The Bandera Electric Cooperative had a well-attended annual meeting drawing hundreds of citizens from around the area to celebrate the Coop’s 85th year of service.
Local trick roper Kevin Fitzpatrick performed on horseback just outside the entrance to start the event with a festive flare. Old Number One, the Coop’s first truck from 1938 sat outside to be admired by the members.
The doors opened at 8:30 a.m. for free breakfast tacos, orange juice and coffee served by the staff from Bill Miller’s Barbeque restaurant.
As the coop members filed in, they were given the all-important ticket for the extensive prize drawing to be held at the end of the meeting.
After breakfast, the members who have fiber service could sign up for a drawing of free Internet service for up to one year through BEC. Many stood in line to take advantage of this giveaway.
Prizes were one month of free fiber service, three months of fiber service and one year of fiber service. The one-year winner speculated that the prize would save her approximately $1850 for the year on that vital utility.
Several tables were set up along the vestibule leading into the church sanctuary. Of particular interest was the table staffed by the BEC linemen and their demonstration model of the electrical equipment found on light poles.
The good-humored men were quick to take a picture together and expressed a camaraderie that only work in tough, dangerous situations creates. They are the heroes of BEC, working in bad weather conditions to keep the members’ lights on.
Chief Administrative officer John Padalino started off the meeting and introduced Pastor Jeremy Levy who led the group in a prayer.
Volunteers from American Legion Post 157 in Bandera posted the colors and local Leslie Yurrita sang a beautiful rendition of the national anthem.
Emphasizing BEC’s focus on safety, Padalino reminded members that each meeting at BEC starts off with a safety message.
He explained that if an emergency occurred at the meeting, the many BEC employees stationed around the outside of the room would assist the members with their exit from the building.
The first presentation was a PowerPoint in which BEC employees spoke poignantly about what working for BEC means to them. The workers chosen varied from 30-year veterans to young workers who were just getting started in their career.
A presentation on workers employed for 40 or more years ended with a lineman, Henry Neil Schaefer, who had just celebrated his fiftieth employment anniversary with the Coop.
Public Utilities Commission Chairman Thomas Gleeson, who was just off a six-week stint in the Houston area, spoke briefly to the audience about the job of the PUCT and its role for consumers.
Gleeson reminded everyone that he had come on board as PUCT chairman only six weeks before winter storm Yuri and was now dealing with the extensive outages in the Houston area. He offered to answer questions and encouraged members to catch him after the meeting to pose queries.Gleeson was clearly impressed with the BEC’s large turnout.
BEC Board Chairman Michael D.T. Edwards conducted the business meeting portion of the morning. He reported that the coop had received 750 votes for the three unopposed positions on the board who were then duly elected later in the meeting.
Chief Executive Officer Bill Hetherington introduced the new Chief Financial Officer Stephanie Pankratz and spoke at length about the coop’s plans for the future.
He noted that the Coop serves 14,000 households with fiber, which is 82% of its membership.
Hetherington spoke about the increase in power from 49 gigawatts in 2023 to the current 80 gigawatts.
He attributed the increase to the higher- than-normal heat and extended use of air conditioning.
The BEC received a prestigious award, the Texas Enterprise Impact Award from the Inclusive Economy Consortium.
Hetherington was proud to announce that of the 138 recipients, only 25 represented public utilities. He also stated that the BEC was the only electric utility in that group.
BEC Board Secretary Kurt Solis read the minutes from the last annual meeting in 2023.
Chief Executive Office John Padalino announced the election results.
After the efficiently run 45-minute meeting, the prize drawings occurred. Evan Duran, Toba Wright and Calie Cargill proceeded through the long list of gift cards and prizes.
The two top prizes were a yard tool set from Stihl and a solar powered power station. The winners were a varied mix of new customers and long-term members.
As the event wound down, members wandered out the doors where golf carts were made available to those who had to park away from the lot.
Another BEC annual meeting had put the finish to a fun day.
