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May Your Holiday Season Be Merry and Bright
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Debbie Robinson, CEO & GM
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Dear Members,
The holidays are a time of year that many of us eagerly anticipate. The season is marked by special foods, seasonal decorations and lots of festivities. Right here in our little corner of East Texas, we look forward to the annual Christmas Parades and town decorations.
We cherish carrying on old family traditions and enjoy creating new ones. For me personally, I look forward to more time spent with family and friends.
However, given the hustle and bustle of the season, the holidays can also offer an opportunity to slow down and reflect. For all of us at Wood County Electric Cooperative we are grateful for you, the members of the co-op.
You see, one of our founding principles as a co-op is "Concern for Community." While our main focus is providing safe, reliable and affordable energy, we want to give back. We want to help our community thrive.
In looking back at this past year, I'm grateful that we were able to make a positive impact in the community.
Through Operation RoundUp, thanks to member contributions, we granted over $230,000 in the form of 62 checks given to 56 LOCAL charitable organizations.
We were also grateful for the opportunity to partner with local schools to raise awareness of the importance of electrical safety. This year, we visited with 400 students from 3 different schools. And, in 2019, we also awarded $10,000 to local scholars.
There are other ways we can help the community, whether we're providing information about our safety programs, or helping you find ways to save energy at home, we want you to know we're here to help.
We recognize that our members have the most valuable perspective. Whether through community events, our social media channels or the annual meeting, we enjoying hearing from you.
As we prepare for next year, we look forward to the opportunity to serve you and the greater community. On behalf of the WCEC family, we wish you a Merry Christmas!
In Your Service,
Debbie Robinson, CEO & GM
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Capital Credit Retirement and Payment
Be on the lookout for a little something on your December bill that will make the holidays a little brighter - and the bill load lighter. It's capital credit retirement time, and that means a little extra jingle in the pockets of all members. That's because payments are allotted on a percentage basis of the capital credits each member has accrued over the years.
Capital credits represent a member's capital participation as a member of WCEC, based on their electricity purchases. Each year, the board of directors of WCEC reviews the financial condition of the cooperative to determine what amount can be paid to members from their capital credit accounts. Their decision is based on the previous year's margins, and the current financial needs of WCEC. This year the board approved retiring $1.5 million in capital credits. This is an increase over last year of $500,000.
Payments will be made in the form of a bill credit. WCEC has several billing cycles. The credits will appear on bills mailed from December 6, 2019 through January 2, 2020, and your bill will be reduced by the amount of the credit. For those on pre-pay, the amount will be added as credit on the account and then uploaded as electricity purchased.
Bill credits are eco-friendly and eliminate costs associated with sending checks. As a non-profit electric cooperative, WCEC strives to keep your bills low. We adopted this efficiency two years ago, which simplifies the process for members, and the cooperative, while also saving money.
In total, over the last 30 years over $26 million has been returned to our members for a tremendous positive impact on our local economy. Credits earned are not a vested interest in the cooperative. They are only paid out when capital credits on the books are retired. The amount of retired capital credits paid to each member varies depending on the amount of electricity purchased and the number of years as a member of the cooperative.
As a reminder, be sure to inform us of any mailing address change to ensure timely receipt of any future payments. If you have such a change or a question about your check, please email us a note at
info@wcec.org
, or call one of our Member Services Representatives at 903-763-2203.
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$3,000 in Scholarships Awarded
to Non-Traditional Adult Learners
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WCEC is pleased to announce the 2019 Power Upward Scholarship contest winners. This program is for non-traditional adult learners pursuing post-secondary education. Each of the 3 winners described their field of study and future goals with an essay. The winners are Christi Hartsell, Mineola; Mollie Jackson, Quitman; and Amanda McKinney, Quitman.
Christi Hartsell is currently a 3rd grade mathematics teacher at Quitman ISD and has taught locally for 8 years. She resides in the Mineola area with her two children. She is pursuing her Master's in Curriculum and Instruction. She hopes, upon graduation, to continue in the education field as an instructional coach.
Mollie Jackson, 3rd grade reading teacher at Quitman Elementary is the wife of John David Jackson. The Jackson's reside in Quitman and are the parents of a son and daughter. Jackson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Child Psychology. She is currently enrolled in the Iteach Texas alternate certification program. The program is designed for those who hold a bachelor's degree and are pursuing a teaching certification.
Amanda McKinney, human services technician with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is the wife of Patrick McKinney. They reside in Quitman and have one son. Amanda is pursuing a Psychology Degree and is currently attending Tyler Junior College. Her goal upon graduation is to serve children in foster care as a Child Protective Services Caseworker.
Of the winners, WCEC CEO/General Manager Debbie Robinson said, "Each of these ladies should be admired for their strong desire and determination to help others. They have already demonstrated this in their careers, and these scholarships will help them achieve their goals to serve others at the next level."
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Holiday Hours at WCEC
In keeping with the season, and in observance of the holidays, our holiday hours are as below. As always, members will be able to access accounts 24/7 via www.wcec.org. And you can report outages any time via the hotline at 1-866-415-2951, the My WCEC App, or outage texting. And as it's soon upon us, we wish all our of our members a very safe and Merry Christmas!
OFFICE & DRIVE-THRU CLOSED
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MOBILE UNIT CLOSED
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Christmas
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Christmas
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Tuesday, December 24
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Tuesday, December 24 (Mt. Vernon)
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Wednesday, December 25
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Wednesday, December 25 (Hawkins)
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New Year's
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New Year's
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Wednesday, January 1
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Wednesday, January 1 (Hawkins)
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Safety Tips
Decorate Your Home Safely During the Holidays
It's time to deck those halls-Safely. More than 800 home fires are caused by holiday decorations each year, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
Keep these tips in mind for a safe holiday season.
- Carefully inspect all electrical decorations before you use them. Cracked or damaged sockets and loose or exposed wires can cause serious shock or start a fire.
- Make sure all extension cords and electrical decorations are being used properly-indoor-rated cords indoors, outdoor-rated cords for outside decorations.
- Inspect extension cords for damage and discard (not repair) any that are not completely intact.
- Never mount or support light strings in a way that might damage the cord's insulation.
- Outdoor electrical lights and decorations should be plugged into circuits protected by ground-fault circuit interrupters.
- Exercise caution when decorating near power lines. Keep yourself and your ladder at least 10 feet from power lines.
- Turn off all indoor and outdoor electrical decorations before leaving home or going to sleep.
- Avoid overloading electrical outlets with too many decorations or electrical devices. They can overheat and cause a fire.
- Never connect more than three strings of incandescent lights together.
- Keep all decorations at least 3 feet away from heating equipment.
- Avoid using candles. The flames are just too dangerous with all the flammable decorations around.
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Energy Efficiency Tips
Laundry Tip: Dry towels and heavier cottons separately from lighter clothing. You'll spend less time drying the lighter-weight items.
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