News > CEO’s Message – August 2025

CEO’s Message – August 2025

Facility Focus: Open for Business!

Stearns Electric is officially open for business at our new operations center and headquarters! We’re excited to continue delivering the dependable service you expect from our new location at 700 Kraft Drive SE in Melrose. 

MOVING IN
The Cooperative earned its certificate of occupancy on July 21 and spent the rest of the month preparing the space for employees. 

The first employees moved in on August 4. Stearns Electric was intentional to move employees into their new workspaces over the course of several weeks to ensure business operations remained unchanged. Despite this exciting time for our Cooperative, our members still rely on us to respond efficiently to outages, accurately calculate monthly electric bills, manage member payments, maintain the security of their personal information, and answer member calls and questions. 

A strategically planned transition allowed us to maintain normal business operations throughout the moving process and prepare for any unexpected hiccups. The last employees are scheduled to move into their new workspaces by August 29. 

COST TO MEMBERS
We know members are curious about the facility and its effect on rates. The Cooperative’s Board approved the construction of the facility at $21.5 million on April 2, 2024. The majority of the cost to finance the new operations center and headquarters was factored into the 2023 rate adjustment for members, which was implemented in May 2023. 

Now that the facility is complete, we don’t anticipate the cost of the facility to directly contribute to a future rate increase for members. However, other industry factors like wholesale power generation, rising costs of equipment, materials and services, and planned transmission projects will likely have an impact on our Cooperative, and therefore our members, into the future. 

You can review other frequently asked questions about our new facility on our website, stearnselectric.org/melrose-facility. 

OPEN HOUSE
Lastly, I want to invite you to our Open House on October 1. We will provide guided tours and celebrate this major Co-op milestone with you, our members. You can find all of the details on the front page of this issue. I hope you can join us! 

This new facility represents more than just a new address. It’s an investment in the future of our Cooperative and the services we provide to you. Thank you for your continued trust and support as we continue to serve our members. 

Sincerely,

Matt O’Shea
Chief Executive Officer