May 2023
TEN LOCAL NON-PROFITS AWARDED $60,000 IN GRANTS 
The board of directors of the Wood County Electric Charitable Foundation recently awarded $60,000 to 10 organizations that serve the citizens of WCEC’s 9-county service territory. The total amount given to local groups since the first donation 4 years ago in 2018 is $662,257. The recipients, the amounts awarded, and the projects they will fund are:  
 
Forever Young Activity Center ($3,000) is a facility for adult fellowship programs that enrich seniors, elevate their welfare and help them maintain health and happiness. FYAC will use the funding to spray foam their building to provide better insulation and temperature control. 
 
Van Community Ministries Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry ($3,000) helps coordinate and meet the basic needs of low-income families in need of food and assistance within the Van ISD. This grant will go toward food purchases. 
 
Northeast Texas Community College Foundation ($18,000) serves students in Franklin, Titus, Hopkins and Wood Counties by providing physical, financial and emotional support to at-risk students to help them stay in school. This grant will be used to purchase supplies, clothing and medical care for students in low-income homes.          
 
Quilts of Valor Foundation ($2,500) provides comfort to veterans touched by war through the gifts of quilts lovingly made. The grant will help purchase the materials used in their projects.                         
                            
Safe Haven Animal Rescue East Texas ($3,500) is an animal rescue whose mission is to reduce the population of unwanted dogs and cats, as well as animal cruelty of neglected and abandoned animals. Funds will be used for medical care including medications and spaying and neutering. 
 
Mineola Caring and Sharing Inc. ($2,500) assists underprivileged children and senior citizens with food, household items and toys and gifts at Christmas, which will be purchased with the grant. 
 
Bread of Life Ministries ($5,000) distributes food and necessities to those in need in Wood County. Funds will be used to help repair the floor, and make truck repairs, as well as purchase food. 
 
Quitman Lake Country Charitable Foundation ($10,000) promotes the general improvement of Quitman and the surrounding area. The grant will be used to replace the aging rubber flooring on the splash pad at Jim Hogg public park.  
 
Breaking Bread Community Food Pantry ($7,500) supplements needy families with nutritional food to help end hunger in Van Zandt County. The grant will be used to purchase quality food for these individuals. 
 
The Flint and Steel Coalition ($5,000) provides art recreational therapy to provide positive alternatives that support healthy and meaningful life choices. Funds will be used for needed building renovations. 

About the donations, Trey Teaff, the Foundation’s Executive Director said, “East Texas is filled to the brim with good organizations that help positively impact the quality of life of our local citizens. It is uplifting to see our members, through their generosity, contributing to all of these efforts.” 

Non-profits within the 9-county service territory served by WCEC are eligible to apply for grants. Grants are awarded twice a year in the Spring and the Fall. The deadline for applications for the next grant cycle is September 11, 2023. All eligible entities are encouraged to review the qualifications and download the application at WCEC.org. As applications are received at the cooperative, they will be held and considered at the foundation’s fall board meeting.   

Wood County Electric Charitable Foundation 
As money is collected from Operation Round Up, it is sent to a separate non-profit foundation, WCECF. This foundation has a 7-member board of directors – one from each of WCEC’s Districts. This ensures that donations and grant decisions are made in the best interest of the communities WCEC serves and that all 7 districts are considered. The WCECF board, is made up of Marti Busbee, Yantis Region; Jeannette Giles, Winnsboro Region; Emile Pugh Clifford, Grand Saline Region; Wiley E. Vonner, Board Chair, Hawkins Region; David Maxton, Mt. Vernon Region; Robin Johnson, Board Vice Chair, Quitman Region; Manzell Manley, Ben Wheeler Region. WCEC GM/CEO Trey Teaff is the Executive Director. 
$18,000 Awarded to East Texas Students
A panel of three independent judges recently awarded $18,000 in scholarships as part of Wood County Electric Cooperative’s (WCEC) “Power My World” program. The program is funded entirely by unclaimed capital credit payments returned to WCEC by the state and does not come from WCEC’s operating budget.

Ten local high school students, residing within WCEC’s 9-county service area, will each receive a $1,500 scholarship towards a college education. Three students will receive $1,000 scholarships towards tuition for a trade/vocational certificate path.
The judges were comprised of three WCEC members L-R: Terry Curry, Patricia Durst and Greg Hollen, who used various criteria to select the deserving thirteen winners. Each judge reviewed each student’s submissions which included and essay, accompanying academic records, and outlined civic work, as well as extracurricular achievements.

Based on their exceptional work and accomplishments, the ten 2023 $1,500 college scholarship recipients are Mia Backer from Mineola ISD; Kenzie Gavin from Grand Saline ISD, Bethany Sims from Harmony ISD, and Helena Bautista-Mathias, Alan De Gorostiza, Alexa Flores, Jacob Johnson, Ethan Presley and Joisalyn Tarno from Quitman ISD, and Evelyn Gaspar from Winnsboro ISD. The deserving $1,000 VOTEC scholarship winners are: Eli Nivison from Alba-Golden ISD, and Lane Warren and Benjamin Woods from Winnsboro ISD.
Of the winners, WCEC CEO/General Manager Trey Teaff said, “Congratulations to each of these accomplished students. They have a bright future, and the cooperative is so pleased to help them as they work toward their dreams. We’re committed to the communities we serve, and there no better way to show that than to invest in our youth.”
The Energy Star Sales Tax Holiday Is Coming
Save money on your purchases. Save on your electricity bill ever after.
May 27-29, 2023, the State Comptroller is encouraging taxpayers to save money and energy, by offering a tax-free holiday on qualifying Energy Star energy-efficient appliances and products.

There’s no limit on the number of qualifying items you can purchase tax free, and you won’t need to present an exemption certificate to the store to buy the items tax free.

The holiday starts Saturday, May 27, and ends at midnight on Monday, May 29.

What’s special about Energy Star qualified products? They’ve been tested by the U.S. Government to meet strict energy efficiency guidelines. Picking products with the Energy Star label over others will ensure savings on your electric bill throughout the life of a product.

Qualifying products include: air conditioners, refrigerators, ceiling fans, light bulbs, clothes washers and dryers and dehumidifiers. To see all of the terms and conditions visit: Comptroller.texas.gov/

Happy shopping! And happy energy savings ever after!
Don't Be Shocked By Fire Ant Damage
We all know fire ant bites hurt, but these small invasive creatures can also take a painful bite out of your wallet. Did you know that fire ants cause billions of dollars of damage in the United States annually, and about $150 million in Texas alone?

They do this by causing medical problems that can require expensive treatment, by impacting native wildlife like ground nesting birds and others, by feeding on and destroying crops, and by interfering and harming mowing and farming equipment with their rock hard ant mounds. There are many other ways they can be costly, but topping that list is their penchant for invading and damaging electrical equipment like HVAC systems, well pumps, septic systems, and pad mounted transformers. Once there, they chew on wire insulation, or their dirt mounds cause moisture build up that completely corrodes or erodes aluminum wiring and the housing inside. They can also erode the soil under the slab, causing it to tilt. Additionally, they will even climb up power poles to get into electric meters causing problems there.

Fire ants and the damage they do can have far reaching impacts, causing electrical faults, voltage imbalances, equipment failure, damage electrical appliances, and in the case of transformers, power outages to many meters.

That’s why when our crews at WCEC install pad mounted transformers, we treat them with pesticides to help prevent ant invasions. But this treatment only last for a year or two and then it wears off. When it does, the ants may come marching in.
Our transformers that provide your service are located on property that is member owned and maintained. It would not be economical or practical for the cooperative to continuously visit every location to reapply ant bait. We leave that up to the property owners as they are routinely maintaining their own property.

We encourage members to carefully treat the ground around your transformers (never open the transformer box), with fire ant bait on a regular basis. Too, it’s a great idea to treat the base of poles on the ground near where the electric meter is. Of note, many reputable pest control companies make this part of their service that they perform for you when you have an annual contract. But whether you do it yourself, or have a company do it, it may save you costly repairs, or at the very least, lengthy power outages.

Why are ants attracted to electrical current? There are several theories out there. One of them is that since ants are so numerous, when foraging, some are apt to come into contact with electrical equipment. A study found that when they do, and are subsequently shocked, they wave their antenna around and release pheromones that call in other ants. This then causes a snowball effect of more ants coming to see what all the pheromone releasing is about!

While we may never know for sure why ants are attracted to electrical equipment, we probably all agree that safe prevention is much better than the alternative of facing lengthy power outages and expensive repairs.
SAFETY FIRST

  • Transformers step down high-voltage electricity before it enters the meter.

  • They are safely housed in metal boxes that should NEVER be opened by anyone other than WCEC workers.

  • To effectively treat for ants, transformer boxes do not need to be opened, or even touched.

  • Underground lines can extend in any directions, so NEVER dig near a pad mounted transformer.

  • For ant prevention, simply spread your choice of ant bait in the area surrounding the transformer pad.

  • Also, don’t forget to treat the ground below your electric meter.
Safety Tip of the Month
Electrical Safety Month
Every May we recognize Electrical Safety Month, but we also know the importance of practicing safety year-round. That means prioritizing safety for everyone from our co-op crews to you our members.
 
Thousands of people across the U.S. are critically injured or electrocuted as a result of electrical fires and accidents in their own homes, according to Electrical Safety Foundation International. Many of these accidents are preventable. Electricity is a necessity that powers our daily lives, but it can also be dangerous. 
 
Follow these practical electrical safety tips to avoid potential safety hazards.
 
Replace frayed wires. Power cords can become damaged or frayed from age, heavy use or excessive current flow. If cords become frayed or cut, replace them before they cause a shock or fire.
 
Avoid overloading circuits. Circuits can only cope with a certain amount of electricity. An overload happens when you draw more electricity than a circuit can safely handle—by having too many devices running on one circuit. If a fuse blows or a circuit breaker is tripped, don’t just replace or reset it. Find out what caused the circuit to overload and correct the problem.
 
Use extension cords properly. Never plug an extension cord into another extension cord, and don’t exceed the wattage of the cord. Doing so risks overloading the cord and creating a fire hazard. Extension cords should be used as temporary solutions, not permanent fixes.
 
Use GFCI outlets. Make sure you have ground-fault circuit interrupters installed and that they’re working properly. Many older houses were built prior to advanced electrical codes. GFCIs are especially important in parts of the home near water—in the kitchen and bathrooms and in laundry areas.
 
Our top priority is providing an uninterrupted energy supply 24/7, 365 days a year. But equally important is keeping our community safe around electricity.
Energy Efficiency Tip of the Month
The location of your thermostat can impact your HVAC system’s ability to maintain an ideal indoor temperature. For maximum accuracy, thermostats should be placed in the center of the home, away from air vents, plumbing pipes and exterior doors.
 
Avoid placing items like lamps and televisions near your thermostat, which can give off heat causing the HVAC to run longer than necessary. Avoid installing thermostats in rooms that tend to feel warmer or colder than the rest of the home. Do not place furniture in front of the thermostat, which can block air flow and result in inaccurate readings.