Wood County Electric Cooperative Inc. 73rd Annual Meeting

Over 800 members attended the 73rd Annual Meeting of Wood County Electric Cooperative Inc., (WCEC) held Friday afternoon, October 07, 2010, at the Governor Jim Hogg City Park in Quitman. Prior to the meeting a free concert featuring the popular gospel group The New Plainsmen, set a festive tone.

To kick-off the business meeting, Debbie Robinson, CEO/General Manager of WCEC, welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming. Then she also gave a briefing regarding some of the cooperative’s ongoing and future projects. After which, she introduced Board President and District One Director Pat Lindley.

Lindley conducted the business portion of the membership meeting, saying, in part, “This year, the Board of Directors of WCEC voted to retire 1 million in capital credits which is 18% of 2010 margins. Checks will be mailed out this December. In total, over the last 21 years, I’m pleased to say that over 21 million dollars in capital credits have been returned to the members. This has a tremendous positive impact on our local economy.” Lindley also announced the results of the Board of Directors election, which was held by mail ballot. Those elected to serve a three year term are Burke Bullock – District 2, Dennis Wright – District 3, and Lewis Young, District 7.

Once the annual report was given and the business meeting closed, the prize drawing commenced. WCEC’s Dreabon Joiner acted as emcee. This year’s prizes ranged from a beautiful wooden rocker to various electronics and household items. 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 pulled from those returning ballots by the deadline. Those winners were: Hazel Cross, Winnsboro; Diane Eaton, Yantis; Bobby Ballard, Mineola; and Rebekah Bowerman, Winnsboro.

Debbie Robinson talked about the event and said, “The annual meeting is something the management and employees of WCEC look forward to every year. It’s a welcome time when we can socialize and inform our members. Our employees work hard every year to put this event together and I congratulate them on another great day, as well as another successful year.”

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 33,000 meters in parts of nine counties throughout northeast Texas, including Camp, Franklin, Hopkins, Rains, Smith, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood.