LaDel Laub - President and CEO of Dixie Escalante Electric

Dixie Escalante Electric is proud to be the primary sponsor of the Kite Festival for the 11th consecutive year. The Kite Festival has been a great community event that has involved thousands of participants and has benefited thousands of youth through the associated reading program. The employees of Dixie Escalante Electric collectively donate a great deal of time to the Kite Festival and view it as a means of giving something back to the community. We appreciate the large number of sponsors, the many volunteers, and the steering committee for their dedicated support of the Kite Festival.

Dixie Escalante Electric is an electric cooperative providing electric Utility services to approximately 15,000 customers in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Dixie Escalante Electric is head quartered in Beryl, north of St. George, but also has an office in Bloomington. The mission of Dixie Escalante Electric is to provide its members with safe, reliable, efficient and equitable energy services that will enable its members to survive and the community to thrive in an economically volatile environment.

Dixie Escalante Electric is part of a large network of organizations that build strength and viability. These entities include Deseret Power, the Cooperative Finance Cooperation, Utah Rural Electric Association, and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Desert Power is owned by and supplies wholesale power to six electric cooperatives including Dixie Escalante Electric. Deseret Power owns the coal mine and railroad system that supplies coal to the power plant. As a result, wholesale supply rates for Dixie Escalante Electric remain very stable. Dixie Escalante Electric has been a very active participant and supporter in the communities that it serves. Dixie Escalante Electric contributes several thousands of dollars in property taxes and sales taxes each year that help to sustain and build the community and local schools. Dixie Escalante Electric also contributes energy/franchise taxes to the cities in which it operates. Dixie Escalante Electric has supported the Washington County Economic Development Council, Habitat for Humanity, Geothermal Heat Pumps in local schools, and an annual Youth Leadership Training Program.

Dixie Escalante Electric operates as an electric cooperative. All co-ops are businesses with open and voluntary membership. The owners, users, and controllers are one and the same. Co-op members are allowed a voice through the election of members who serve on the board of directors. Margins or profits that remain over and above the cost of actually delivering the service to Dixie Escalante Electric customers are allocated back to the members. These allocated margins (called "patronage capital" or "capital credits") are returned to the patrons who provided the capital when the Board of Directors determines it is financially feasible. Dixie Escalante has also been involved in economic development in the area for many years, including the development of the Fort Pierce Industrial Park. Dixie Escalante partnered with the City of St. George, the State School and Institutional Trust Lands and a private developer in the mid 1990's to turn raw ground south of St. George into a thriving business and industrial park.

Because Dixie Escalante Electric is a cooperative it does things a little differently than other utilities. For example, it does not generate money to keep stock holders happy; members of the co-op just want to warm their homes and turn the lights on when it gets dark, same as you. As a result, Dixie Escalante Electric does not inflate electrical costs. Dixie Escalante Electric co-op members get electricity at the lowest possible rate, with the highest levels of service. In fact, Dixie Escalante Electric has some of the lowest electric rates in the entire State and Region for that matter.