Board of Trustees Percy Moreu, President District2Trustee@okcoop.org
District 2
Rusty Grissom, Vice President
3
Ronnie Tharp, Sec. Treasurer
9
Bob Usry, Asst. Sec. Treas.
8
Mike Argo
1
Ronnie Grover
4
Shirley Idleman
5
John Jensen
6
Danny Watters
7
District3Trustee@okcoop.org District9Trustee@okcoop.org District8Trustee@okcoop.org District1Trustee@okcoop.org District4Trustee@okcoop.org District5Trustee@okcoop.org District6Trustee@okcoop.org District7Trustee@okcoop.org
Oklahoma Electric Cooperative 242 24th Ave NW | PO Box 1208 Norman, OK, 73070 321-2024, FAX 405-217-6900 http://www.okcoop.org
Senior Management Co-op Manager...............................Patrick Grace Chief Financial Officer.........Preston O’Brien, CPA VP of Engineering...........................Thad Peterson VP of Operations...............................Marty Hayes VP of Administration...........................Jonna Buck VP of HR and Legal Services............Tracy Mowdy VP of Metering................................John Spencer VP of Information Technology.....David Goodspeed Oklahoma Electric Co-op News is published monthly by Oklahoma Electric Cooperative, 242 24th Ave. NW, Norman, OK 73069, (USPS865-700). Subscription rates: $6.00 per year for non-members, 50¢ per year for members. Periodical postage paid at Norman, OK and other additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send form 3579 to: Oklahoma Electric Co-op News, PO Box 1208, Norman, OK 73070.
Co-op News Editor Brianna Wall
Hidden Account Numbers Worth $50 Each month, OEC will pay $50 to the two co-op members who locate their hidden account numbers inside the Co-op News that month. The hidden account numbers will be placed at random within the text of each issue and not on the mailing label. The amounts will simultaneously increase in $50 increments until one or both account numbers are located by their respective owners or until the maximum of $500 is reached. 1. One of the hidden account numbers must be your own. 2. You must advise OEC by phone, mail or in person at the co-op’s office by the 15th of the month. If you find your account number call the Member Relations department at 217-6708.
FROM the
TOP Patrick Grace, CEO
You might not know this, but electric cooperatives were born in politics. Our entire American history can be traced back to the grassroots efforts of 1930s farmers. If you're a reader, I encourage you to read the book Power Plays by Ted Case. He outlines all the legislative battles won (and lost) for co-ops to be where we are today. It's a fascinating read and might enlighten you to why we are still so involved in politics. The cooperative business model has been around for almost a century. It was a very natural idea that farmers in the 1930s would take that idea to provide themselves an essential service when no one else would. What's most fascinating to me, as an engineer, is those who started co-ops started with a blank sheet of paper — no computer model, no spreadsheets. Just pure willpower to get it done. Our statewide and nationwide associations exist mainly to be that continued voice for millions of rural Americans who still must fight for everything we have today. Bringing a broadband network to our members has not been easy and reminds us of what our pioneer members went through to create OEC. Today's issue, however, looks a little different than it did in the '30s and '40s. Many co-ops are suffering some unintended consequences of federal tax law changes in 2017 and are hoping to avoid paying taxes on federal funding they've received as a result of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) dollars or broadband loans. You can read more about this on page 6. The good news is Oklahoma's delegation understands the issues and is acting quickly to fix it. No call-to-action is necessary from us at the moment. We trust when and if we ever need you to act, you will carry the torch, just as you and our earliest members have always done.
