Pioneer Prepays Loan for Savings

Greenville, AL, July 1, 2010

For Immediate Release: Pioneer prepays loan for savings

On June 30, 2010, a prepayment of $734,112 was made to Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC). By paying this note off early, the cooperative will save over half a million dollars in interest expense over the next several years.

"Pioneer Electric was able to generate extra cash flow from excess kilowatt hour sales during the first half of the year," said Joe Watts, Pioneer’s Chief Financial Officer. "It was the perfect time to consider making this move as the note was due to be repriced by CFC on July 1, 2010. As good stewards of the coop’s assets and in looking for ways to save the members money over time, management recommended to the board that the excess cash to used to pay off this long-term note. This was an opportunity we could not miss."

This loan was one of several that pioneer has with CFC, CoBank, and USDA, totaling more than $52,000,000. Executive Vice President and General Manager Steve Harmon said prepaying this loan is one of many steps that the board is taking to build a solid future for the cooperative. "Things have been turning around faster than we expected over the past couple of years. The coop reported a positive equity of over $500,000 at our annual meeting in September of last year, four months ahead of schedule and that number is continuing to grow. We are three months away from the 2010 annual meeting and we are looking forward to reporting more positive growth and showing our members just how bright our future is," he said.

Pioneer Electric Cooperative, Inc. Services more than 10,000 members in rural areas across Butler County and portions of Lowndes, Dallas and Wilcox, Autauga, Crenshaw, Covington, Conecuh and Monroe counties.