2025 89th Annual Meeting Recap

Cullman Electric Cooperative hosted its 89th annual meeting on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, at Northbrook Church in Cullman. More than 800 members showed up to register at the meeting and received a $20 bill credit. An estimated crowd of more than 1,600 total guests enjoyed a beautiful morning with hot dogs and drinks cooked and served by the Holly Pond High School Band Boosters, live music by the Avenue G Band, an electric vehicle showcase hosted by Drive Electric Alabama, a health fair hosted by Cullman Regional, plus co-op activities and giveaways

Cullman Electric CEO Tim Culpepper addressed the challenges the co-op has faced over the past year serving a community that is experiencing record growth.

“It is a testament to our communities that so many people want to live and work here,” Culpepper said. “But, growth brings challenges and costs. We have built two new substations at Trade and Berlin in the last couple of years and are building two more in the next few years at Jones Chapel and on Highway 91 to meet the increased demand for electricity. 

“We are also expanding our capacity to serve our members with a new warehouse addition in the next couple of years. As our communities grow, the co-op has to grow in order to serve our members.”

Cullman Electric also announced that its broadband internet subsidiary Sprout Fiber Internet was scheduled to complete systemwide construction in 2026, making Sprout available to every co-op member by the end of next year.

“We have signed up over 15,000 subscribers, and your response to our high-speed broadband internet service has been phenomenal,” Culpepper said. “Over 45 percent of those who are eligible have signed up for high-speed internet service with us. It will have taken over five years to complete our build out. We could have done it faster, but we wanted to do it right and build a stable, high-quality system that would provide the best possible service to you, our members.”

A total of 4,940 co-op members voted in the board of trustees election which saw incumbents Trina Walker (District 2), James Fields Jr. (District 4) and Daryl Calvert (District 6) win re-election for three-year terms. 

A special measure on this year’s ballot with recommended updates to the co-ops bylaws passed with a favorable vote from 70 percent of the ballots cast. One of the updates provides Cullman Electric the option to offer electronic voting for future annual meetings.

 

ELECTION RESULTS

Board of Trustees - District 2

Andrew Pinyan     1,991

Trina Walker         2,805

 

Board of Trustees - District 4

James Fields Jr.   4,423

 

Board of Trustees - District 6

Jeff Byars                              2,083

Daryl Calvert                         2,700

 

Revisions to Co-op Bylaws

For                         2,807

Against                  1,226