PEC celebrates 85 years serving Texas Hill Country

HAYS COUNTY — Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC)  — which serves 24 counties and 45 cities across Central Texas — is celebrating its 85th anniversary in 2023.

“We're proudly celebrating 85 years of service this year of powering the Texas Hill Country and its communities,” said Kendra Acosta, PEC media affairs and communications strategist. “Milestones are meant to be celebrated and so this one is truly significant. We're just really honored to look back at our rich history of serving our members with safe, reliable power and our cooperative difference.”

History and Background

The idea of PEC sparked more than 80 years ago when local farmers and ranchers were living in the Texas Hill Country without electricity, despite Austin having access to it only 50 miles away. They were forced to hand-pump water from wells in the punishing heat and heat their homes with coal or hand-split wood. At night, they had only dim gas lamps, making it difficult to work, study or take part in leisure activities between sundown and sunup.

In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Rural Electrification Association (REA) to help bring electricity to America’s rural areas. But population requirements — a minimum average of three customers per square mile — and a shortage of funding kept the rural Hill Country in the dark. Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) ran for Congress, which was his first position in public office, and he promised the citizens of his district that he would “see that they got electric lights.”

The REA drafted the Electric Cooperative Corporation Act, creating a nationwide model for the formation and operation of nonprofit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives.

LBJ and representatives from Blanco, Burnet, Gillespie, Hays and Llano counties met to sign an official document in 1938 incorporating a “Pedernales Electric Cooperative.” LBJ, then a 28-year-old congressman, lobbied the FDR administration to bring electricity to the region. E. Babe Smith, a local rancher, canvassed the Hill Country to sign up farmers and ranchers for electric service.

On Sept. 27, 1938, with about 3,000 Hill Country families signed up for electric service, LBJ met with President Roosevelt once again to push for an exception to the population requirement. Following a call between FDR and the REA director, PEC was awarded a $1.332 million loan to build nearly 1,800 miles of electric lines.

Additional historical dates for PEC are:

• 1939: PEC energized its first 1,800-mile section of line in Burnet County, and for the first time, electric lighting illuminated the Hill Country. PEC and its membership and service grew rapidly and the first headquarters building was erected in Johnson City.

• 1942: America’s electric cooperatives formed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) to provide a unified voice for American cooperatives and to represent their interests in Washington, D.C.

• 1959: PEC installed street lights in Lago Vista, which became the first rural community in the nation with illuminated streets.

• 1986: Hill Country growth was skyrocketing and just five years after hitting the 50,000-meter milestone, PEC installed its 75,000th meter. The cooperative dedicated its renovated Johnson City headquarters building to E. Babe Smith.

• 2017: PEC reached 300,000 active accounts. The cooperative — then serving nearly 1 million people — grew by a factor of 100 since its founding in 1938.

Grant Gillum, who is currently a sophomore at Dripping Springs High School, won second place at the 2023 National History Day Contest for his individual website titled, “Power for the People: How LBJ Tamed the Frontiers of Texas Hill Country Electrification.” The project tells the story of how LBJ worked alongside locals like Smith to bring electricity to the region.

“What really led me to write about that is I've always been interested in how people got their power. I was very interested in the story of LBJ, and I found that [he] created the PEC as a means to give power to the people [and] as a means to help people,” Gillum said. “So, I was very interested in how the cooperative could change people's lives and how it could affect their livelihoods through giving them electricity. That's really why I wanted to focus my research on the cooperative; I thought it was really interesting and provided a lot of benefits to the people.”

The Co-Op Difference

PEC is considered to be more than an ordinary utility provider, as it follows seven cooperative principles. But also, those who are part of PEC are more than a customer — they are members, owners of the cooperative with unique privileges and rights.

“We are a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative. When we talk about the cooperative difference, this is really everything that makes us unique. All the things that set us apart are more than just an ordinary electric provider or utility,” Acosta explained. “So, that encompasses everything from our work to help care for communities through scholarships, community grants for nonprofits and our educational programs, to our board elections, where members can elect their board directors who set policies on governing their cooperative.”

The cooperative principles that PEC abides by are:

• Voluntary & Open Membership: Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all people able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership.

• Democratic Member Control: Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions.

• Members’ Economic Participation: Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative.

• Autonomy & Independence: Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members.

• Education, Training & Information: Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives.

• Cooperation Among Cooperatives: Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together.

• Concern for Community: While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities.

Community Is Essential

As one of its seven principles, PEC focuses on member needs, but also works to invest in the communities it serves. This is done by supporting schools, fire departments and other first responder agencies, nonprofits and community organizations.

PEC’s Power of Change program has been making a difference in the community since 2016 and “together with our members, we have the power to make a difference in our cooperative,” Acosta said.

Through the program, members can opt into rounding their monthly bills to the nearest dollar and those funds go toward grants to support nonprofits in PEC’s service territory.

“Twice a year, we give grants to area nonprofits and help them support their missions to help our communities. Together with the generosity of our members, we've awarded more than $600,000 to local nonprofits in the Texas Hill Country,” she said.

For its 85th anniversary, PEC has been involving its members and the community in celebrating through various events.

This includes internal baking competitions — including the cities of Kyle and Dripping Springs in Hays County — and community birthday parties, such as the one that occurred on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at the Kyle Area Senior Zone (KASZ).

“There’s nothing bad I can say about [PEC], it’s been great,” said Mary Alvarado, a PEC member for 17 years, who attended the KASZ community birthday party and was also celebrating her 85th birthday.

“We're rooted in community. We've been celebrating all year in different ways. And we continue this month with our birthday parties that we will be hosting at senior centers across our service area with members who are also turning 85 years old,” Acosta said. “There will be PEC retirees, longtime folks who worked at the cooperative for a very long time will be coming back and sharing their stories, and also members who have lived in the community for a long time. We look forward to engaging with our members and celebrating with them.”

To learn more about PEC and its mission, visit www.pec.coop/. Gillum’s project about the cooperative’s rich history of electrifying the Texas Hill Country can be found at https://23-74312164.nhdwebcentral.org.