[Watchdogs] PEC Press Releases

[joesummy at moment.net]

February 23, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PEC Board puts member bill of rights on June ballot
Pedernales Electric’s Board of Directors unanimously voted on Monday, Feb.

22 to place a member bill of rights on the 2010 ballot, giving PEC’s  
196,000 members the power to ratify the document at the Cooperative’s  
annual meeting on June 19 in Johnson City. If ratified, the bill of rights

would establish core rights, such as election safeguards, which could only

be changed with a member vote.

“The member bill of rights is a first-ever initiative that establishes the

importance of the principles of openness and fair elections by making them

permanent fixtures at the Cooperative, changeable only with member  
approval,” said District 7 Director Dr. Patrick Cox.

If a majority of members vote for the bill of rights, it will become part 

of PEC’s articles of incorporation. The Board voted to place several other

proposed amendments to the articles of incorporation on this year’s
ballot,  
and these proposals would change how Board vacancies are filled and what  
constitutes a quorum of members.

The Board members also considered proposed revisions to the Cooperative’s 

bylaws. However, after the directors engaged in a thorough, spirited and  
democratic debate, the revisions did not garner the necessary two-thirds  
support.

“One thing about a democracy is, in a democracy, there’s always another  
day,” said District 6 Director and Board President Larry Landaker.

In November 2009, the Board passed a resolution creating a policy allowing

members to have access to a complete list of PEC’s membership for a
limited  
number of reasons, including campaigning for the Board. On Monday, the  
Board amended that policy to allow any member to remove his or her  
information from the list available to other members.

The Directors heard a report from System Engineering Manager Robert  
Peterson about recent developments out in the field, and he praised PEC  
employees for their swift and effective response to an outage on Jan. 28. 

The outage occurred at the Henley substation west of Dripping Springs, and

PEC restored power to all affected members in 70 minutes by shifting the  
load to the Dripping Springs substation. PEC crews then got the  
Cooperative’s portable substation up and running less than three hours  
after the outage, minimizing the amount of time the Dripping Springs  
substation had to carry that additional load.

“That is really amazing and shows the strength of our system,” Peterson  
told the Board. “This was a fantastic job by all our employees.”

District 1 Director and Board Vice President Cristi Clement, who chairs
the  
Financial Strategies, Contracts, and

Budget Committee, spoke to the Board about the progress PEC is making in  
submitting a 2010 budget for the Board’s approval. She said that the
budget  
is close to completion, and that she has asked staff to re-examine the  
latest proposals and make some adjustments.

“Meaningful cost control and improved efficiency, it’s not easy,” said  
Clement. “Nobody likes to tighten their belt. We just have to rise to the 

challenge. Our members are expecting that.”

The Board voted to finalize its meeting schedule for June. The Board will 

hold its regular monthly meeting one week early on June 14, and after the 

June 19 annual meeting, the Board will hold a special organizational  
meeting on June 21 to formally seat the newly elected directors.

During the member comment section of the meeting, many members spoke at  
length in praise of the work done by the Governance, Bylaws, and Legal  
Committee, which is comprised of District 4 Director O.C. Harmon, Advisory

Director Lamont Ramage, Landaker and Cox, the Committee Chairman. Members 

said the committee operated with transparency and was open to suggestions 

from members as it worked on the member bill of rights and the bylaws.

In other action at Monday’s meeting, the Board:
• Heard a report from representatives of Somerset Guild about PEC’s  
corporate research project.
• Agreed to pay annual dues for the National Rural Electric Cooperative  
Association.
• Approved a transformation service agreement with the Lower Colorado
River  
Authority, and approved a blank transformation service agreement for
future  
use.
• Approved an interconnection agreement with the LCRA, and approved a
blank  
interconnection agreement for future use.
• Voted to authorize a formal response declining the offer to purchase the

Cooperative made by Quentin Capital Management LLC.
• Approved a resolution to provide initial notice to the LCRA that PEC
will  
exercise its contractual option to acquire 10 percent of its energy from  
other power suppliers in 2010.

The next regular Board meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on March 15 at
PEC’s  
E. Babe Smith Headquarters Building in Johnson City.	
Copyright (c) 2009 Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Inc., All Rights  
Reserved.


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