Celebrating 75 Years: Nueces Electic Cooperative

Nueces EL ECTRIC CO O P ERAT IV E CE LE BRATING 75 YEARS

Rita Arnst and Julie Bedsole

Created by the late Andrew “Drew” McLay on October 30, 1950, Willie Wiredhand is the long-time lovable mascot and spokesplug of consumer-owned electric cooperatives. The friendly and inspirational figure has come to symbolize dependable, local, consumer-owned electricity all over the world and can be found on every type of cooperative promotional item over the years such as signage for buildings and substations, T-shirts, ball caps, golf balls, Christmas ornaments, beach towels, nightlights, and much more.

©NRECA

ueces

ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE C E L E B R AT I N G 7 5 Y E A R S

By Rita Arnst and Julie Bedsole

ueces

E L E C T R I C C O O P E R AT I V E C E L E B R AT I N G 7 5 Y E A R S

This book is written in 2014 to commemorate, celebrate, and keep the history of Nueces Electric Cooperative alive in our members. We reflect back to a small group of men who met in a bank; to the initial 592 charter members; to the hope and vision it took to build power lines by hand digging and banding together to raise a pole. We look back and hope we have made our founders proud. We encourage our present and future members to never forget it was the passion of a strong, dedicated few who turned the desire into a reality and changed rural life forever. For seventy-five years, the Seven Cooperative Principles have shown brightly at Nueces Electric Cooperative and the Co-op will continue to shine as we head into an even brighter future.

Copyright Š 2014 by Nueces Electric Cooperative All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work in any form whatsoever without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief passages in connection with a review. For information, please write: The Donning Company Publishers 184 Business Park Drive, Suite 206 Virginia Beach, VA 23462 Steve Mull, General Manager Barbara Buchanan, Office Manager Anne Burns, Editor Rick Boley, Graphic Designer Kathy Adams, Imaging Artist Kathy Snowden Railey, Project Research Coordinator Nathan Stufflebean, Research and Marketing Supervisor Katie Gardner, Marketing Advisor Jim Railey, Project Director

Cataloging-in-Publication Data available from the Library of Congress ISBN 978-1-57864-930-3 Printed in the United States of America at Walsworth Publishing Company

ueces

E L E C T R I C C O O P E R AT I V E C E L E B R AT I N G 7 5 Y E A R S

By Rita Arnst and Julie Bedsole

TABLE OF CONTENTS 5

FOR EWOR D

6

A CKNOWLEDG MENTS

7

SEVEN C OOP ER A TIV E P R I NC I P LES

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LI FE B EFOR E ELECTRICITY

BY JOHN L. SIMS, NEC CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER (1994 TO PRESENT)

CHAPTER ONE:

CHAPTER TWO:

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TH E CR EA TI ON OF N UE CE S ELEC TR I C COOP ER ATIV E IN C.

22

P OWER R ESOU R C E S

30

WOR KI NG TH R OU GH THE STOR MS

36

EMP LOYEES OF NEC

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B U I LDI NG TOWA R D THE FU TU R E

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P A VI NG NEW R OAD S

62

G I VI NG B A CK

74

TECH NOLOG Y A DV AN CE ME N TS

84

NEC B OA R D OF DIRE CTO RS

94

A P P ENDI CES

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B I B LI OG R A P H Y

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A B OU T TH E A U TH ORS

CHAPTER THREE:

CHAPTER FOUR:

CHAPTER FI VE:

CHAPTER SI X:

CHAPTER SEVEN:

CHAPTER EI GHT:

CHAPTER NI NE:

CHAPTER TEN:

FOREWORD

By John L. Sims, NEC Chief Executive Officer (1994 to Present)

As Nueces Electric Cooperative enjoys its seventy-fifth anniversary, it is an exciting time for our member-owned electric cooperative. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We are not makers of history, we are made by history.” That is certainly true of our cooperative. NEC’s history portrayed in this book is rich with actions by deeply committed local leaders who worked tirelessly to ensure reliable, cooperative electric power was brought first to eight counties in south Texas, and later, for all of the competitive electric choice markets of Texas.

At various times in NEC’s history, we have been guided strongly by our member and community needs, or the economy, or maybe politics, with legislators and regulators snapping at our heels. At the end of the day, NEC has always fought for the best interests of our members because we are owned and governed by our members. We were created to be accountable to our members and to provide a reliable power supply. In a little over one year from the date the Texas Secretary of State signed the NEC Charter in December of 1939, NEC members tirelessly put up poles and wire and turned on the lights for the first 355 NEC members in Nueces and Jim Wells Counties. A few decades later, when the local investor-owned utility who supplied the Co-op’s power wanted to raise NEC member rates by over 30 percent while their other customers would be raised only 8 percent, NEC leaders did not take this lying down. No, they committed to find a better, stable, and more reliable power supply. These are just two examples of the trials those member leaders have met along the way.

As I read through our old board of director meeting minute books (kept for each year NEC has been in business), it’s fascinating to see the issues important when the Co-op first began continue to be the issues we focus on today. For seventy-five years, NEC has time and time again demonstrated its commitment and focus to overcome challenges to maintain this legacy—a co-op-owned, electricity power and delivery system for NEC member homes and businesses in south Texas.

I can think of a few words to describe these member and community leaders who have built and protected our cooperative for seventy-five years. The words that come to my mind are “proud,” “dedicated,” and “heroic.” I am proud to have dedicated my life and my career to electric cooperatives and the last almost twenty years to Nueces Electric Co-op. Our members have led Nueces Electric Cooperative through some difficult times with decisiveness and commitment. As I read this book, peruse the photos, and am reminded of our great history, I see our members really are “heroes” of south Texas.

FOREWORD

5

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS SEVEN COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLES Nueces Electric Cooperative would like to thank Rita Arnst for her endless hours of research and writing to bring the Co-op’s rich history to life, as well as her guidance and direction to bring the book to fruition. Like the cooperative story of farmers coming together to hoist poles and wires, creating a history book cannot be done without the wisdom and stories of those who were on the front lines during the past seventy-five years. Thank you to the following people and organizations who contributed to the book with stories both written and oral: Marjie Underbrink-Brown, Sister Mary Ann Snapka, Mardella Hallemann Laskowski, David Kircher, Anna Rose Schonefeld-Loving, Harold Yaklin Sr., Norma Garcia, Eugene Janak, Lynda Jennings, Ilia De La Paz, the Keach Family Library, Kristy Champagne Keach, Robstown Historical Area Museum and Museum President Jo Ann Pattillo, and NEC board members including Johnny Alvarado, Tommy Ermis, Bill Hartman, Donald Wayne Herrmann, Dr. Rumaldo Z. Juarez, Gladys Lippincott , Brian Menking, David Rosse, Maxine Stewart, and Gregg Truesdale.

Cooperatives around the world generally operate according to the same core principles and values, adopted by the International Co-operative Alliance in 1995.

Cooperatives trace the roots of these principles to the first modern cooperative founded in Rochdale, England in 1844.

1. Voluntary and Open Membership Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all people able to use its services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.

2. Democratic Member Control Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members—those who buy the goods or use the services of the cooperative—who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions.

3. Members’ Economic Participation Members contribute equally to, and democratically control, the capital of the cooperative. This benefits members in proportion to the business they conduct with the cooperative rather than on the capital invested.

4. Autonomy and Independence Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If the co-op enters into agreements with other

6

organizations or raises capital from external sources, it is done so based on terms that ensure democratic control by the members and maintains the cooperative’s autonomy.

5. Education, Training and Information Cooperatives provide education and training for members, elected representatives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperative. Members also inform the general public about the nature and benefits of cooperatives.

6. Cooperation among Cooperatives Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.

7. Concern for Community While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of communities through policies and programs accepted by the members.

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L I F E BEF ORE

E LECTRICIT Y

Chapter One

While the battery was invented in the year 1800, it was not until 1878 when light bulb inventor Thomas Edison created the first electric company. He then built the first central station power system in Manhattan, New York, in 1882. This station generated direct current (DC) power and served about four hundred lamps for eighty-five customers. The system took two years to become profitable.

By the end of the 1880s, small electrical stations based on Edison’s designs were in a

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number of U.S. cities. In the late 1880s and 1890s, alternating current (AC) power generation, motors, and metering, initiated by the work of an Edison apprentice named Nikola Tesla, began to be the choice for electric power systems. By 1930, the majority of people living in large towns and cities had electricity, but only 10 percent of Americans who lived on farms and in rural areas had electric power. In those days, electric companies were all privately owned and run to make money.

Those companies felt it was too expensive to string miles of electric lines to farms. They also thought farmers were too poor to pay for electric service.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt believed America’s farms should have the same access to Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the executive order establishing the REA on May 11, 1935.

electricity as large cities. On May 11, 1935, FDR issued Executive Order 7037, which established the Rural Electrification Administration.

In these modern times of computers and electronic chips, it’s hard to imagine a time without electricity. On occasion one gets a glimpse of what life was like for their ancestors when a storm causes a power outage. No lights, no television, no computer or microwave. Reading is done by the light of a candle or flashlight until one makes the decision to go to bed early. In most cases, the next morning the electricity has been restored and one goes back to their regular, electricity-filled lives. Yet, rising with the first light and going to bed when it was dark was how people once lived…and it wasn’t that long ago.

Sister Mary Ann Snapka with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word recounted,

I was born on the family farm in 1934.

While the effects of the Great Depression were still evident, we experienced a healthy lifestyle with good food and fresh air. At the time, we had no electricity—and life was vastly different from what it is today. What I remember is that when it was

dark in the country, it was pitch dark.

We used kerosene lamps, which provided a weak light, and gasoline lanterns, which gave stronger lighting. Not wanting to use up our resources too quickly, we lit the lamps and lanterns sparingly— and went to bed early. Mama cooked on a stove fueled with wood. She scrubbed clothes on a wash board, rinsed them in a tub with bluing to bring out the “whiteness,” wrung them out by hand and hung them on the line to dry. For refrigeration we used a metal container with a block of ice, delivered by the ice man once or twice a week.

Wa

Rural Electrification Program President Franklin Roosevelt’s Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 gave Congress the authority to initiate a rural electrification program as a depression relief agency known as the Rural Electrification Administration (REA).

At that time only 2.3 percent had electricity in rural Texas.

In the very beginning, REA crews travelled through the American countryside, bringing teams of electricians along with them. The electricians added wiring to houses and barns to utilize

Mr. Carmod drove a car stating, “We Want Lights.” Source: New Deal Network Photo Library

CHAP TER ONE

9

Cooperative Principle #1

Voluntary and Open Membership

The Barkley Hatchery used a school bus as a chick carrier.

the newly available power “How good to just pull a string and have lights.” provided by the line crews.

A standard REA installation —Marjie Underbrink Brown Daughter of a charter member, Orlando Underbrink in a house consisted of a 230-volt fuse panel, with a 60-amp range circuit, a 20-amp kitchen circuit, Marjie Underbrink Brown remembers when and two or three 15-amp lighting circuits. A her “pap,” Orlando Underbrink, wanted electricity ceiling-mounted light fixture was installed in each in the areas of Loyola Beach and Vattman and room. At most, one outlet was installed per room, the farming areas of Riviera, Texas, and Kleberg since plug-connected appliances were expensive County. Brown exclaimed, and uncommon. Wiring was performed using He was advised to get 44 signatures to the type NM nonmetallic sheathed cable, insulated REA so that we could get electricity in the area. with asbestos-reinforced rubber covered with jute He worked very hard and many long hours to get and tar. people to sign-up. I don’t remember how long it Unfortunately, Roosevelt’s REA program took but, his dream came true and they did bring did not run as smoothly as other depression electricity to our homes in the small community relief programs such as the Civilian Conservation thanks to my papa, Orlando whom I loved very Corps that put thousands of Americans to work much. It even brought electricity to our small on projects with environmental benefits. Rural business known then as Orlando’s Café and now electrification needed small numbers of skilled known as the famous Kings Inn [purchased by men rather than large numbers of unskilled labor.

Cottle and Faye Ware] and now owned by Randy The agency was modified to a lending agency in Ware. I remember how happy we were to have August 1935.

lights and refrigeration. How good to just pull a string and have lights.

Mardella Hallemann Laskowski, the granddaughter of founding member F. C. Wolf, stated her grandparents lived on a farm west of Orange Grove, next to the Reynolds Ranch. She went on to say,

My grandparents moved to the farm in the early 1920’s to farm the land and raise cattle.

They raised corn, cotton, flax and grain. They had a large family garden that supplied them with vegetables for the year. They raised cows, chicken and pigs for their food. Their main means of transportation in the early years was horseback, buggy and wagons. They went into town mainly to attend church and get some supplies. They had two daughters, their only children, rode

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NUECES E L E C T RIC C O O P E RAT IV E

horseback to school. They and their neighbors, the Heiders and Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open Hartman families, helped each other out. When they arrived to all people able to use its services and willing in the area there was no electricity in the country so they used to accept the responsibilities of membership, oil lamps and wood stoves. Life was rough but pleasant and without gender, social, racial, political or simple. My grandfather was a man who believed that there where religious discrimination. ways to make life more productive for his family and other families.

He got involved in Soil Conservation to make improvements to the land. He and a group of men got involved in finding out about how to bring electricity to the rural country side. There was group who rode a train to Washington D.C. to help lobby for rural electrification. They help organized South Texas Electric Cooperative. He was a member for 13 years and vice president for 4 years.

My grandfather helped organize NEC [Nueces Electric Cooperative Inc.]. He served 12 years as vice-president and 13 years as president. He felt very proud that he was part of this movement and brought electricity to not only his home but to many of his neighbors. I am sure when the power poles were being put up and the final connections made to the house that both of my grandparents where so happy and thrilled. I am sure my grandmother was thrilled because she was able to get an electric stove, electric table top appliances, ice-box, freezer, electric heaters, power to her wringer washing machine, vacuum cleaner, fans to cool the house, radio to listen to WAIO and Gene Looper [KZTV news anchor] man on the street from Corpus Christi and last TV to watch her game shows and news. In the last years of their lives they were able to get an electric pump put on the water well and did not have to depend on the windmill to provide water for the home and Lights, radios, and clocks helped rural America farm animals.

In 1936 with passage

by Congress of the NorrisRayburn Bill, groups of farmers and ranchers, like Underbrink and Wolf, had to convince REA officials that their endeavor—to bring electricity to south

lead a better quality of life. Source: New Deal Network Photo Library

This boy can now get milk from an electric refrigerator. Source: New Deal Network Photo Library

CHAP TER ONE

11

Texas—was feasible and an REA loan was a sound investment. A journal of minutes from the Orange Grove Agriculture Association dated 1937–1938 revealed Wolf was pushing rural electrification in 1938.

David Kircher, a true cowboy that still “tends cattle up in Dewitt County,” said his parents John and Elizabeth Kircher were charter members of NEC. Kircher went on to say,

Lyndon Johnson campaigning for U.S. Senate in 1941.

A local dairy was constructed in Jim Wells County in 1957, which used electricity to power machines inside. Source: Norma Garcia

We got electricity when it first came through Violet. The original meter loop that they put here in the ’30s, was a General Electric (GE) meter. It was real crude compared to what we have today. Before that my parents were using carbide lights on the old Kircher house that is now 104 years old. They were up-town then. Up until NEC came out, my family filled a big hole in the ground, about 42” in diameter, with a container that had water piped to it. It had plumbing in there and then you would drop in the granules in the water and it would make a gas that was piped into the house for lighting fixtures inside the house. The light from the gas was very beautiful; it was a soft light according to my papa.

He said most folks were using kerosene lamps; only three families around here had carbide. We had the old gas light fixtures around here until my brother and I got a hold of them and tore them all up. We were kids back then and didn’t know better. It makes me sick to this day to think about it. They had beautiful glass “In 1939 we moved to the farm at CR 38 and 79; 4½ bulbs and a little valve to miles west of Robstown. I was only five-years old at the light it. time. We used lanterns. There was a CPL [Central Power and Light Company] half-a-mile to the north that ran a line to two houses. My daddy asked if they could extend the lines to our house, but they refused.”

—Eugene Janak Charter Member

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NUECES E L E C T RIC C O O P E RAT IV E

The Snapka Grocery Store was built in 1940.

NEC member Sister Mary Ann Snapka reminisced about the fall of 1940 when her family moved to Corpus Christi and, for a short time, lived with relatives who had electricity in their small bungalow.

Each room had a single light bulb suspended from the ceiling by a cord.

As kids we were fascinated by this new invention and “night life” took on a different focus and many fun activities.

Daddy built a grocery store.

Fortunate for him and for us, he had studied electricity as a young man at the Coyne Electrical School in Chicago, where he earned an Electrician’s Certificate. His knowledge of electricity was helpful in his construction of

the store. Over the years we have enjoyed the benefits of electricity in cooking, refrigeration, washing clothes, technology, heating and air conditioning. It would be very difficult to function efficiently and effectively without electricity today.

Snapka Brothers.

CHAP TER ONE

13

THE CREATION OF

NU E C E S E L E CT R IC C O OP E R AT I V E I NC .

Chapter Two

By 1938, the White House had enjoyed the comforts of electricity for forty-seven years.

Inside sat President Roosevelt who was then strengthening the military in response to Adolf Hitler’s speeches. Yet, down in rural south Texas, folks were reading by kerosene, carbide, or candlelight. Many living in the rural areas had never seen electricity or a light bulb.

Finally, an informal group of farm leaders joined together to bring this rural area out of the dark ages. This group of people selected W. F. L. Lehman, F. C. Wolf, August Wisian, Roy

14

Barlow, Fred G. Lowman, Emil Hinze, John H. Bolland, O. F. Brendle, and C. A. Eggleston to carry on the necessary work to begin the process of building an electric central station for the area. The assemblage chose Lehman as president, Wolf as vice president, Brendle as secretary, and Buford H. Kirk as their first attorney. Together, they applied to the Secretary of State of the State of Texas for a charter, which was obtained on December 7, 1938.

The farm leaders had their first formal meeting of record under the charter on Tuesday, February 14, 1939, at the State National Bank Building in Robstown and formed Nueces Electric Cooperative (NEC). At this meeting, William G. Morrison was hired as the first engineer and the first 355 membership applications were accepted. The first loan

A Rural Electrification Administration advertisement.

Source: NRECA

One of the first vehicles purchased by the Co-op in 1939.

The Kircher Farm was one of the first two hundred homes to receive electricity from NEC. Pictured is the original meter loop and switch plate from the farm. Courtesy of David Kircher.

papers from the Rural Electrification Administration were signed on April 15, 1939, for a loan of $184,000.00 with an interest rate of 2.73 percent. This loan was to build 252 miles of line to serve 592 consumers. The first line contract of $131,513.03 was awarded to J. E. Morgan & Sons from Waco, Texas, and the lines were built in Jim Wells and Nueces Counties.

CHAP TER TWO

15

(Kleberg County) was the first home in the area with electricity.

The home place I grew up in, my mother and daddy bought it in 1941. The house was built in 1913. The gentleman that helped wire it was named Fred Yaklin, Sr. His son Harold said to me, “Anna Rose, your house that you grew up in, that your mother and daddy owned, was the first house to get rural electricity. I know this because my dad and I helped wire that house.” I was not surprised when he said that because my mother and daddy’s house was very nice for its day. It was one of the few homes that had an indoor bathroom.

Harold Yaklin Sr. said,

In the beginning, poles were raised by groups of men hand-digging holes and banding together to hoist it upright. Source: NRECA

Yes, my dad was an electrician and I helped him wire that house. I don’t remember the year but, it was the year NEC brought power to that part of the country. I had to do a lot of the cutting out for the switches and pull wires but, dad made all the connections. I did all the grunt work. When my dad got through wiring a house, he would turn the power on and he would stick his finger in every socket to see if it had power. He had big ol’ calloused fingers and sometimes when he couldn’t feel the electricity, he would lick his fingers and then put it in there.

In January 1940, NEC Secretary O. F. Brendle reported the original 355 applicants that signed NEC held its first annual membership up for membership in February 1939 were all receiving electric energy. Each of the applicants for meeting on March 11, 1940, where the members reelected Lehman, Wolf, Barlow, Bolland, Hinze, membership had paid in cash to the cooperative and Lowman as well as John True, W. A. Ahlrich, the membership fee of $5.00. At that time, NEC had nine employees: project superintendent, bookkeeper, “My dad owned a garage and a car business there three linemen, two lineman’s in Riviera. And, in fact, he had a power plant in the helpers, a laborer, and a garage. He furnished power there for a lot of the residents before CPL moved in and brought power stenographer. to Riviera.”

Anna Rose SchonefeldLoving revealed her —Harold Yaklin Sr. childhood home in Vattman

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NUECES E L E C T RIC C O O P E RAT IV E

and Roy Harman to the board of directors.

Former directors Wisian, Brendle, and Eggleston did not seek reelection. A regular board meeting was held immediately after the adjourned annual meeting. Lehman was again elected as president, Wolf as vice president, and Ahlrich as secretarytreasurer.

From 1941 through 1945, World War II put off NEC’s expansion efforts and America’s economy was in disarray. Although Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal had created thousands of new jobs and had offered a boost in the country’s morale, unemployment was still hovering around 15 percent. The country’s efforts were put into producing military war goods.

During June 1946, the Co-op borrowed $275,000.00 for construction and operation of the additional electric transmission distribution and service lines for Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Live Oak, and Nueces Counties that would service 478 new members.

A few months later, during September 1946, the Co-op made the decision to correct extremely bad voltage conditions existing in several parts of the present system before

One of the nine founding members of NEC and the second board president, Felix Wolf.

adding any new members and the additional 197 miles of new line they had planned.

The 1950s gave the country actor James Dean and the first Peanuts

CHAP TER TWO

17

Cooperative Principle #4

Independence and Autonomy Cooperatives are autonomous, selfhelp organizations controlled by their members. If the co-op enters into agreements with other organizations or raises capital from external sources, it is done so based on terms that ensure democratic control by the members and maintains the cooperative’s autonomy.

cartoon. It was also the decade NEC achieved a milestone in reaching fullarea coverage.

Everyone in NEC’s south Texas territory who wanted electric service could get it.

NEC saw the first general retirement of capital credits for members in 1959. Capital credits represent each member’s share of the operating capital for NEC. Any revenues over and above the cost of doing business are considered margins. These margins are allocated to members of the Cooperative based on their purchases from the Cooperative the previous year. The principle and interest paid by the Cooperative averaged 4.1 percent of investment.

In 1961, NEC celebrated! The board held a “Burning of the Note” celebration to commemorate paying off the first loan made by the government to the Cooperative. The April 10, 1959, note was for $184,000.00 and was due April 10, 1964. However, the balance due was paid in full on September 18, 1962, one year and seven months before it was due.

After President Eisenhower left office, both President John F. Kennedy and President Lyndon Johnson supported REA and did not interfere with cooperatives. However, REA once again faced budget cuts and political pressure with the election of President Richard M. Nixon. On December 29, 1972, President Nixon issued an executive order that eliminated REA and replaced it with a loan program from private resources to be insured by the government under a provision in the new Rural Development Act of 1972.

The 1964 annual meeting.

Official membership certificate issued in February 1965. Since the Co-op began in 1938, all NEC members receive certificates of membership with their official membership number.

Source: Norma Garcia

Basic household electronics were hot door prize items at the 1975 annual meeting.

Burning of the loan first note, 1962.

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CHAP TER TWO

19

On May 11, 1985, NEC joined all other electric cooperatives in Texas to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of rural electrification. NEC held an open house on Friday, May 10 and a commemorative stamp was issued marking the anniversary of the REA. Fifty years after its inception, more than eighty electric cooperatives had been formed and they served more than 99 percent of the state’s rural areas.

To mark the anniversary, Texas Governor Mark White proclaimed Saturday, May 11 as “Rural Electrification Day in Texas.” During that time, the Nueces Electric Cooperative was servicing eight counties: Nueces, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Kenedy, Duval, Live Oak, McMullen, and Brooks.

Rebuilding old lines was a large part of the projects in 90s. In 1996, the Co-op began a new construction work plan amounting to a little over $4.5 million, making it the most aggressive work plan in the history of the Co-op. The Co-op also

received NRECA’s Community Service Network Award for its Operation Round-Up® program initially designed to support HALO-Flight Air Ambulance Service. Wholesale wheeling, retail wheeling, and restructuring of the electric utility industry were hot legislative topics. Additionally, NEC won NRECA’s Community Service Network Award in the Enterprise Category for its Electric Safety Program presented to area elementary schools.

The millennium came and went, and with the twenty-first century came even bigger projects for the Co-op. On the horizon was deregulation, the formation of a retail division, the acquirement of military base contacts, the valued addition of new members through territory trades, and the celebration of seventy-five years of service to members.

Co-op Power newsletter, February 1981.

The long, hot days of south Texas make breaks enjoyable.

Local participation in cooperatives. Source: RE Cooperatives

NEC newsletter, June 1985.

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CHAP TER TWO

21

P OW ER

Chapter Three

RES OURCE S

22

One of the first orders of business when developing the Co-op was where to purchase power, how much would it cost, and how to get it. The answer came relatively easy. The Coop was formed in Robstown, Texas, a city that had its own municipal electric company who could help supply power to NEC members. On June 15, 1939, NEC initiated the purchase of power from the City of Robstown. Additionally in the summer of 1939, NEC discussed the purchase of a piece of land to build on in Robstown for $150.00, as well as the first halfton International pickup from Cage Implement Company, in Corpus Christi, Texas, for $586.00.

On August 7, 1939, NEC adopted a schedule of rates. The first 25 kilowatt-hours or less per month cost $2.45 per month; the next 50 kilowatt-hours per month at $0.05 per kilowatt-hour, following; the next 125 kilowatt-hours per month at $0.025 per kilowatthour; and over 200 kilowatt-hours per month at $0.0175 per kilowatt-hour.

The first lines were energized on December 16, 1939. The first consumers used an average of 38 kilowatt-hours per month.

South Texas Electric Cooperative and the Sam Rayburn Power Plant The South Texas Electric Cooperative (STEC) was formed in 1944. It was formed, and still owned today, by ten electric cooperatives located throughout south Texas to provide wholesale electric power to their members. Today STEC has eight members including NEC. Their headquarters are ten miles northwest of Victoria in Nursery, Texas, at the Sam Rayburn Power Plant.

STEC grand opening.

South Texas Electric Cooperative (STEC) provides electricity to NEC members. Shown is the Sam Rayburn Power Plant located in Nursery, Texas.

The directors of the Sam Rayburn Power Plant.

The Sam Rayburn Power Plant was built to supply 100 percent of its power to the ten STEC cooperatives. The original plant included a pair of 11,000-kilowatt (11-megawatt) natural gas fired turbines installed in 1962 and an additional 25-megawatt steam generator was added in 1964.

A combined-cycle, 186-megawatt power plant was built at Sam Rayburn in 2003. It is a duelfuel plant designed to run on either natural gas or oil, whichever is the most economical. The plant is largely automated and requires only a few operators.

STEC didn’t immediately get their power plant off the ground in the 40s and NEC suddenly

experienced rapid post-war expansion. In need of a larger electricity supply, a contract for limited electric service from Central Power and Light Company (CPL) was executed on January 8, 1941. A new contract was also approved on November 12, 1945, until STEC could build the necessary facilities and lines to transmit power to south Texas.

In 1957, CPL proposed an approximate 30 percent rate increase to NEC, but only an 8 percent increase to its other customers. The Cooperative thought this was very unfair and, along with five other cooperatives, made plans to secure its own source of generation.Â

CHAP TER THREE

23

STEC Calallen Substation.

led to expansion. Because of the summer heat, energy use and demand were up requiring STEC to furnish a new substation north and west of Robstown to handle the area’s growth. By October 1970, electricity usage increased in excess of 30 percent.

San Miguel Lignite Coal Power Plant Built

San Diego Substation.

Riviera Substation.

In October 1961, six cooperatives who owned STEC pledged to each lend the sum of $10,000.00 to be used as operating capital for use in the construction of transmission lines and substations. The first small amount of power from STEC was received in 1963.

With STEC power lines available only in limited areas, another five-year contract was signed with Central Power and Light in early 1964 to purchase electric power and energy to be delivered at Freer and other points. But things were moving forward quickly and the last six months of 1968 proved profitable and

During the early 70s, the energy crisis and power shortages continued to affect wholesale power costs and other operating costs of the Cooperative. In 1973, plans with STEC were pushed ahead to build a lignite (“brown coal”) generating plant as quickly as possible to control power supply and costs. The Co-op continued to urge thermal efficiency in building construction, and fuel costs to generate power remained a serious threat to NEC. Construction of the 400-megawatt San Miguel Lignite Coal Power Plant in Christine, Texas, was initiated as a joint venture by STEC and Brazos Electric Power Cooperative (BEPC) in 1974. San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc. (SMEC) was officially created on February 17, 1977, under the Rural Electric Cooperative Act of the State of Texas. Commercial operation of the plant began on January 7, 1982.

BEPC and STEC, both generation and transmission cooperatives (G&Ts), entered into wholesale power contracts with San Miguel that extend to the year 2037, under which they have purchased and agreed to purchase and San Miguel has sold and agreed to sell, the entire output of the plant. The contracts provide that BEPC and STEC are collectively responsible for San Miguel’s total cost of owning and operating the plant, including San Miguel’s debt service obligations.

This responsibility is allocated between BEPC and STEC by reference to their respective power purchase obligations for any given year.

The directors of the San Miguel Power Plant.

Additional Sources of Power While Sam Rayburn and San Miguel are owned by STEC cooperatives, additional power sources play a large role in the ability to keep up with the rising demand of electricity.

Additional power resources delivered via large STEC transmission lines to smaller cooperative distribution lines include Amistad and Falcon Hydro Power, the Pearsall Power Plant, and 100 megawatts of wind power.

Fun Fact One megawatt (MW) is 1,000 kilowatts (kW) or enough power to energize about four hundred average homes. If a power plant is running at its max capacity, and if the power plant has a capacity of 33 MW, the power plant is generating enough electricity at that one moment to power a six-story building for a year. Convert that to normal residential electric meters, with an average use of 2.06 kW per hour, the 33 MW of electricity generated (moving at the speed of light—186,000 miles per second) is powering over sixteen thousand meters at that moment.

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Falcon Dam.

In 2009, STEC commissioned twentyfour Wärtsilä 20V34S reciprocating, internal combustion engines each of which are capable of just over 8 megawatts of power production.

Wärtsilä’s engines were initially developed to propel large ships; however, the Finland-based company recognized an opportunity to utilize the technology in the energy market. Wärtsiläs are increasing in popularity in the power industry due to their quick start times. According to STEC

board member and NEC CEO John Sims, it only takes a Wärtsilä engine a few minutes to warm up and all twenty-four engines at Pearsall can be at maximum capacity in about eight minutes, very fast compared to some plants that can take anywhere from twelve to twenty-four hours. The cost of purchasing power from a Wärtsilä plant can be comparable to the cost of purchasing power from a coal-fired plant.

Red Gate Power Plant 216 Megawatt Natural Gas Plant The Red Gate Power Plant, located in Hidalgo County, is scheduled to be in operation just north of Edinburg in 2015. The plant will be powered by twelve Wärtsilä 50SG natural gas-fired engines that will provide about 18 megawatts each.

Left: A Wärtsilä natural gas combustion engine.

Below: Pearsall Power Plant in Pearsall, Texas.

Amistad Power Plant, Amistad, Texas 66 Megawatt Hydro Power Plant Amistad Dam is the largest of the storage dams and reservoirs. Built on the international reach of the Rio Grande River, it provides 66 megawatts of power from two hydroelectric turbines. The dam was dedicated in 1969 by United States President Richard M. Nixon and Mexico President Diaz Ordaz. The dam is 6.1 miles long and consists of sixteen concrete gravity spillway gates capable of releasing 1,500,000 cubic feet per second.

Falcon Power Plant, Falcon, Texas 33 Megawatt Hydro Plant Falcon Power Plant.

Courtesy of U.S. State Department

Falcon Dam is the lower-most, major multipurpose, international dam and reservoir on the Rio Grande, located forty miles south of Laredo. In conjunction with irrigation, domestic, and flood releases, the project generates electricity through three hydroelectric turbines.

Pearsall Power Plant, Pearsall, Texas 225 Megawatt Natural Gas Power Plant The Pearsall Power Plant is a STEC-owned facility located fifty miles southwest of San Antonio, Texas.

It is a 225-megawatt power plant facility that started up in 1957 with three steam turbines that each provided 25 megawatts.

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Fun Fact The Texas Public Utility Commission and Area Growth The Texas Public Utility Commission (TPUC) was formed and became operational on September 1, 1976. Preparations to ensure compliance with the TPUC were labor intensive and expensive. In 1976, wholesale power costs were triple the 1973 level because of the increased

cost of natural gas. Compliance with the new Public Utility Commission of Texas cost NEC over $16,000.00 in assessments and other expenses associated with TPUC hearings.

From 1980 to 1983, the Co-op borrowed $10.5 million in loan funds to construct new lines, implement system improvements, and fund maintenance programs. Much of NEC’s aging distribution system (poles and wires) required

An NEC display was used to educate members on how power is generated using a stationary bicycle. Lights turned on as pedals were pushed.

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replacement. NEC implemented a rate increase of approximately 21 percent, which still did not fully offset the increase in costs. Due to San Miguel efficiency and the results of NEC’s efforts to reduce line loss, there had been a savings through August 1984 of $340,129.00.

By May 1987, Uranium Resources Inc. (URI) was forming in the area east of Ricardo and was awaiting approval of a final permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Coop authorized STEC to erect a substation for the project. The cost of the substation was estimated to be $85,000.00. URI went to full power on April 12, 1988. A month later, URI’s usage appeared to be close to their projections. In July 1988, the bill to URI was $36,000.00. In 1989, Uranium Resources Inc. accounted for a 5 percent increase in sales and another 5 percent came from growth in the residential sector.

December 1990 brought unusually cold

While generating electricity has been around

related since 1882, a method to store generated purposes. electricity has not been found. Therefore, In consumers can only use as much electricity October as is being generated by power plants at 2012, NEC that moment. That is why there are calls for entered conservation on hot days when everyone into a service has their air conditioners on…to make sure generated power doesn’t run agreement out. with STEC to provide a reliable source of power for all retail needs in response to Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) predicted power shortages throughout the state of Texas. The agreement was designed to help keep rates affordable and reduce impacts to members due to market fluctuation.

The year 2012 ended with a return of $5.5 million to members through Merry Christmas Credit and capital credit refunds of In 1988, the NEC system had 2,671 miles of line and $2,869,507.00. about 9,405 customers for an average of 3.5 customers Power sources are, per line. and always will be, the largest cost and the main temperatures which caused power demand concern for Nueces Electric Cooperative. In shortages, including systematically imposed 1938, NEC formed because people needed black outs and brown outs for south Texans electricity. Neighbors banded together to create served by investor-owned utilities. STEC was a partnership that has survived the test of not only able to completely supply the needs of time. Now with continuously higher electricity NEC consumers, but also share its remaining demands and growing EPA regulations, older capacity with neighboring utilities. Sales in 1995 resources are aging and becoming less cost grew by almost 12 percent and the average cost effective and the need for new resources is per kilowatt-hour was $0.0952 per residential greater than ever. Through it all, NEC will consumer. continue to carry out the mission of the CoThe NEC board approved a wholesale power op: to help members continually improve their agreement with STEC effective as of April 28, quality of life by providing reliable and cost2009. The agreement provided for the purchase effective electric service. and sale of electric power and energy and for other

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W OR KIN G TH ROUG H

Chapter Four

THE STORMS

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Throughout the Co-op’s seventy-five years of service to members there have been some mighty storms that have wrecked havoc on south Texas. But fortunately the Co-op survived the storms and remained a rock for members during times of distress.

In 1951, shortly after the Co-op reached the first service milestone of building lines in the northwest Nueces, Kleberg, and Jim Wells Counties, NEC experienced a severe ice storm resulting in pole fires and $12,000.00 in damage. Four years later, the drought of 1955 caused the cooperative to face another hitch with pole fires, which cost nearly $29,000.00 (or $255,690.19 in 2014 dollars).

During the 1960s NEC experienced its longest uninterrupted period of economic expansion in history. The Co-op was in a position to take advantage of the growth and poured excess margins into the community. But, just like Isaac Newton said, “What goes up must come down,” and the devastation left after Hurricane Carla brought some of that good fortune down.

Carla ravished south Texas on September 11, 1961, with 175 mile per hour winds, making Carla a Category 5 hurricane. Along with the hurricane winds, several tornadoes spawned throughout Texas. Carla destroyed power lines and 50,723 homes, 5,620 farm buildings, and 10,487 other buildings suffered damage.

There were thirty-four fatalities and at least $300 million (1961 U.S. dollars) in losses in Texas alone.

By mid-1967, Texas had suffered six straight months A pole was broken in two of extreme drought, hurting pieces during a heavy storm. farmers across the state and

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have ingress and egress to the right of way as evidenced by easements on all such property and that the Cooperative place its own locks in chains of all such gates and that such information be mailed to persons concerned.”

Another hurricane hit in 1971—Hurricane Fern. The hurricane reached a peak intensity of 90 miles per hour before making landfall near Freeport, Texas, on September 10, 1971. The hurricane produced heavy rainfall across Louisiana and Texas, causing flash flooding and outages in much of the NEC service area for three days.

Hurricane Allen struck in August 1980. Allen was a powerful hurricane, which hit the Caribbean, Mexico, then south Texas.

It achieved sustained winds of 190 miles per hour but weakened as it struck the lower Texas coast, causing high winds, heavy rainfall, and damage to southern Texas. Overall, Allen

Primary poles leaning southwest of Robstown after the heavy winds from Hurricane Celia.

Tornado damage at a member’s farm.

A month later at the twenty-eighth annual board meeting, Board President F. C. Wolf praised the employees of the Co-op for their hard work and dedication. NEC General Manager C. M. Wagner stated crews from other electric co-ops in Houston and Louisiana had helped in the restoration of the electrical system and power lines. Almost everyone had their power restored except landowners that had locked gates. The hurricane prompted a new action plan in the event of damages caused by future storms. However, a year later persistent pole damage and heavy rains increased maintenance costs for NEC while electricity usage decreased. These events created a destroying crops and cattle. But in September of 1967, Hurricane Beulah moved into south Texas. It difficult time for the Co-op.

On August 3, 1970, Hurricane Celia made spawned a record 115 tornadoes, which destroyed landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas. Throughout homes and commercial property and inflicted serious damage on the region’s agricultural industry. the state, 8,950 homes were destroyed and 55,650 were damaged. About 252 small businesses, Due to its slow movement over Texas, Beulah led 331 boats, and 310 farm buildings were either to significant flooding. Throughout her path, at damaged or destroyed. Impact was the worst least 688 people were killed. On September 28, 1967, President Lyndon Johnson declared all of the in Nueces County, which observed sustained counties in the NEC service territory a disaster area. winds of 161 miles per hour and gusts as high as

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180 miles per hour. About 65 percent of NEC members suffered damage to some degree. Overall, this storm caused twenty-eight deaths and $930 million (1970 U.S. dollars) in damage.

At the August 24 NEC board meeting, General Manager Wagner stated the expenditure information for the damage caused by the storm was not complete but the expenses incurred in replacing lines had become so great the cash funds of the Cooperative would be completely depleted. NEC worked with the REA to secure advance of work order funds prior to the time work orders were completed in the total amount of $75,000.00. Additionally, NEC encountered locked gates on farms and ranches where crews were trying to restore service. As a result, NEC agreed it was time to “…exercise their power to

A March 1980 member public service announcement.

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Above: 1998 storm damage.

Left: 1997 tornado damage.

Below: Repairing wires in floodwaters after Hurricane Bret.

killed 290 people and left just over $1.24 billion in damage (1980 U.S. dollars), mostly within the United States and Haiti. NEC lost approximately five hundred poles because of Hurricane Allen.

Then came Hurricane Bret, which made landfall on August 22, 1999, just south of Sarita, Texas. A small but powerful storm (level 4) with sustained winds up to 115 miles per hour, Bret caused flooding and minimal damage but affected the electric service to approximately 40 percent of Co-op members. All reported service interruptions were restored within eighty hours.

Due to the upgraded maintenance programs which had occurred over the previous six years, only seventeen poles were lost systemwide and overall damage to the system was greatly reduced. The estimated cost for damage to the NEC system from Hurricane Bret was $92,000.00; the Cooperative applied to FEMA for disaster relief.

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Hurricane Dolly made landfall on July 24, 2008, in the Raymondville area. The hurricane caused only a couple of power outages; however, the tail end of the hurricane caused heavier damage, primarily to the south end of the NEC system. At the peak of the storm’s impact on the Co-op’s system, 745 members were out of power. Power was restored to the majority of members within twenty-four hours.

Additional storms like Hurricane Claudette (July 13, 2003), Hurricane Katrina (August 2005), Hurricane Rita (September 2005), and Hurricane Ike (September 2008) impacted Texans, but they did not impact NEC. However, in keeping with Cooperative Principle #6, Cooperation Among Cooperatives, NEC sent line crews to assist with power restoration. Neighbors helping neighbors and cooperatives helping cooperatives are beautiful benefits of the Co-op Nation. Everyone is in this together, storms and all.

Top: Crew leaders going to survey damage after Hurricane Bret.

Above: Flooding in the summer of 2002.

Cooperative Principle #6

Cooperation among Cooperatives Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.

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E M P L OYEES

OF NEC

Chapter Five

A business begins with the hiring of employees and on May 12, 1939, the nine charter members composing the board of directors voted to employ a project superintendent to run the daily operations of NEC. After much consideration, they resolved James H. Minugh be employed at a salary of $150.00 a month and he be allowed three cents for every mile traveled by him in the necessary performance of his duties. Richard W. Andrews of Alice, Texas, was hired as the first inspector of wiring for homes. At that same meeting

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the directors voted to apply to the REA for a $6,000.00 loan to be used to wire houses and install plumbing for approximately eighty members. A few days later, on May 15, 1939, A. Chetham Strode was hired as the first resident engineer. He was paid $250.00 per month and given four cents per mile.

As with any company, employee changeover occurs and in August 1939, Minugh was asked to resign and Strode resigned in January 1940.

Shortly after, M. S. Baker was hired as project superintendent, which was at that time the head of the Co-op. By January 1940, NEC had grown to nine employees: a project superintendent, bookkeeper, three linemen, two lineman’s helpers, a laborer, and a stenographer.

On January 7, 1941, NEC hired the first general manager. C. M. Wagner would remain as the manager until 1977. From 1941 through 1945, World War II put off NEC’s expansion efforts until 1946 when servicemen came home and the country attempted to NEC General Manager C. M. Wagner. return to normal.

Then personal tragedy hit NEC on September 18, 1951. Gus Denkeler, a ground crewman for NEC, was killed when he accidently fell against a high-voltage power line on which he was working, about two miles south of Agua Dulce. Denkeler and five other NEC linemen were replacing a pole that had been washed out by weekend floods. Standing knee-deep in mud, Denkeler slipped and stumbled backwards against the hot line, reported to be carrying 7,200 volts. Denkeler, a former U.S. Army medical corpsman in the South Pacific, was thirty years old. Surviving were his wife and two-month-old daughter. NEC had employed him since 1946.

Following Denkeler’s death, the NEC Board of Directors set up a committee to draw up suitable safety resolutions concerning the injury or loss of an employee. A copy was sent to Denkeler’s widow as well as to the local newspaper.

At the annual meeting held in October 1951, General Manager C. M. Wagner announced that some of the directors and employees had been with cooperative for ten years or more and they were awarded an emblem for their years of service. Employees receiving the award included Buford H. Kirk, attorney; C. M. Wagner, general manager; and George C. Dulin, assistant manager.

Directors receiving the service award included W. F. L. Lehman, F. C. Wolf, Frank Bluntzer, Charlie Rosse, and W. A. Ahlrich.

Late in 1962, it was necessary for NEC to employ an engineer to make a two-year annual work plan. Roy Krezdorn was hired for the position. By this time the Co-op had grown to twenty-nine employees.

Early in 1963 NEC established its first retirement plan and required each employee participate. The salary of each employee was increased by 2 percent to take care of the 2 percent salary contribution. Employees could withdraw from the retirement plan only upon leaving the

Memoriam clip in the NEC newsletter announcing the passing of twenty-five-year employee Herman Stephens.

employment of the Cooperative. The Co-op remained with a modified version of the initial plan until June 1999, when the board considered the proposal provided by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) to participate in a combination of a defined benefit retirement plan and a defined contribution 401k plan. Effective September 1, 1999, the Cooperative began participating in the combined retirement plan the employees still participate in today.

The Cooperative went from nine employees in the 1940s to twenty-nine employees in the 1960s.

The 1970s introduced double-digit inflation, IBM’s development of the “floppy disk,” and the energy crisis, while the public and legislators

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Long-time employee, A. G. Holms.

worried about the threat of “global cooling.” By the 1970s NEC retained thirty-nine full-time employees minus founding attorney Buford Kirk, who chose to retire after thirty-one years of service. Attorney James W. Williams III replaced him.

NEC officials held a special board meeting on September 17, 1975, to discuss the separation of attorney James Williams. Three lawyers applied for the vacant position. At the September 22 regular meeting, directors took nominations for a new attorney. After considerable discussion, a motion was made by Director C. W. Wright to nominate Mr. Sam Burris, Director John (Jack) Turcotte made a motion to nominate Mr. William Ewert, and Director Allen made a motion to nominate Mr. Steve Burkett. Board President Ernest J. Botard asked the board if they desired to vote by secret ballot or by show of hands. It was determined a show of hands was sufficient. Upon calling for the vote, Burris was declared elected as the new Co-op attorney.

In December 1977 General Manager C. M. Wagner submitted his resignation due to medical reasons. Victor Hampel was soon hired as manager of NEC starting January 1, 1978, at a salary of $19,500.00 per year. Early in January 1980, the board determined Victor Hampel’s services as general manager were no longer required. Jerry Whitworth was appointed temporary manager until a new general manager was hired.

Employees receiving service awards in 1979. From left: Glennie Laughlin, unidentified man, Mary Pavelka, unidentified man, Santiago Avalos, Jerry Whitworth, and Linda Johnson.

A February 1980 newsletter clip featuring the retirement of thirtyyear employee M. L. White.

Glennie Laughlin (L) and Melinda Denkler (R).

NEC General Manager Victor Hampel.

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The 1980s will forever be remembered as the era of vividly bright apparel, the Rubik’s cube, the “preppy” look, and the introduction of the cordless phone. The state of the overall economy was not as bright; the U.S. oil crisis in the late 70s brought a two-year economic recession. Unemployment wavered between 6.9 and 7.5 percent.

However, NEC continued to expand and by

the 1980s had fifty full-time employees and three part-time employees.

In May 1980, after reviewing the qualifications of the two applicants that applied for the general manager position,

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given to the union employees in October 1981. They approved the 5.5 percent increase, effective the first full pay period in January 1982.

Beginning in 1982, Manager Richard McCorkle tendered his resignation. Bill Dalton was selected as an interim manager. On May 1, 1982, Jerry Whitworth became the fourth general manager of Nueces Electric Cooperative.

With the union agreement expiring at the end of October 1983 and negotiations on the horizon, in September General Manager Jerry Whitworth requested direction from the board regarding across-the-board increases for 1984 for use in union negotiations and for budget purposes. Whitworth recommended a 2 percent across-the-board increase with a merit system to go into effect no sooner than six months later. The union committee had requested an 8 to 9 percent across-theboard increase. Whitworth requested the 5 percent increase with an additional 1.5 percent for merit.

Negotiations with union bargaining units and union business agents were successful, and a new contract was executed. By the end of the 80s, the union was no longer a part of NEC.

J. Whitworth, 1993.

In 1980, General Manager Richard McCorkle created a policy stating all NEC trucks be white in color. Frank Triji (left) and an unidentified employee stand with one of the yellow trucks the Co-op utilized prior to the policy.

Richard McCorkle was unanimously selected effective May 1, 1980. His starting salary was $34,000.00.

Union Negotiations In March 1981, NEC addressed union activity among the electrical workers as part of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). NEC hired labor attorney Mike Kendrick to represent NEC. On April 20, 1981, Kendrick reported a union election would be held on May 21, 1981, at the Co-op and explained the procedures of the election. Following a discussion, a committee was appointed to meet

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with McCorkle to review the financial records and to show those records to employees so they could better understand the financial condition of the Cooperative. In August 1981, NEC received a copy of the proposed union contract from the IBEW. Burris requested a meeting between McCorkle, labor attorney Mike Kendrick, and himself to discuss the proposed contract before negotiations began.

In December 1981, a salary increase for the non-union employees was discussed. The manager recommended the salary increase be given on an annual basis rather than a six-month basis and the non-union employees be given a 5.5 percent increase to bring them in line with the increase

Lineman Louis Prochazka, 1984.

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Jerry Whitworth remained in his position “After Jerry Whitworth [general manager] retired in 1994, we got our present manager, John L. Sims. We for twelve years before started to undergo major changes. Deregulation retiring. In March 1994, created different jobs, different challenges and more John L. Sims was hired as rules to learn. That was a big change. the fifth general manager of the Co-op. In September —Executive Secretary Linda Jennings 2000, with sixty-seven Hired in 1982 by C. M. Wagner employees, Director Renee Burris motioned that the Cooperative’s bylaws be amended to change the manager of the NEC Retail Division. In 2008, general manager’s job title to “executive manager.”

NEC was advised by auditors to hire an employee In the April 2008 minutes, the general manager with chief financial officer (CFO) experience. Jane title was officially changed to “Chief Executive Bahler-Hurt was hired as the first CFO for NEC Officer.” With the arrival of customer choice, and was tasked with managing the accounting, Frank Wilson became the billing, and new service departments and to

Above: Employees, 1996.

Left: Mary Pavelka and Arnold Valle, 1994.

Below: Adolfo Aleman and Tommy Helpert.

prepare for the retirement of long-time office services manager, Linda Johnson.

Long-time employee, Eddie Belle Carter, sharing her retirement cake with Hank Brown.

Employees, 1995.

Left: Warehouse employee Tommy Kelley.

Below: Clemente Lopez’s retirement in February 1999.

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John L. Sims, 1994.

Co-op Power newsletter clip featuring Lynda Jennings. CEO Executive Secretary Lynda Jennings was hired in December 1972 and retired in 2008.

Recognizing the value of a senior management team, Sims restructured and created executive staff positions towards the end of 2011 to help manage the Co-op’s rapidly growing employee base and complex business needs and operations.

Varzavand Irani, who had already served the Coop for eight years, became the first chief operating officer (COO) and was assigned to manage engineering, IT, metering, and the line crews.

Sarah Fisher, who had served the Co-op for fourteen years, became the first chief compliance officer (CCO). As CCO, Fisher was tasked to manage human resources, safety and training, corporate communications, member programs including Nueces Charities and youth programs, and regulatory affairs.

Nueces Electric Cooperative has been fortunate to work with hundreds of quality employees since 1938. Now celebrating seventyfive years, the Co-op employs eighty-four full-time positions including four executive staff, fifteen billing and service representatives, seven accounting employees, five technology workers, five metering workers, two facilities personnel, four compliance positions, six retail employees, twelve journey lineman, and twenty-six operations crew members.

On a daily basis, NEC strives to provide all members with quality service. Safety, welltrained employees, and cooperation with NEC members are the top priorities. The Co-op never wants to forget who they work for or where they came from. The Co-op has a vision to continue to make members proud of the NEC legacy that helped build rural south Texas. NEC looks forward to the future and welcomes any changes it brings.

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Right: Lynda, Doris, Phillis, Norma, Linda, Angela, Jessica, Sharon, LaRae, and Adriana with Charlie Water of the Dallas Cowboys.

Below: Even today, line crews feel like family.

Below: Alvaro Pena and family enjoying the 2000 employee picnic.

Below: NEC journey lineman Robert Holloway repairs a broken jumper line in August 2013.

Above: Dave Lowder was the Co-op’s first EDI coordinator, ensuring service was connected to the proper ESID numbers after deregulation.

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Cooperative Principle #5

Education, Training, and Information

In 2013, the Co-op issued a team-based safety challenge to all employees to enforce good safety habits and reporting. Pictured are the winners. Front row (L-R) Julie Bedsole and Chris Knetig. Back row: Larry Lehman, Benito Torres, Raymund Pina, Tino Briones, Joe Cantu, Al Pena, Sarah Fisher, and Sonia Stout.

Cooperatives provide education and training for members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperative. Members also inform the general public about the nature and benefits of cooperatives.

Above: The 2007 retirement party for Doris Heslep who served the Co-op for eighteen years.

Right: The new Calallen facility decorated for Administrative Professionals Day, April 2014.

Below: Employees, April 2014.

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B UILD IN G TOW ARD

THE FUTURE

Chapter Six

NEC Headquarters

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When Nueces Electric Cooperative was founded on December 12, 1938, the nine founding members met at the State National Bank and the Armory in Robstown. Even then, they realized they needed a place to call home. In June 1939, NEC discussed the purchase of lot numbers 17 and 18 on Block 40 in Robstown (now 709 East Main). Project Superintendent Minugh took a thirty-day option on the purchase of the property at a price of $150.00.

For two years In 1939, the Co-op purchased the first half-ton (1946–1948), NEC International pickup from Cage Implement Company rented a lot on Block in Corpus Christi, Texas, for $586.00.

46 in Robstown for $100.00 per month to house their offices. The following year NEC rented office space joining the Robstown National Bank Building on the south from Mr. G. Coleman. Then, on February 19, 1948, architects proposed a resolution to build a new headquarters in Jim Wells, Kleberg, Nueces, Kenedy, or Live Oak. A year later, on April 28, 1949, the board reviewed sealed bids and accepted a bid of $71,333.00 for a new NEC headquarters in Nueces County. It was completed on November 23, 1949, ten years after NEC was organized. By this time the Co-op had nine full-time employees and the facility was built to house fifteen employees.

Nueces Electric Cooperative, March 1952.

The first building NEC rented was located next to State National Bank in Robstown, Texas. The building was rented for $100.00 per month.

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In 1966, small improvements were made to the building but in 1980, one of new General Manager Richard McCorkle’s first acts was to compile a list of changes/improvements he felt were necessary at the NEC headquarters. Among several items on his list, he placed a door on the garage and put a fence around the pole yard. He also wanted to close the road running between the pole yard and the office building. A year later NEC petitioned the City of Robstown to close off Avenue B behind the office and 7th Street west of the Cooperative. McCorkle added parking and created a policy that all work trucks purchased in the future should be white in color and have fiberglass bodies. Finally, he proposed an agreement between the City of Robstown and NEC for emergency power to the office.

Robstown Office Remodel, 1994–2001 By 1994, the Co-op had grown to ten thousand members, forty-one employees, and thirty-two service vehicles and sold 114 million kilowatt-hours of power annually. The Co-op

continued to grow at an accelerated speed. When John L. Sims came to NEC as the general manager in 1994, he too looked at the facility and saw room for improvement. The majority of the building’s windows were broken and the Co-op’s needs were outgrowing the facility. The parking lots were full of holes and paper was overflowing in the building.

NEC faced limited workspace for employees and escalating maintenance costs—it was time for a full remodel. In 1997, the decision was made to expand the 10,000-square-foot building by 1,200 additional square feet and remodel the interior to create better workflow. Black Brother’s Construction of Corpus Christi was the general contractor and Donnie Hubert of Kingsville did some work. Environmental Disciplines of Corpus Christi served as the architect. Construction began in 1999, and by this time the employee base had now grown to fifty full-time employees. As the majority of the line crew was in the field, portable work trailers were brought in to provide the crews with space and to make room for additional desk space inside the main building.

The addition of space and interior remodel was completed in three phases. The addition of a boardroom, a training room, and a new metallic roof was the first phase. Then came new stucco for the exterior, energy efficient windows, and a new heating and air conditioning system. The third phase remodeled the interior to provide efficient workflow among departments. During this time, the lobby was moved to accommodate a payment drive-through, the back dock was taken out and enclosed for desk space, walls were taken down to expand the billing department, metering was moved, and the CEO’s office was moved to the front. Thanks to the advancement of technology and PCs, files were placed on optical disks and stored in the mainframe computer room, and the area was renovated into a copy room.

Almost three miles of wiring was laid to support technology for billing, metering, and an up-to-date telecommunications system.

NEC celebrated the grand opening of their remodeled office at 709 East Main Street on September 4, 2001. However, during this time new delivery territory and deregulation were hot topics and NEC was building its future as a cooperative operating as a competitive retailer. It was like stepping into the dark and feeling the way around. NEC was about to grow faster than anyone had envisioned.

CEO John L. Sims implemented annual spring-cleaning days. Rudy Cisneros (center) and Joe Castaneda (right) enjoy a day of spring cleaning in the pole yard in 1999.

709 E. Main, Robstown, Texas 78380.

An April 2001 aerial view of the Co-op shows the new roof and the new drive-through. During this time construction was taking place inside to reposition walls.

NEC moved into 709 East Main in Robstown in November 1949.

The building underwent a three-phase remodel from 1999 to 2003 to accommodate employee growth.

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Building a New Headquarters in Calallen In 2007, NEC grew by over 60 percent and the NEC Board of Directors began work on a strategic plan to upgrade all NEC facilities to accommodate the growing membership throughout the service area and in other competitive areas of Texas. Now at eighty fulltime employees, the Robstown office had been expanded several times and was fully occupied with portable buildings being utilized on the site where possible. With the building landlocked and access to the warehouse already limited, the board determined additional construction to the Robstown facility would not be possible.

A 2007 strategic plan was developed to address the concerns. The plan envisioned a new headquarters facility, as well as a service center at Ben Bolt, an upgrade of the Ricardo Service Center, and a new service center west of Orange Grove. Director Louis William (Bill) Hartman was selected to head the Strategic Planning Committee. The committee interviewed architect/engineering firms on June 1, 2007, in a search for a firm to prepare a master plan. In December 2007, the board was provided with a hypothetical master plan and the search was on for a suitable location.

The board was provided with a cost comparison of the prospective sites and land purchase costs. The committee was considering three sites; however, two of the property owners were not interested in selling. This left the Driscoll Foundation property located on CR 69, which was the most desirable location.

NEC purchased land at CR 69 and CR 52. The Co-op built a private driveway extending from CR 52. The photo on the left was taken on May 27, 2012, and the photo below was taken on October 29, 2013, the day after NEC employees moved into their new home.

Source: Lanmon Aerial photography.

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The Building Committee recommended approval of $1.3 million for the costs associated with the purchase of the 75.6 acres on CR 69, contingent upon results of due diligence on the site. In March 2008, NEC placed a contract on the land for the headquarters facility, and they were approximately halfway through the due diligence process.

By mid-2010 planning for the Cooperative’s new headquarters had advanced to the point it was time to seek a loan to construct the facilities.

Hartman presented the committee’s proposal on the level of financing involved. The board was requested to approve a budget of $25 million for the design and construction, which included the new headquarter facility and the land, design, and construction of a service center which would be located near Orange Grove. A preliminary schedule was presented of the drawing package and groundbreaking for the headquarters facility was scheduled for December.

In March 2011, NEC needed to resolve issues with the City of Corpus Christi on permits and jurisdictions as well as plan for underground wire runs and IT/phone network wiring. During this time, the board of directors called in efficiency specialists to review the plan and budget of the building project. The specialist developed costs for three options: total project cost, total project less the sale of the Robstown building cost, and total project less Robstown building and administration buildings cost. As a result of this review, the project cost decreased by $2.5 million and the plan moved forward. NEC broke ground on April 30, 2013, and employees relocated to the new facility in Calallen on October 28, 2013.

NEC President Brian Menking recommended to the board that the entrance to the lineman training area be dedicated to Director Hartman to recognize his extraordinary

efforts in the construction of the new headquarters. The dedication took place at the December 5, 2013, open house and seventy-fifth anniversary kick-off celebration.

Ricardo, Ben Bolt, and Orange Grove Service Centers In May of 2003, many members in the southern part of the territory had to drive over forty-five minutes to the Robstown office to take care of business. With this in mind, NEC purchased and remodeled a pre-existing building to better serve members’ needs. The satellite customer service center is located on County Road 1026 approximately one mile south and two miles west of Ricardo. The service center was built to enhance service quality in Kleberg, Kenedy, and Brooks Counties. On June 23, 2003, the Co-op held an open house for NEC members to come see the facility and get familiar with the service center’s location.

The Ricardo Service Center officially opened in 2003. NEC purchased an existing building which was remodeled.

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NEC’s service territory in Kleberg, Kenedy, and Brooks Counties spans 794 square miles. At the time, it included 339 miles of distribution line and two South Texas Electric Cooperative substations. NEC serviced almost two thousand active accounts and maintained over 440 security lights in the area.

In the age of hyper technology and an increased need to reach members more timely to restore power as quickly as possible, NEC’s 2007 strategic plan focused on facilities and better access to members living in Jim Wells, Duval, Live Oak,

The Ben Bolt Service Center groundbreaking in December 2009.

Ben Bolt was the first custom service center built for the Co-op.

Source: Lanmon Aerial photography.

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McMullen, and San Patricio Counties. The plan envisioned a new headquarters facility in Calallen, as well as two new service centers and upgrades to the Ricardo Service Center. The plan would give the Co-op three satellite facilities in the midpoints of the NEC service area; the service centers were strategically placed like spokes on a wheel. From the NEC headquarters located in Calallen, NEC employees and members could go down Highway 77 to the Ricardo facility, out Highway 44 to the Ben Bolt facility, or out FM 624 to the Orange Grove facility.

The development plan began with the most immediate need, which existed south of Alice.

In 2008, after searching for suitable existing structures, NEC chose to purchase property seven miles south of Alice in the small town of Ben Bolt.

The land was purchased from the Frank estate.

Alamo Architects out of San Antonio and Fulton Construction out of Corpus Christi were hired to design and build the service center. Construction began for the custom facility in December 2009.

A year and a half later, NEC celebrated the

An aerial view of the completed Ben Bolt Service Center. The facility opened to members on July 19, 2010. Source: Lanmon Aerial photography.

The Orange Grove Service Center is the most recent facility constructed by NEC. The service center opened for business on April 1, 2014. The building is an exact replica of the Ben Bolt Service Center.

opening with employees and the Ben Bolt Service Center officially opened to members for business on July 19, 2010.

Orange Grove is the most recent service center. Located at the intersection of FM 624 and Highway 281, ten miles south of Orange Grove, the facility was also designed by Alamo Architects and built by Fulton Construction. Construction began for the service center in February of 2013 and the Orange Grove Service Center officially opened for business on April 1, 2014.

With the addition of the three service centers, NEC has been able to gain tremendous productivity from employees through reduced

drive times. However, the biggest benefit of the service centers is the reduction in the average outage response time by an estimated forty-five minutes. The service centers make it easier to conduct business with the Co-op as members are able to establish services or pay bills at any of the three service centers.

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P A VI NG

NEW ROADS Deregulation and Entering the Competitive Retail Electricity Market The millennium brought about cell phones and iPods and flip flops became the national shoe of choice. It also brought about the deregulation of the Texas electricity market and the end of dual-certified power lines in the NEC territory. It was a coincidence that it all came about at the same time and ultimately “The Co-op grew a lot over the years. Deregulation ended up benefitting

Chapter Seven

was a big change for the Co-op. Deregulation

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NEC. created different jobs, different challenges and more In June 1999, rules to learn. That was a big change.”

Governor George W. —Lynda Jennings Bush signed Senate Thirty-seven-year employee of NEC (retired 2009) Bill 7 (Texas Electric Choice Act) into law.

The bill restructured the electric utility industry in Texas to provide retail competition and customer choice. Beginning January 1, 2002, customers of investor-owned utilities (IOU) were allowed to choose their retail electricity provider. The act required investor-owned utility companies like Central Light and Power (CPL) to open their service areas to retail electric competition in 2002. It also allowed electric cooperatives (like NEC) and municipal electric systems to choose to open their service areas to retail electric competition or they could choose to leave their services areas as is—with no choice of retail electricity providers for their customers.

NEC officials reviewed the rules needed to be taken by the Cooperative in regard to deregulation and restructuring at the November 15, 1999, board meeting. They resolved

to participate in customer choice at such time as was authorized by Senate Bill 7, pending a consent by two-thirds of a membership vote.

At the October 2000 annual membership meeting, NEC conducted a straw poll of its members. The poll asked if members wanted to open the NEC service area to retail electric competition.

A large majority of the attending members voted, “Yes, NEC should open its area to competition.” The NEC Board of Directors listened to the members and reviewed the costs. Letters were mailed to those customers that would be affected by the territory changes and community meetings were held in connection with the territory changes. The primary concerns expressed by those attending the meetings were service reliability and rates.

The management and directors of NEC discovered the cost to open the NEC service area to competition was very high. At the same time NEC was looking into these costs, the Co-op was presented with an opportunity to pursue settlement (division) of the shared service areas with AEP Texas Central Company (the wires company left after the breakup/acquisition of CPL), concurrently with the opening of its service area to competition. Once the shared service area was divided, NEC would gain approximately four thousand new distribution service customers. By gaining these additional members, it financially justified the opening of its service area for electric competition.

At the end of the year 2000, NEC officials filed a joint petition with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) for the single certification of certain dually certified services areas and the adoption of customer choice. In February 2001, with the filing of the proposed territory changes, the Cooperative moved ahead with the development of a plan for entering the competitive market.

The last year of the regulated retail electric market for Texas IOUs was 2001. In the first year, 2002, only 7 percent of residential customers and 30 percent of commercial and industrial customers had exercised their right to choose a new retail electric provider (REP). The transition into the competitive

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Fun Fact: Out of sixty-seven, NEC is the only

Your Home.

If You Build it...

Powering South Texas Since 1938

We’ll Power it.

market for Texas was not smooth. For consumers all across Texas, bills were delayed for several months, and new service connections were delayed for weeks because of electronic transaction problems among the market participants.

As for the territory change, NEC and CPL/AEP ultimately filed two proposals with PUCT to resolve the dual territory issue. The first proposal was submitted on December 21, 2000. By April 2001, NEC and CPL had provided customers with a notice of the territory

We’re Looking Out for You

the powerlines which Nueces Electric Cooperative maintains usly and work hard serio job our take We serve NAS Kingsville. reliable electricty. le, ndab depe everyday to ensure you have

Serving South Texas Since 1938

accountwe live by four values everyday-At Nueces Electric Cooperative, As a not-forn. vatio inno and , bility relia ity, ability, commitment to commun our and governed by those we serveprofit electric co-op, we are owned e serv AYS ALW we red assu rest You can member-consumers just like you. accountable manner possible. you in the most efficient, fair, and

www.nueceselectric.org

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NUECES E L E C T RIC C O O P E RAT IV E

1.800.NEC.WATT

www.nueceselectric.org or 1.800.NEC.WATT

changes explaining the intervention process if they wanted to file a protest to the territory change.

One customer that filed a verbal protest was charter member David Kircher. “We have always been on NEC until the territory was sold off to AEP/ CPL. I went up there [NEC headquarters] and they switched me back. If my papa was alive right now he would have had a heart attack. My papa had no use for CPL because they had no use for the farmers and ranchers. We probably wouldn’t have electricity today if it wasn’t for the Rural Electrification and NEC.” NEC and CPL made a joint decision to pull down their first PUCT filing to better educate the consumers about the proposed project and changes.

In March 2002, NEC had a letter of intent (LOI) and memorandum of understanding between NEC and AEP/CPL as well as a pilot project implementation plan.

Early in 2003, NEC officials were informed of a rate filing by CPL Retail to increase their fuel factor by 35 percent! A switchover policy was immediately developed to cover the associated costs for consumers to switch from AEP/CPL to NEC. The NEC Retail Electric Choice Pilot Program began for a select number of NEC members on August 16, 2004, with the actual switch taking place on September 1, 2004. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) came down to NEC from Austin to discuss how best to transition the CPL accounts that would be coming to the Cooperative.

On January 7, 2005, NEC and AEP Texas Central Company filed a second proposal with PUCT for the dual territory resolution. The joint request was approved and signed by PUCT at an

open meeting on June 16, 2005. NEC acquired about 5,800 AEP accounts and gave up about nine hundred accounts to AEP. On August 18, 2005, NEC began to transition ALL NEC members into the NEC Retail Electric Choice Pilot Program.

NEC was the only deregulated electric co-op in the U.S. The process to move all NEC members into competition was completed in twenty phases over approximately nine months. The transitions for the Calallen, Riverside, and Robstown Substations were completed by October 2005. On June 18, 2006, PUCT gave final approval of the territory project with AEP. And it was a success! A January 2006 survey conducted by STEC revealed an 89.9 percent overall customer satisfaction with their cooperative services.

On August 11, 2006, the board of directors recognized the employees of NEC for their hard work in completing the project with an Employee Appreciation Proclamation and luncheon. The proclamation stated, …WHEREAS, we congratulate you, the employees of Nueces Electric Cooperative, on your implementation and completion of the complex project to create a more efficient electric cooperative through (1) the expansion of the Nueces Electric Cooperative distribution service area, (2) the introduction of retail electric choice to Nueces Electric Cooperative distribution members, and (3) the provision of the unprecedented opportunity for investor-owned Texas electric customers to choose the Nueces Electric Cooperative Retail Division as their competitive retail power provider and thus become a member of an electric co-op; and WHEREAS, throughout this project, Nueces Electric Cooperative employees demonstrated their commitment to a high level of service to Nueces Electric Cooperative’s valued member-consumers through your teamwork, dedication, winning

attitude and deregulated electric cooperative in the continuing state of Texas and one of only a few in pursuit of the United States. excellence; and it’s these continued efforts that make Nueces Electric Cooperative the best, most efficient electric cooperative it can be; and WHEREAS, the completion of this project is a lofty accomplishment and could not have been possible without the high level of service and contribution Nueces Electric Cooperative employees provided to our valued membership with an attention to detail, a willingness to go the extra mile, and an unwavering professionalism; and WHEREAS, we thank you for invigorating the “Nueces Electric Co-op Spirit” through your ability to accept and meet the special challenges and obstacles encountered each day as you worked on this project to better serve Nueces Electric Cooperative members….

Today, the territory adjustments have settled and NEC Retail is thriving. With a reported 23,000 members located on IOU power lines and about 13,000 members on the Nueces Electric Cooperative power lines, NEC Retail is serving almost 43,000 meters in Texas as of early 2014. The Retail Division continues to grow at a steady rate. NEC Retail is

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committed to always being honest and up front with the public about rates and prides itself on never placing any surcharges or extra fees on bills. Membership has been extremely appreciative of the benefits of being a cooperative member and NEC Retail has one of the lowest complaint scores with PUCT in the state of Texas.

It was a bold and risky move indeed. Currently, NEC Retail is the only not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative operating as a competitive retailer in the country. It’s an accomplishment to be proud of as NEC paves the way for the future.

NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Kingsville Base Contracts In the middle of implementing customer choice and a territory trade, NEC also focused on the acquisition of military base contracts. In August 2001, the U.S. Navy looked to privatize base utility services at four south Texas locations.

In July 2002, Executive Manager Sims submitted a proposal to purchase, operate, and maintain the electric facilities at several military stations. There were Naval Station Ingleside, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Naval Air Station Kingsville, Waldron Field, Cabaniss Field, and Orange Grove Landing Strip. The due diligence process began on November 6, 2003, and would be completed ahead of the ninety-day deadline.

The contract was awarded to NEC in January 2005.

On March 31, 2005, NEC submitted a proposal to rebuild the four main circuits at NAS-CC at an estimated cost of approximately $25,000.00 per mile. A month later, at the April 25 board meeting, the navy had reviewed the Cooperative’s proposal to rebuild the overhead lines on NAS-CC and decided to include all of the options suggested in the proposal, which increased the cost of the project to $1.7 million.

In April 2006, the line-rebuilding project at the Corpus Christi naval station was nearing completion. The Cooperative prepared a bid for rebuilding the line NEC holds service contracts with both NAS Corpus Christi and feeding the lighting for the navy’s landing NAS Kingsville to maintain and build lines on the bases.

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strip in the Orange Grove area. The Cooperative also filed an unsolicited bid to provide power to the naval facilities, which would get the Cooperative on their bidder’s list. Within a month the Cooperative was preparing a contract for the rebuilding of the Orange Grove Landing Strip lighting feeder.

On March 17, 2008, NEC was awarded a fifty-year, $90 million, U.S. Department of Defense contract to maintain (and eventually own) the electric distribution lines at Naval Air Stations Corpus Christi and Kingsville and area airfields. NEC officially took over the facilities and their operation/maintenance on May 1. It has been a beautiful partnership between the U.S. Navy and Nueces Electric Cooperative and is something Co-op members can be proud of.

NEC was the first electric co-op to secure a navy base contract.

NEC owns and maintains the powerlines and distribution systems for both south Texas navy bases. Picture taken by Bob Torres.

Engineering staking technician Tino Briones discusses power line plans at NAS Kingsville.

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Cooperative Principle #7:

Chapter Eight

GIVING BA CK

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During the 1960s America experienced its longest uninterrupted period of economic expansion in history. Housing demand grew as well as the need for electrically powered consumer durables. NEC was in a position to take advantage of the growth and the Coop chose to invest in the community. The positive outlook poured toward the community included help to schools in the form of book covers and donations toward 4-H projects and prizes. Directors also recognized and rewarded area police officers who made arrests and obtained convictions of those who stole copper wiring from the Cooperative.

NEC joined Touchstone EnergyÂŽ in 1999. Touchstone Energy is a cobrand allowing the nine hundred independent electric cooperatives around the nation to come together to make a bigger impact in a more cost efficient way. NEC has worked with Touchstone Energy cooperatives

Concern for Community

on many education, training, advertising, and purchasing initiatives over the years.

While focusing on member needs, cooperatives Since 1998, the Coastal Bend Blood Center has visited work for the sustainable development of communities through policies and programs NEC four times a year. That means the blood mobile has been to accepted by the members. the Co-op about sixty-four times. If NEC averaged ten donations each trip, employees and members have donated approximately 640 pints of blood. As each whole blood donation has the ability to save up to three lives, NEC employees and members have saved 1,920 lives!

Also in 1999, NEC CEO John Sims and the NEC Board of Directors began a campaign to support area communities through the establishment of franchise agreements and the collection of franchise taxes for the service area communities. On behalf of NEC, employee Frank Wilson worked with city officials to establish agreements with every eligible community in the NEC Now a twenty-sevenyear employee of the territory.

Co-op, Larry Lehman NEC has always been concerned about employee demonstrates CPR during and public safety around electricity and has a long a 1998 training. As safety history of activities designed to educate members, is a priority, NEC provides annual recertification to all employees, and the public. employees.

•

NEC supports area schools by distributing 55,000 book covers each year with safety and energy efficiency messages on the covers.

Since 1998 the Coastal Bend Blood Center has visited the Co-op sixty-four times. NEC members and employees have saved approximately 1,920 lives through blood donations.

Nueces County Jr. Livestock Show Chicken Reserve Grand Champion, 1973.

Sandra Allen poses with her lamb at the 1973 Nueces County Jr. Livestock Show.

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•

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In July 2004, NEC began to publish its annual “Hurricane Preparedness Guide” in the Texas Co-op Power magazine. The guide is just for NEC members and is designed to give important information to protect their families and property, to understand the power restoration process and safety tips following a storm, and to provide members with other informative resources like links, news sources, and, of course, a hurricane tracking map.

In 2004, NEC worked with the National Weather Service to help recruit Skywarn volunteers to spot severe weather in the service territory.

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In 2011, NEC began an annual First Responders Training program to train first responders to accidents and emergency situations on how to deal with the dangers of electricity.

NEC conducts annual community advertising campaigns to educate on the dangers surrounding electricity.

The messages include promotion of the “811–Call Before You Dig” service, trees and power line safety, water and electricity, downed power lines, using electric generators safely, and storm safety, just to name a few. Safety information is also maintained in the Texas Co-op Power magazine and on the NEC website at www.nueceselectric.org .

NEC has provided almost ninety safety presentations to area schools and industry to impress upon all ages the importance of safety awareness in dealing with electricity both at work and at home.

George Gutierrez gives a safety presentation to students at a Kingsville elementary school in 1996.

Frank Wilson gives a safety presentation to students at Ricardo Elementary in 1996.

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Nanny Elementary School created a safety poster for the Co-op.

•

NEC employees annually attend required OSHA training and the NEC operations department holds weekly safety meetings, trainings, and discussions.

Founded on the goal to meet the needs of the members, in 2000 NEC responded to the call from members to provide computer and Internet services. NEC operated these services for a brief time before determining others were better serving these needs for the members.

In 2013, NEC held its first annual Arbor Day Free Tree Giveaway. The Co-op gave out three hundred trees in thirty minutes! In 2014, the second annual event once again proved to be well received as over one thousand members participated. Trees are big business at Nueces Electric Cooperative. Each year the Co-op spends an estimated $500,000.00 on trimming trees and clearing brush from around power lines.

Nationwide, limbs falling on or getting blown into

power lines are the number one reason for power outages. However, a well-planted shade tree could save a homeowner several hundred dollars on their electric bill. The program continues to grow and NEC continues to be fortunate enough to be able to provide this benefit to members.

John L. Sims gives a tree away during the 2014 Arbor Day Free Tree Give Away.

The event promotes planting trees as a tool for energy efficiency while educating members on safely trimming trees and calling 8-1-1- before digging.

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Fun Fact: Thanks to the generosity of NEC members, by

NEC employees honoring the 2003 American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women. Front row (L-R): Adriana Pena and Sarah Fisher. Middle row: Chris Knetig, Linda Jennings, Dee Molina, Frank Wilson, Robbie Perkins, LaRae Martin. Top row: Jessica Garcia, Doris Heslep, Paula Love, Linda Johnson, Eloise Flores, Rhonda Bell, Adela Longoria, and Sharon Stoker.

In 2014, the Co-op embarked on a campaign to ensure local middle school students receive a quality education on electricity. A partnership between Touchstone Energy Cooperatives and Discovery Channel Schools created two community outreach “programs in a box”—“Get Charged! Electricity and You” and “Kids Super Energy Saver Program.” NEC provides these kits to area schools and teachers. The comprehensive kits of educational materials on electricity also meet the National Academy of Science’s National Science Education Standards. In addition to these kits, NEC also provides energy conservation information on its website and in its monthly edition of Texas Co-op Power magazine.

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this program and filed articles of incorporation with the Texas Secretary of State to create Nueces Charities Inc. In the program, Nueces Electric Cooperative members volunteer to “round up” their electric bills to the next dollar. Nueces Charities received the first donations from Operation Round Up on March 24, 1997, for distribution to area charitable organizations who could serve the members of NEC. Initially, the funds supported HALO-Flight Air Ambulance Services after the organization battled financial troubles due to a reduction in government funding. Operation Round Up and its donations virtually saved this vital, lifesaving organization in south Texas. Thanks to Operation Round Up, Nueces Electric Cooperative members have donated over $270,000.00 to HALO-Flight since the program began.

In 2006, NEC adjusted the enrollment process for Operation Round Up, which resulted in the annual donations increasing tenfold. As a result, the Nueces Charities Board of Directors instituted a grant program so the NEC members’ donations could be shared with other charities in the members’ communities. The money adds

up each year the end of 2014, Nueces Charities Inc. will and Nueces have granted $1 million back to area nonprofits since 2006.

Charities (on behalf of all of the participating NEC members) awards grant checks to various worthy community projects.

Since 1995, Operation Round Up has raised over $930,000. By the end of 2014 NEC members, through Operation Round Up, will have donated over $1 million back to their communities by rounding up their electric bills to the next dollar. One hundred percent of the funds donated are returned to the community to target improvements in education, health, hunger, abuse, homelessness, and other human services.

Billing Department Dream Team Rhonda Bell, Dee Molina, Eloise Flores, and Chris Knetig.

Operation Round Up®, Nueces Charities Inc., and HALO-Flight Nueces Electric Cooperative has always worked to provide affordable, reliable power for their members. The cooperative difference is evident in every corner of south Texas, with initiatives such as Operation Round Up® and Nueces Charities Inc.—the charitable giving foundation for NEC. Operation Round Up was originally created in 1989 by a fellow electric cooperative in South Carolina. In May of 1995, NEC decided to adopt

Started in 1996, Nueces Charities Inc. is funded thanks to the generosity of members who round up their electric bill to the nearest dollar. By the end of 2014, Nueces Charities will have donated $1 million back to the community. Pictured are Dianna Blunter and Jimmy Buck of the Art Center of Corpus Christi who received a $2,500.00 donation for their children’s art program in 2013.

Nueces Charities’s largest recipient is HALOFlight Air Ambulance who has received over $270,000.00 to date.

NEC participating in the Junior Livestock Show Parade. Vehicle driven by Eloise Flores.

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Youth Tour Delegates NRECA’s Youth Tour Since 1995, NEC has held an annual essay contest to select winners for an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. Each year, the Co-op sponsors up to two attendees to make this educational and inspirational journey.

The Youth Tour began in 1964 out of a suggestion made by Lyndon B. Johnson. NEC has sent twenty-seven delegates on this VIP tour of Washington, D.C., since 1995.

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Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson inspired the Youth Tour when he addressed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) annual meeting in Chicago in 1957. The senator and future president declared, “If one thing comes out of this meeting, it will be sending youngsters to the national capital where they can actually see what the flag stands for and represents.”

Consequently, some Texas electric cooperatives sent groups of young people to Washington to work during the summer in Senator Johnson’s office.

In 1958, a rural electric cooperative in Iowa sponsored the first group of thirtyfour young people on a weeklong study tour of the nation’s capital. Later that same year, another busload went to Washington from Illinois. The idea grew and other states sent busloads of young people throughout the summer. By 1959, the “Youth Tour” had grown to 130 students.

In 1964, NRECA began to coordinate joint activities among the state delegations and suggested co-op representatives from each state arrange to be in Washington, D.C., during Youth Tour week. The first year of the coordinated tour included approximately four hundred young people from twelve states. Word of the program has continued to spread and today more than 1,500 students (150 each year from Texas alone) and over 250 chaperones participate in the Youth Tour every year.

Youth Tour directors from each state association arrange their delegation’s visits to their U.S. representatives’ and senators’ offices, federal agencies, and other educational and sightseeing activities. In addition to the planned

statewide activities, the Youth Tour experience encompasses multi-state activities coordinated by NRECA. Since the program’s inception in 1964, nearly fifty thousand students from rural areas and small towns across America have participated in this program. Some Youth Tour alumni have gone on to design airplanes, lead companies, and serve in the highest ranks of government, including the U.S. Senate.

Since 1995, NEC has sent a total of twenty-six delegates to represent the Co-op. Many delegates have sent pictures and thank you notes throughout the years, and all have had the same theme that “this is the trip of a lifetime!”

Delegates who have represented the Nueces Electric Cooperative as part of the NRECA Youth Tour.

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Camille Crocker Christina Garza Charlie Rosse Megan Crocker Tristan Schober Emily Scheer Della Serna Tami Saverline Abby Faske Seth Crocker Gina Naranjo 2005 Corey Ward 2006 Kyle Lunaas 2007 Caleb Maltby Brittany Winner 2008 Angelica Barrientos Dixie Wheeler 2009 Katie Wernecke 2010 Hallie Behrens 2011 Rachel Pesek 2012 Amy Nelson Hayley Meyer 2013 Holly Raiborn Hunter Meyer 2014 Rebecca Lancaster Victoria Wahlen

Prior to affordable airfare, Youth Tour delegates traveled for two days by bus to Washington, D.C.

Youth Tour delegates at Mount Vernon in 1970. Photo taken by TEC

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Ramiro De La Paz Memorial Scholarship Fund

NEC Youth Tour Delegate Tami Saverline shows off Youth Tour flare at the 2002 annual meeting.

The 2013 NEC Youth Tour delegates Hunter Meyer and Holly Raiborn.

Ramiro De La Paz was a beloved member of the NEC Board of Directors who dedicated over twenty-eight years to the cooperative as an advisor, director, and co-op friend.

In 2004, the directors voted unanimously to rename the NEC Education Fund Scholarship to the Ramiro De La Paz Memorial Scholarship, in honor of the long-time educator, who passed away on January 21, 2004.

The scholarship is open to high school seniors who are direct dependents of an NEC member. To apply, students must complete an application and submit it along with their GPA, SAT or ACT scores, and three letters of recommendation.

The Community Involvement Committee and representatives from local universities judge the applications using set measurements to determine six winners. Today, the top two receive $4,000.00 each and four alternates

receive $1,000.00 each. All students must attend a recognized Texas institution of higher learning. Since the Ramiro De La Paz Memorial Scholarship Fund began, forty-nine students have been awarded funds totaling $146,500.00.

Kleberg Kenedy County Jr. Livestock Show kids having fun in the Meet a Lineman bucket display.

An NEC energy efficiency educational display educates the community on lighting, insulation, and wall sealing at the 2014 Nueces County Jr. Livestock Show.

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Ramiro De La Paz Memorial Scholarship Fund Recipients 1999 Catherine Huang Laura Foy

2007 Steven McArther Bryan Gajdos

2000 Lindsey Pavelka Renee Yancy

2008 Jessica Meurer Jessica Martini

2001 Jessica Jayne Story Heidi Menking

2009 Emily Kunkel Travis St. Clair

2002 Alainya Patrice Vollmering Ashton Vern Crocker

2010 Amanda Meurer Allison Clark Michelle Nelson Jayme Krepps Julie Kircher

2003 Christina Foy Amanda Vidlak 2004 Catherine Barton William Sterling Brown 2005 Gina Marie Naranjo Amy Diane Kircher 2006 Jacqueline Garcia Brenton Burney

2011 David Schumacher Mary McClendon Devin Boyd Nicholas Ortiz Brady A Newcomb Jennifer Wade 2012 Carson Alsop Andrew Sutter Kaitlyn Polly Jonathan Arevalo Elizabeth Springs Holly Parencia 2013 Corey Wittig Camille Reuter Kaitlin Ruiz Ashley Neely Savannah Hostetter Zoe Alaniz

Relay For Life Many proud memories stem around giving back to the community. Throughout the years NEC employees and members have created meaningful partnerships. Relay For Life is one of the proudest.

In 1998, NEC employees Linda Johnson and Sarah Fisher read about an American Cancer Society (ACS) “Relay For Life” event, which raised money and promoted community awareness for the fight against cancer in the state of Ohio.

They contacted the local ACS office in Corpus Christi and asked if they had a “Relay For Life” event in the area that NEC could support. The response was, “No, but we’d love for NEC to help us start one!” With NEC’s support, Fisher and Johnson worked with the local ACS staff and other community volunteers to create a committee

to plan the first event. Fisher, as committee chair, made twenty-four community presentations to organizations and the media with the ACS executive director. Fisher and Johnson, along with other NEC employees, worked to rally the community’s support for the first area ACS Relay For Life event on April 23–24, 1999. The event took place at the Calallen High School stadium and raised $52,000.00 with thirty-six teams. The event, now referred to as the Relay For Life of Northwest Corpus Christi, gave birth to Relay For Life events throughout Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Alice, Mathis, and Three Rivers and Aransas Pass. Today, twelve area Relay For Life events raise over a million dollars each year to support the fight against cancer.

After helping Relay For Life get started in south Texas, NEC and its employees have supported these events in multiple communities in its service area each year since 1999.

NEC brought the first Relay For Life event to the Coastal Bend in 1999. Sarah Fisher and Evon Kelly chaired the event. Pictured here is the 2000 team.

Pictured from top: Frank Wilson, Jessica Garcia, Eloise Flores, Lynda Jennings, Doris Heslep, Sarah Fisher, Norma Ortiz, LaRae Martin, and Linda Johnson.

2014 Alexis Wahlen Ryan Sikes Caroline Alsop Rachel Johnson Jake Leber Aaron Clark

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TECHNOLOGY

A variety of oil lamps on display at the Violet Historical Museum.

Lamps were used to light rooms and barns before and after the sunset.

A D VAN CEMENT S Technology wasn’t much of a word in 1938. The few sources of technology rural America had in 1938 were the telephone and fume-heavy, gas-powered appliances such as vacuums and dryers. Electrical appliances on the market were only found in large cities and were very expensive.

It wasn’t until 1947 that NEC purchased two-way radio communications for the efficient dispatching of crews. During this time period, both telephones and electricity used poles to run line on. It was costly to run and costly to maintain. It was brought to NEC’s attention in February 1954 that General Telephone Company of the Southwest had attached telephone lines to the electric polls owned by the Cooperative. A policy was created that “all contacts made by the telephone companies of lines and facilities to poles owned by the Cooperative cannot be permitted except by contract.”

Chapter Nine

Pictured is one of the first meters used by the Co-op.

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A gas-powered iron located at the Violet Historical Museum. Prior to electricity, many household appliances ran on gas.

Armando Castro dispatches crews on the radio.

In 1956, NEC upgraded transformers as members increased their home electrical appliances. The Co-op even discussed a partnership with the Kelvinator® Company.

Kelvinator was an appliance manufacturer founded in 1914; the brand name is now owned by Electrolux®.

Instead of selling the appliances, NEC gave each member a $25.00 credit towards installing electrical wiring to accommodate the appliances. Many members were finding electric cooking to be as cheap or cheaper than gas, and a growing number were finding electric heating of homes was saving them money over older methods of heating and at a much better level of comfort.

Meters and Tracking Usage From the Co-op’s inception, reading meters and billing have been a continuously advancing process.

Each home or business had a meter loop and an electric meter. But the Co-op did not always have meter readers. This position did not come into play until the late 60s. Even then the Co-op only employed one or two readers who read only large energy using commercial accounts. Ninety percent of members read their own meters. In the 70s, NEC added an additional four meter reading positions. The readers would go out to specified areas at specified times and hand write the readings into large ledgers. They would then take the ledgers back to the business office and the readings would be hand keyed into the data processers. Up until the late-1990s, members living in extremely remote locations continued to read their own meters and submit their usage to the Co-op.

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To keep costs low, NEC asked members to read their own meters. Pictured is a submitted meter reading card from 1950.

In 1999, NEC purchased Cannon Emetcon Automated Meter Reading (AMR) meters. The Emetcon solution offered fast, cost-effective metering communication, plus distribution automation and load management, over a single, power line carrier system. This new advanced metering system allowed NEC to read realtime consumption each month. The meters could be read from the office using power line carrier (PLC) technology. The Robstown office could view usage, the amount of current or voltage that was going into the home and business, and could detect outages on the system. Once the readings were received at the office, they would auto populate into the member’s account and a bill was generated. It was revolutionary! The Co-op began a three-phase implementation process for the new technology, which resulted in decreased line loss.

In the hyper-age of technology, it wasn’t long before a meter came on the market that allowed the power customer, or in NEC’s case the member, the ability to interact with their meter. In 2014, NEC purchased an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) system. AMI is an automated, two-way communication between a meter and a utility company. Like the AMR system, AMI meters provide NEC with real-time data. The difference between the two systems is AMI technology can be read every fifteen minutes and the reading is substantially more reliable. They will automatically report outages and the system can detect tampering—the most important feature. The AMR system is read through the power lines; with AMI meters, each meter has an individual IP address and the readings are sent back to NEC. AMI meters are one of the most capable systems on the market.

Maintenance Supervisor Darryl Burns helped install the Emetcom Metering System in 1999.

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Billing and Accounting Twenty-six years after the Co-op was founded, the first signs of truly advanced technology began appearing at the Robstown NEC office. Typewriters and ink plates had been a normal way of life, but in March 1964 NEC acquired its first data processing machine. It was an IBM series 6400. Five years later, NEC joined with thirty-seven other co-ops to have computerized billing performed out of Austin.

Thanks to the invention of fiber optic cable in 1969, telephone systems were soon digitized thus allowing data processing information to be transmitted using telephone lines.

During this time, the Robstown office printed large-bound books containing all of the members’ names, addresses, and billing information. When the line crews worked in the field, they would use the book to report back to the office. The billing department manually entered each charge into a Northern Telecommunications cassette tape. The cassette was placed into the “write” drive. When it was ready to send to Austin, the employee would take it out and insert the cassette into the “read” drive. During the evening hours, the Texas Electric Cooperative (TEC) would transmit the information from the cassette. It was common to find the cassette tape unwound the next morning due to transmitting errors. If that happened, all of the information would have to be re-typed and re-transmitted.

Lynda Jennings started working at the Cooperative as an executive secretary to General Manager C. M. Wagner in 1972. “At that time we just had one secretary. I pretty much typed, answered the phone, took dictation and whatever was needed. Due to the changes in the REA program, I had to help deal with Rural Administration for loans and correspondence

with them. All the reports had to be typed and carbon copies made. We didn’t have computers back then. We didn’t have copiers back then; well, we had one but, we didn’t use it much because it was expensive.”

Early in 1976 the method of billing and mailing of bills was studied. Consideration was given to moving from bills and envelopes with return envelopes to postcard-type bills. Though some savings were apparent by changing to the postcard-type bills, it was thought that due to the need of occasionally sending out information on inserts, it would be best to keep the same system for one more year.

TEC established a new computer system, which allowed NEC to create its first in-house electronic membership database. In 1985, a comparison was made between three options— the Daffron System, TEC CAPS (Austin based), and TEC CAPS (in-house). A feasibility study showed the CAPS in-house system would cost 87 cents per member and the software program was implemented soon after.

Computer upgrades were made at the NEC headquarters in 1988.

Executive Secretary Lynda Jennings stated, “My job changed with the times. Hank Brown, from the engineering department set me up with a desktop computer.

Before that I had a memory typewriter. As far as I was concerned the memory typewriter saved me a lot of time.

I had a hard time giving it up.”

An NEC newsletter from March 1985 highlighting the Co-op’s new computer database.

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A new and upcoming cooperative software was implemented. NEC now has seven billing cycles. company purchased the CAPS system from A member’s billing cycle depends on where they live.

TEC. Ultimately, the National Information At a consistent time each month, an area’s meters Solutions Cooperative (NISC) moved the CAPS are read and members are sent a bill for their usage. system to their headquarters located in St. Louis, Cycle billing has lessened the month-end pressure Missouri. All cooperatives that utilized the CAPS on the Co-op and has allowed the Member Care system were seamlessly transferred. Soon, NISC Department to comfortably address member’s needs. replaced CAPS with their newly created database, Early in February 2010, NEC’s billing staff iVUE. The NEC accounting department was the proposed implementation of online credit card first to utilize the new system in 2007 and the processing to increase convenience and choice for billing department transitioned from CAPS to members. These payment methods would also aid in iVUE 2010.

When NEC welcomed “There was time when the company was deregulation in 2005, the smaller but those things have to change. Times billing department felt a changed and the company had to grow.” large impact. While the Cooperative developed —Lynda Jennings Executive Secretary a competitive retail electric branch, they were careful to ensure the member-owners were not lost in the mix of collections and help decrease service interruptions. the chaos. To keep the lines of communication The system was called e-Bill and credit card clear, a resolution was made to differentiate capability was anticipated to cost approximately the membership. Members who had accounts $14,200.00 plus individual transaction fee. Being connected to NEC delivery lines would be user-friendly was a priority for the Co-op, so the termed as “Wires Members” and those who did program was implemented as an additional way for not were termed as “Non-Wires Members.” It members to make payments. was decided NEC Retail would handle all nonIn 2012, NEC requested an adjustment to the wires billing separately, and the Robstown NEC program and learned NISC was no longer making office would continue to take care of the wires upgrades to the current e-Bill pages. Instead they members. introduced the Co-op to a system called Smart Hub. Billing formats and processes had to be The transition was seamless and the new system changed. New policies were implemented to allows members to more easily access their bills, decrease the image of being anti-competitive. An breakout their past due payments from the amount EDI coordinator position was created to ensure currently due, view their bills, view their billing the proper electric service identifier (ESID) history, view weather patterns which may have number was being connected and billed to the attributed to lower or higher usage, and provide appropriate electric retail provider. During this user-friendly mobile device access. NEC members time, the billing timeline changed. Rather than appreciated the new system and one third of NEC’s billing all members at the beginning of the wires membership actively use the program. month and having one due date, cycle billing

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NEC Begins an IT Program With the Co-op in full swing using computerized billing programs, the Internet, and computers in all departments, NEC recognized it was time to formally introduce an Internet Technology (IT) Department to help maintain and keep up the rapid improvements in technology.

In 2000, Joseph Gamez was promoted from the engineering department and given the title of system analyst. Immediately, the department was challenged with implementing the first interconnected computer network at the Co-op.

The network would bring all of the computers together under one server and allow the Co-op to remotely upgrade and enhance the system.

In 1999, NEC began work to have a presence on the Internet with a website. The first NEC website was launched in 2000. The site was hosted

by STEC and was designed to be an information source for members. Today, NEC maintains three websites: nueceselectric.org, necretail.com, and nuecescharities.org. The sites are no longer simply informative, but are continually enhanced to offer member services such as bill payment and online enrollment capability. The sites have become an integral part of NEC business operations. In 2014, outage maps were added to nueceselectric.org, NEC Retail introduced online enrollment, and NEC began to make its websites more user-friendly for a diverse array of user devices, including tablets, phablets, and smart phones.

Gamez left in 2009 and Sergey Seryogin was promoted to serve as the Co-op’s second IT director. During this time the Co-op implemented security systems such as facility cameras, an electronic badge access system, and biometric fingerprint time clocks. NEC also upgraded the phone system from a Nortel analog system to a new Nortel Avaya system. This new phone

system had voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) capability, which allowed the Co-op to have phones at remote locations.

NEC also tackled a long-existing problem of locks on members’ gates. All too often, NEC servicemen would go to a member’s property or ranch for outages and the gate would be locked.

While the Co-op had a policy in place and rights to enter the land to access lines and poles (Co-op property), NEC crews had to cut locks to access meters and make repairs. Ultimately, a win-win solution was found and the Co-op placed locks in addition to, or in place of, the landowners’ locks.

In 2010 the Co-op went virtual.

Virtualization is the act of creating a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, including a virtual computer hardware platform,

Clemente Lopez and Dan Shular working in the Rosita area.

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Line Superintendent Charlie Stephenson and Joe Morales (L-R) review a map of the NEC system in the early 1980s.

Mary Pavelka and Joe Morales review NEC maps.

operating system (OS), storage device, or computer network resources. The move saved the Co-op thousands of dollars since they no longer had to purchase a server for each new project. NEC could duplicate servers and software without having to buy new hardware. Along with the cost savings, the solution allowed the Co-op to back-up and store information on a daily basis.

In 2013, the Co-op upgraded to a Digium Switchvox Phone System. The software gave the ability to interface with additional systems, including the billing department’s Customer Information Systems. The software allows for calls to be recorded and stored on a secure server. Employees are able to utilize phone tracking features and transfer calls to cell phones or other employees in the event they are out of the office.

Equipment and Mapping With the demand for electricity and the expansion of electrical appliances, in 1965 NEC continued to put in larger conductors and additional voltage regulators and capacitors to improve service. The Co-op also removed unused services and lines at a tremendous cost. In 1966, pole fires caused by salt-dust contamination and snakes in substations created reliability problems for NEC. The Co-op also recognized that copper conductor, once thought to be the only answer to corrosion problems, was not adequate. A special aluminum alloy became the new corrosionresistant material.

In 1969, the Co-op hired contractors to build service to new consumers and started a vigorous right-of-way clearing program with a bulldozer followed by a mower. After Hurricane Fern hit in 1971, NEC began demand-side management by encouraging energy-efficient construction of homes and businesses.

In 2005, membership was growing at an accelerated speed due to people moving into subdivisions and purchasing large plots of land in the country to build homes. The Co-op recognized the increased need for system efficiency and a proactive maintenance plan. NEC had been using a computer-aided design (CAD) static mapping system since the late 1980s. The maps were basically lines on a printed piece of paper with little to no information. With these maps, NEC knew where power lines ran; however, the number of poles that existed and their spacing was not known. Engineering design technicians, planning line construction, would manually update the maps by hand drawing red lines on the static map. The maps given out to field personnel were only updated about once every two to three years.

In late 2005, NEC purchased a high-tech Milsoft GIS mapping program to more accurately track NEC’s power system. In early 2006, the Co-op contracted

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a company to inventory all of the poles, get GPS coordinates, and tag all of the poles with numbered yellow tags. NEC also matched meter numbers to transformer numbers. All of this information was used to create shape files using Esri ArcMap. Shape files spatially outline points on maps which represent power poles, lines, county and city boundaries, NEC district boundaries, water wells, rivers, and lakes. GIS Technician Clay Dennis then worked with Milsoft to create the existing engineering analysis model that allows NEC to evaluate existing feeders and circuits, make future plans for improvement, and to actively track the maintenance that is being done on the system, including vegetation management, pole inspections and treatments, and special equipment.

Design technicians now utilize hand-held GPS tablets to plan construction. Plans are drawn in the field and are then automatically updated into the mapping system. Additionally, NEC actively patrols lines using infrared cameras to proactively detect hot spots in transformers so repairs can be made prior to the transformer malfunctioning.

In 2011 NEC implemented a service order completion program through its membership database manager, NISC, called Mobile

work orders were printed out daily and distributed to crews. When the work was completed, the work order was turned in for processing. The new system has reduced construction and service projects by three to five days and eliminated errors due to illegible handwriting.

In 2014, NEC purchased a server-based mapping software that interfaces with the existing programs. In addition to the benefits NEC had been utilizing for several years, the server-based maps interface with metering and the billing department and allows maps to be viewed using smart phones.

Materials and Safety

The evolving ergonomics of tools has made a lasting impact on the way cooperative crews work in the field. Line crews soon added digger trucks to help dig the large holes needed for poles, and backhoes helped move dirt and clear sites of debris. Other advances like battery-powered cutting tools and using electric drills instead of bracing bits (hand-cranked drills) have made work more efficient.

Safety has evolved into a full-time business. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was established in 1971 to assist companies in reducing workplace “The invention of the bucket truck made our injuries. The laws and job so much easier. We could get more done checklist of mandatory and weren’t so tired after climbing poles all workplace guidelines grow day.” each year. What line crews —Adolf Aleman wear to work on or near Forty-two-year employee energized power lines has evolved. Padding can be found on climbing gear and fall protection Workforce. The program allows orders to be sent measures have enhanced the safety of climbing out to field personnel as they are created. Work tools. Workers wear fire retardant uniforms orders are then processed and closed as soon as and NEC vehicles are made to reduce the the work is completed in the field. Previously

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Line crews were excited by the invention and purchasing of a bucket truck in the 1970s. The trucks helped crews meet needs quickly and safely.

This photo was taken in 2009 for an ad campaign. Directed and taken by Moorehead Dott Advertising.

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conduciveness of electricity should a line fall on one while working.

In the 2000s, NEC began installing and replacing the original wooded cross arms, which can be found on every electric pole, with 100 percent fiberglass cross arms. The new cross arms reduced outages and required maintenance due to wood rot, woodpecker holes, and cross arm fires. Since 2001, NEC has transitioned from glass to 100 percent polymer insulators and arresters. Insulators and arrestors serve as surge protectors on power lines. They protect transformers and members against overvoltage, which may occur due to lightning or system failure. The arrestors help alleviate outages and reduce the Cooperative’s cost to replace transformers by approximately $140,000.00 a year. On a regular basis, the engineering department upgrades the hardware used as new and improved products are on the market and as materials become lighter and more durable.

The Co-op’s longest source of technology has been power lines. While power has been used in metropolitan cities since the

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early 1900s, the advent of rural electrification in the mid-1930s brought about a maturing of the electric power industry and the evolution of power line designs. Because the Rural Electrification Administration demanded engineering standards and specifications of high quality and durability in the rural environment, manufacturers were challenged to create new line design products.

Rural electric power systems needed long spans of line. To make the lines reliable for rural America, the power lines needed to be highstrength conductors with efficient electrical conductivity. It was clear that pure copper line would be extremely expensive. Additionally, with 350 to 500 foot spans, copper would not have the strength to withstand the weight and impacts of weather elements.

In the 1940s, a manufacturer called Copperweld Bimetallics Group out of Pennsylvania (now Fushi Copperweld) introduced copper clad, and later aluminum clad, coating to high-strength steel core wire. The coating of copper and aluminum afforded protection to the steel core, eliminating many problems associated with corrosion. Using copper clad wire also reduced the theft of copper wire.

NEC continuously changes the type of line used based on the advancement of technology.

The more durable the line, sagging, stretching, corrosion, and breakage are reduced and the Co-op’s cost for repair is kept low. When selecting wire, five major criteria are considered: •

•

Minimum Breaking Strength (MBS): What is the minimum value of in-line tension required to break the wire?

Elongation: How well can the spans of wire endure the impact of climate between supports? The length of the wire is made longer by weather, such as ice, rain, and wind. Impact of a traffic

•

•

•

accident or other event can stress the strength of line wire.

Elastic Limit and Clearance: How far can it stretch and for how long before it collapses? If a line is permanently distorted, then traffic beneath the span is endangered.

Temperature Coefficient of Expansion (TCE): How does it handle the effects of weather changes between hot and cold? Sags and tension of the existing line wire will be impacted per degree of temperature variation. With line sag resulting from these weather changes, both ground clearance and failure to conduct may be experienced.

Fatigue Endurance Limit (FEL): What is the maximum stress that may be applied for an indefinitely large number of cycles without producing a break?

In the mid-2000s, NEC began to lay underground power lines to homes and businesses. Underground lines take up less rightof-way than overhead lines, have lower visibility, and are less affected by bad weather. However, costs of insulated cable and excavation are much higher than overhead construction and faults in buried transmission lines take longer to locate and repair.

Underground lines are strictly limited by their thermal capacity, which permits less overload resulting in the ability to lay long stretches of underground lines. In 2014, NEC has 180 miles of underground power line in addition to 3,100 miles of overhead line. The Cooperative is completing more and more underground projects each day, ranging from single residential service drops to entire neighborhoods and corporations.

The changes and upgrades have been a constant at NEC and have accelerated since 2000. Whether it has been meter functionality, mapping, enhanced phone systems, Internet services and presence, upgraded databases, or increased efficiency in equipment, every department has strived to utilize up-to-date practices to meet the needs of members. As NEC members become more technologically oriented, they demand the same from their Co-op. NEC and all nine hundred cooperatives in the U.S. must meet the challenges of a shifting business climate and continue to maintain pace with new technology to provide quality and costeffective service to members.

Tommy Helpert and a fellow employee working to insulate the Wood River underground services.

The changes and upgrades have been a constant at NEC and have accelerated since 2000. As NEC members become more technologically oriented, they demand the same from their Co-op.

Underground services installed at a housing development site. As technology grows and the cost of installation continues to fall, underground service is increasing in popularity.

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NEC

BOARD O F D I RECTO R S The Role of Directors

Chapter Ten

Good governance is an essential part of a cooperative’s success. Adhering to Cooperative Principle #1, Democratic Member Control, NEC is governed by a member-elected board of directors. The NEC board consists of nine members who represent a different district in the Co-op’s delivery area and one representative for the Non-wires Retail market. Directors serve three-year terms. There is no term limit for an NEC director but he/she must complete the nomination process every three years and be re-elected by the members.

Boards of cooperatives are called to a higher standard because of their direct connection to the members. They live in the areas they serve and are friends, neighbors, and business partners with those they serve. Directors identify needs in their districts and listen to members’ feedback on the Co-op.

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Cooperatives function best when boards and management work as a team based on mutual respect and trust. A board is responsible for adopting appropriate policies and establishing a vision and strategic direction for the cooperative; it is management’s role to execute the boardapproved policies. Like any team, a cooperative functions best when all players excel at their own roles and respect and support but never supplant the roles of the other players.

From the beginning, most of the nation’s co-ops have had the opportunity to work together and learn from each other. However, there is not a cookie-cutter solution and what works for one co-op does not work for them all. The memberelected board of directors plays a crucial role at NEC and in return, as a board member, they are

held accountable for the Cooperative’s success and failures. Business and community climates may change, but strong, knowledgeable, consistent leadership helps sustain co-op success.

Annual meeting, 1951.

General Manager C. H. Wagner and Director W. A. Ahlrich at the annual meeting in 1951.

Early board meeting.

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Cooperative Presidents

W. F. L. Lehman served as NEC’s first board president until October 1951 when he asked The first board of directors to resign as director due to health reasons. His was elected at the March 6, 1939, resignation was accepted with regret. With his annual meeting of members. resignation, the office of president became vacant During the meeting, attendees and. F. C. Wolf was unanimously elected to serve selected W. F. L. Lehman, F. C. in this capacity until the next regular election of Wolf, August Wisian, Roy Barlow, officers. With Wolf as president, the office of vice Fred G. Lowman, Emil Hinze, president became vacant. Frank Bluntzer, who was John H. Bolland, O. F. Brendle, elected to the board in 1941, was elected as vice and C. A. Eggleston. Lehman president to serve until the next regular election served as president, Wolf served as of officers. Wolf served as president for the next vice president, and Brendle seventeen years when he handed the gable over to as secretary.

NEC’s third president, Ernest J. Botard, in 1968.

In seventy-five years of service to members, NEC has only had eight presidents. These eight individuals have served the membership as inspiring leaders who have taken the charge of directing the board and the mission and the management of the Co-op.

President’s Name W. F. L. Lehman F. C. Wolf Ernest J. Botard Claude T. Allen John W. Turcotte George A. Frank Jr. Tommy Ermis Brian Menking

Right: The election candidates for director were written on a chalkboard in 1961.

Board President E. J. Botard in 1979. Botard served as

Ramiro De La Paz A new requirement by the REA regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was brought to the directors’ attention in 1970 thus creating an NEC compliance statement, which was presented and accepted by the board. The statement of nondiscrimination read: NEC, Inc. has filed with the Federal Government a Compliance Assurance in which it assures the

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1939­–1956 1956–1968 1968–1983 1983–1986 1986–2002 2002–2005 2005–2011 2011–Present

Attorney B. H. Kirk (L) and President F. C. Wolf at the 1962 annual meeting.

Top: Director J. H. West, 1958.

Above: The board of directors at the 1961 annual meeting.

Length of Service

Rural Electrification Administration that it will comply fully with all requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964…no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination in the conduct of its program and the operation of its facilities…Any person who believes himself,…to be subject by this organization to discrimination…file with the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington DC.

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Top left: Board President Jack Turcotte served the Co-op from 1973 to 2002.

In 1975, the NEC Board of Directors officially welcomed the first Hispanic to serve. Ramiro De La Paz of Riviera, Texas, was appointed as an advisor to the board. He was a former schoolteacher and school administrator and an NEC member since 1969. As an advisor to the board, De La Paz was an active member but could not vote.

Early in 1982, the addition of a voting director position was discussed.

The Co-op charter did not set a limit on the number of directors; however, the bylaws would have to be amended to allow for this position.

Top: The annual meeting in 1964 was held at the KC Hall in Robstown. The meeting would remain there for several years until moving to the Nueces County Showbarn in Robstown.

Above: Director Carl M. Allen reading minutes at the annual meeting in 1970.

Right: Ramiro De La Paz was the first Hispanic board member. He served on the board from 1982 to 2004.

In 2004, NEC renamed the education fund the Ramiro De La Paz Memorial Scholarship Fund in his honor.

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Above: Jane Jungman hands out door prizes at the 1974 annual meeting.

Above: The board of directors at the annual meeting, 1974. Front row (L-R): Charlie Rosse, Clause Allen, Wilmer Roewe, W. A. Ahlrich, Manager C. W. Wagner.

Back row: E. O. Walker, Louis Haverlah, John Turcotte, Ernest Botard, and C. W. Wright.

Right: Attorney James Williams speaks as Assistant Secretary Claude Allen (far left) and President C. W. Botard listen during the 1974 annual meeting.

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A board member since 1977, Tommy Ermis served as board president from 2005 to 2011.

In 2014, Ermis remains a valued part of the board and represents NEC on the STEC board as well.

Mr. George Frank served on the board from 1983 to 2006 and as president from 2002 to 2006.

CEO John Sims at the 2008 annual meeting.

Top left: C. W. Wagner tallying the director votes at the annual meeting, 1977.

Above: Directors Claude Allen (L) and W. A. Ahlrich (R).

Left: NEC Director Louis Haverlah (L) speaks to C. W. Wright.

the resolution, Director Allen nominated Ramiro On March 15, 1982, NEC officials adopted De La Paz for the director-at-large position. the director-at-large resolution. The new Haverlah seconded the nomination. The motion director was to be “…appointed by the Board carried and De La Paz went on to serve the board of Directors to serve such district until the next as assistant secretary and secretary-treasurer, annual meeting of members of the Cooperative dedicating over twenty-eight years to Nueces at which time a Director-at-Large shall be elected Electric Cooperative. by the members for a three year term beginning in 1982. Such director shall have the same qualifications “Ramiro was a sincere, honest, dedicated as the District Director. man and we will miss him very much.”

Further, that the By-laws be —John Sims NEC Executive Manager amended to comply with this resolution.” Following

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Representation of Women in the Co-op At the forty-second annual meeting held on October 13, 1981, NEC elected the first female board member. Meridene Woodson was elected from District 4, receiving 176 votes. During her time, Woodson served on several committees and was a valued director until 1994.

In 1981, upon the recommendation of General Manager Richard McCorkle, a group of women from the Co-op service area formed the “Community Involvement Committee.� The function of the committee was to supply input into the planning of membership meetings and to encourage the members in their districts to take a more active interest in the Co-op. Members of the committee consisted of one woman from each district and members included Ola Busenlehner, Tama Boggan, Emma Tobin, Kathy Schneider, Gladys Atkinson, Jean Freeborn, Maxine Theiss, Therese Crocker, and Linda Johnson. The women were compensated for their attendance to the monthly meetings with a lunch provided by the Co-op and were reimbursed twenty cents per mile traveled to the meeting. Their first meeting was held on August 13, 1981, in the Cooperative office.

Districts have changed and the Co-op now has a large retail membership, but the Community Involvement Committee remains active. What has changed is the members on the committee and while men are now allowed to serve, the committee remains a group of women including June Cannon of Kingsville, Alice May of Robstown, Elaine Cain of Robstown, Patti Dugie of Ben Bolt, Sue Stewart of Freer, Merline Hartman of Orange Grove, Mary Goldston of Corpus Christi, Elizabeth Massa of Calallen, Connie Ermis of Agua Dulce, and Kathy Herrmann of Robstown.

Board of directors, 2011.

Board President Brian Menking presides over the 2013 annual meeting. From left: Dr. Rumaldo Z. Juarez, Gregg Truesdale, Menking, Maxine Stewart, and Tommy Ermis.

Below: Board of directors, 2014. Bottom row (L-R): Maxine Stewart, Dr. Rumaldo Z. Juarez, President Brian Menking, Johnny Alvarado, Gladys Lippincott.

Top row: Bill Hartman, Gregg Truesdale, Tommy Ermis, John L. Sims, Donald Wayne Herrmann, and David Rosse.

Board of directors, 2007. Bottom row (L-R): Brian Menking, Tommy Ermis, Bill Hartman, Rene Burris, David Rosse. Top row: Maxine Stewart, Stephen F. McLaughlin, John Sims, Donald Wayne Herrmann, Gladys Lippincott, and Johnny Alvarado.

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APPENDIX 1

Employees of Nueces Electric Cooperativeand Years of Service Adolfo Aleman

42

Raymund Pina

11

Jose Huerta III

4

Rosie Avalos

39

Joe Cantu

11

Angela Rodriguez

4

Warren Hoelscher

39

Cassy Hill

9

Amanda Elizondo

4

Mary Pavelka

35

Paula Shadle

9

Benny Torres

4

Dee Molina

33

Simon Avila

8

Michelle Mathis

3

LaRae Martin

32

Jose Ramirez

8

Kenneth Krueger

3

Al Pena

31

Gloria Salazar

8

Ernest Abrego

2

Eloise Flores

29

Chris Martinez

8

Julie Bedsole

2

Chris Knetig

29

Doug Wilson

8

Kevin Petrosky

2

Larry Lehman

27

Sergey Seryogin

8

Robbie Sorrell

2

Tryon Heflin

26

Manuel Pina

7

Eric G. Herman

2

Albert Pena

25

Clay Dennis

7

Ruben Valdez

2

Pete Ramirez

25

Sonia Stout

7

Isable Cavazos

1

Manuel Mayorga

24

Hilda Lopez

7

Andrew Ramos

1

Frank Wilson

21

Pedro Salinas

6

Brandon Penn

1

John Sims

20

Roxane Flores

6

Will Collier

1

Albert Gomez

19

Vicky Garcia

6

Robert Holloway

1

Sarah Fisher

17

Liane Padilla

6

Beatrice Reyes-Garcia

1

Robert Briones

16

Say Park

6

Rosana Adams

1

Adriana Pena

16

Roxanne Elizondo

4

Crissy Tamez

1

Rolando Samaniego

16

Cynthia Garza-Vela

5

Julianne Colman

1

Roland Trevino

14

Sylvia Garcia

5

Velma Vasquez

1

Rhonda Hamlyn

13

Richard Padilla

5

Christine Grisom

1

Joe Rivera

12

Jesus Olivarez

5

Marco Perez

1

Avan Irani

11

Chris Carrion

4

Gus Gonzales

<1

Jason Ramirez

11

Leo Salinas

4

Joe Lockhart

<1

APPENDIX 2

Directors of Nueces Electric Cooperative Inc. 1939–Present NAME DATES SERVED OFFICE(S) HELD *W. F. L. Lehman 02/14/1939–11/19/1956 President, 02/14/1939 *F. C. Wolf 02/14/1939–12/10/1968 Vice President, 02/14/1939 President, 11/19/1956 *O. F. Brendle 02/14/1939–03/11/1940 Secretary-Treasurer, 02/14/1939 *Aug. Wisian 02/14/1939–03/11/1940 Director *Fred G. Lowman 02/14/1939–03/06/1944 Director *Emil Hinze 02/14/1939–03/02/1941 Director *Roy Barlow 02/14/1 03/01/1948 Director W. A. Ahlrich 03/11/1940–10/09/1984 Secretary-Treasurer, 03/11/1940 Roy Harmon 03/11/1940–03/01/1943 Director Frank Bluntzer 03/02/1941–10/21/1969 Assistant Secretary, 10/27/1952 Vice President, 11/19/1956 Charles Rosse 03/02/1941–09/11/1973 Director R. H. Roewe 03/01/1943–10/02/1967 Director Gus Hingst 03/01/1943–03/15/1971 Vice President, 12/16/1968 John Rektorik 03/06/1944–03/05/1945 Director Fred Hinze 03/05/1945–01/07/1946 Director W. P. Hellman Term 1: 03/04/1946–08/13/1951 Director Term 2: 11/19/1956–02/19/1957 W. E. Miller 03/01/1948–08/31/1964 Assistant Secretary, 11/19/1956 A. E. Wiederkehr 08/13/1951–08/17/1959 Director Carl M. Allen 04/17/1957–09/12/1972 Assistant Secretary, 09/21/1964 E. O. Walker 09/21/1959–09/19/1977 Director Ernest J. Botard 09/21/1964–08/01/1983 President, 12/16/1968 Clifton Bahn 10/02/1967–09/16/1968 Director

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Wilmer Roewe 09/16/1968–09/27/1988 Director Louis Haverlah 12/10/1968–04/07/1983 Vice President, 09/29/1970 Michael Wright 10/21/1969–08/19/1974 Director Harlan Kelly 03/15/1971–09/19/1977 Director Claude T. Allen 09/12/1972–08/18/1986 Assistant Secretary, 09/12/1972 Vice President, 05/16/1983 President, 08/15/1983 John W. Turcotte 09/11/1973–11/25/2002 Vice President, 08/15/1983 President, 10/20/86–11/25/2002 C. W. Wright Jr. 08/19/1974–10/13/1981 Director Edwin V. Acker Jr. 09/19/1977–10/08/1991 Director Tommy Ermis 09/19/1977–Present Assistant Secretary, 10/22/1984 Vice President, 12/17/2002 President, 10/24/2005–10/25/2011 Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, 10/25/2011 Meridene Woodson 10/13/1981–11/21/1994 Director Ramiro De La Paz 03/15/1982–1/21/2004 Advisor to the Board, 1975–1982 Assistant Secretary, 06/20/1983 Secretary-Treasurer, 10/22/1984 Louis W. (Bill) Hartman Term 1: 10/11/1983–10/14/1986 Term 1: Director

Term 2: Vice President, 10/23/2006 Term 2: 01/25/2004–Present George A. Frank Jr. 10/11/1983–11/25/2006 Vice President, 10/20/1986 President, 12/17/2002 Vice President, 10/24/2005–10/23/2006 Malcolm Alexander 10/09/1984–01/23/1996 Director Gladys Allen-Lippincott 09/15/1986–Present Director (Retail Division) Charles Reynolds 10/14/1986–08/25/2003 (Resigned) Director David Rosse 09/27/1988–Present Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, 01/26/2004 Secretary-Treasurer, 05/19/2008 Raymond Stewart 10/08/1991–07/03/1995 Director Jean Eskew 12/19/1994–08/23/2004 (Terminated) Director Maxine Stewart 08/21/1995–Present Director Dr. Carlos Cruz 03/18/1996–09/24/1996 Director Renee (Burris) Turcotte 09/24/1996–05/19/2008 (Resigned) Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, 12/17/2002 Secretary-Treasurer, 01/26/2004 Juan (Johnny)Alvarado 02/23/2004–Present Director Donald Wayne Herrmann 01/07/2005–Present Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, 06/23/2008–10/19/2010 Brian Menking 04/23/2007–Present Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, 10/19/2010 President, 10/25/2011 Stephen F. McLaughlin 05/29/2007–03/10/2009 (Terminated) Director (Retail Division) Kenneth Gajdos 07/28/2008–12/27/2011 (Resigned) Director Michael Gregg Truesdale 03/30/2010–Present Director Dr. Rumaldo Z. Juarez 06/2013–Present Director *Served on the incorporating board.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Publications

Websites

Childs, Marquis. The Farmer Takes a Hand. New York: Da Capo Press, 1974.

www.elcoushistory.tripod.com/economics1960.html

Hodges, Henry Robert. Rural Electrification Co-ops in Texas. University of Texas, 1962.

www.getpurenergy.com/states/forms/SB7.pdf

Kleberg County Historical Commission, Kleberg County, Texas. Austin: Hart Graphics, 1979.

www.inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledison.htm

Millward, Alan S. War Economy and Society 1939-1945. Berkeley and Los Angeles:

www.libs.uga.edu/russell/recovered/exhibits/ruralelectrification/natcomptext.shtml

University of California Press, 1977.

www.nextnewdeal.net/rural-electrification-administration

Morus, Iwan Rhys. Michael Faraday and the Electrical Century. Icon Books Ltd. UK, 2004.

www.nreca.coop/co-ops-welcome-new-farm-bill/www.puc.texas.gov/

St. Clair, Kathleen E. and Clifton R. Little Towns of Texas. Jacksonville, Texas: Jayroe

www.smeci.net/index2.htm

Graphic Arts, 1982.

www.srh.noaa.gov/images/crp/docs/stwj/STWJSummer12.pdf www.srh.noaa.gov/topics/attach/html/ssd00-18.htm www.stec.org/aboutus.aspx

Newspapers

www.wikipedia.org

Corpus Christi Caller. October 30, 1975 issue.

Robstown Record, The. September 20, 1951 and May 15, 1985 issues.

AP P ENDICES

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS Rita Arnst began her professional career in the late 70s. She worked for Southwest Airlines and later for Smith Barney. She then decided it was time to pursue her creative calling in art and advertising copy. She took numerous digital art and design projects for friends and charitable groups. She took her love of art to the next level by lecturing at schools and universities in Texas and Louisiana and briefly taught digital imaging at Coastal Bend Community College.

After a few years, Rita made the natural leap from art and advertising copy to newspaper articles. She was named editor of The Progress (Bee Publishing) in 2007 and has written hundreds of newspaper articles and feature stories. She was awarded the Texas Association School Boards Media Award for fair and balanced reporting of public schools for four years in a row. In 2011 Rita left newspaper work for a more lucrative position in the expanding Eagle Ford Shale oil business.

Rita currently serves as president of the Three Rivers Chamber of Commerce, is a member of the Three Rivers Economic Development Corporation Board, and serves on the FCI Community Relations Board. Rita lives in Three Rivers with her husband Karl Ray Arnst. They have two daughters and a son-in-law: Katy and Brad Turnbaugh and Kristina (Krissy) Arnst.

Julie Bedsole is the corporate communications specialist for Nueces Electric Cooperative and NEC Retail. Julie has been with NEC since March 2012 and has been instrumental in developing and implementing communication tools that are easily accessible so members can efficiently conduct business with the Co-op while remaining informed and confident in their investment.

Originally from west Texas, Julie is a 2003 graduate of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi where she earned a BA in mass communications. Prior to joining NEC, Julie worked as a director for the American Cancer Society where she was awarded the 2011 “Shining Star” award for her work in south Texas. She is a 2008 recipient of the Corpus Christi Under 40 award, which recognizes the top forty community leaders under the age of forty years of age; a 2014 graduate of Leadership Corpus Christi Class XLII; current president of her local P.E.O. chapter; and a seven-year member of the Junior League of Corpus Christi.

She is happily married to Bart Bedsole and has two wonderful children, Alexis and Brooke.

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