Over 650 members attended the 78th Annual Meeting of Wood County Electric Cooperative, Inc., (WCEC), held Friday afternoon, October 7, 2016, at Governor Jim Hogg City Park in Quitman. Prior to the meeting a free concert, featuring singer/songwriters Adler & Hearne, was a crowd pleaser. This concert was supported, in part, by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Debbie Robinson, CEO/General Manager of WCEC, briefed members about new and future cooperative challenges that have emerged over the last 5 to 10 years. Those included cyber security, replacing the metering system, and the impact of the Clean Power Plan on power supply planning and future sources of generation.
WCEC Board President and District One Director Pat Lindley also welcomed the crowd and announced the results of the board of director’s election, which was conducted by mail and tabulated by accounting firm Knuckols, Duvall, Hallum & Co. He reported the reelection of Cathy Roberts for District 5 and Jane Roberson for District 6, both for three year terms.
Lindley also announced that the board of directors voted to retire capital credits, saying, “We will retire $1 million in capital credits which is 24% of 2015 margins. As is our tradition, checks will be mailed in December. In total, over the last 27 years over $23 million dollars has been returned to our members. We appreciate you supporting our electric co-op and in turn our ability to return capital credits to you.”
Once the business meeting closed, the prize drawing was conducted by Director of Operations, Rusty Mask. Prizes included a wooden rocker and many gift certificates. These prizes were made possible through the generous donations of WCEC’s vendors.
Prior to the annual meeting, four lucky members were awarded $250 in credit to their electric bills. These names were drawn from returned election ballots. Those winners were: Ruth Johnson, Alba; Darin Lindsey, Hawkins; Carla Jackson, Silver Lake; and Verline Griffin, Quitman. The winner of the annual meeting grand prize, a 55-inch flat screen smart TV, was Mary Deuson, Alba.
About Wood Country Electric Cooperative
Wood County Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a not-for-profit electric cooperative with the mission of providing member-customers reliable electric service at a reasonable rate. WCEC serves over 34,000 meters in parts of nine counties throughout northeast Texas, including Camp, Franklin, Hopkins, Rains, Smith, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood. Visit our website for further information about WCEC.