity to the generation portfolio.
The Cooperative is proud to support the communities in our area. The USDA Rural Economic Development Loan & Grant program provides funding for rural projects through local utilities. During 2021, the Cooperative was awarded a $1 million pass-through loan from USDA to assist with a business expansion project at Co-Line Manufacturing, Inc. The Cooperative was also awarded a $300,000 grant from USDA to help Forward with Faith build a second home for adults living with disabilities. Since the beginning of our partnership with USDA, the Cooperative has spurred over $5 million of investments and help retain or create over 100 jobs in our communities.
We hope you will take the time to attend your annual meeting on Tuesday, April 5. We look forward to seeing you there.