Somebody Turn On The Lights!

Opinion

By Linda Kaye Rogers

The power of apathy is amazing.

For years the board of directors of the PEC, under the iron hand rule of General Manager Bennie Fuelberg, had their way with customers by voting themselves excessive remunerations and perks, traveling in high class and ignoring the principles of co-op management and existence. These and other excesses have been exposed for all the world to see during the proceedings of a class action lawsuit filed last year against the PEC.

I've often wondered how the PEC board and top management was able to get away with fleecing its customer/owners for so long.

My theory is that the co-op's member/owners (that's us, the customers) were just tickled pink that when we flipped on the switch...the lights came on. Maybe we all simply placed our trust naively in a Board of Directors that had such impressive resumes. Many of us never questioned the old proxy voting system which gave the Board the right to nominate and vote for themselves, and where only one choice – the same old names – appeared year after year.

Members were all sent ballots each year to vote on a carefully selected group of board candidates and we were enticed to return our proxy ballots with the chance of winning a big prize. If we attended the annual meeting in Johnson City, we had even more chances of winning prizes. Whoopee! All through this time, PEC received terrific PR in the Texas CO-OP Magazine and all across the Hill Country. Who wouldn't be proud to be part of the largest and most prosperous co-op in the country? Surely, we imagined, the leadership at the PEC was doing everything right.

There's no denying that the PEC provides superior power service and customer service. And our electric rates have historically been below the national averages. Former General Manager Fuelberg was certainly no dummy. He knew the business and how to get things done. He knew how to work with (some say manipulate) a lot of people, including members of the Board of Directors. Intimidation seems to have worked pretty good, too. A number of employees, past and present, who shall remain anonymous, have related stories about retaliation in response to complaints or questions.

Of course, money does talk. Who of all those carefully screened and selected board members would really complain about sitting on a board where all the business was decided before they arrived for the meeting? They sat in a beautifully appointed board room in posh chairs, rubber stamped the agenda, then went home with big fat "pay" checks in their pockets.

Fuelberg may not have been present at all the board meetings. But information is emerging that he orchestrated just about every move and decision. Current temporary presiding board president, E.B. Price, has admitted so. Price told this writer at PEC's March 17 board meeting that they (he and other board members) were "surprised" to learn of all the embarrassing managerial shenanigans being reported over the past year. He repeated this at the March 27 Senate hearing in Austin.

These are PEC's leaders, members of the PEC Board of Directors, who supposedly are on top of every major financial and management decision. Apparently they have been rubber stamping decisions without insight, foresight OR hindsight! I wonder, have they ever cared at all about the members (that's us, remember, the one's who pay the bills)?

In 2006 a group of members finally had enough and joined together to form PEC4u. A new collective light was switched on in this gathering of activists/thinkers/questioners. They had some particular areas of concern, not the least of which was the financial management of the co-op and lack of transparency of the Board's actions. PEC4u has turned on a light in the dark basement of PEC 's management. Effective challenges were launched questioning PEC's governance, board compensation, the election process, as well as the co-op's interaction with members.

The group has also voiced concerns about lagging progress in the areas of power conservation and renewable energy. This new light has helped to expose a massive scandal right here in our beautiful Hill Country backyard. You can bet on it that there are more dark rooms that need illuminating.

For more enlightening information, check out the PEC4u website at: pec4u.org I'm happy to report that PEC’s own website has become somewhat more open and informative, at pec.coop.

Native Texan Linda Kaye Rogers grew up on a small family farm in the Rio Grande Valley. She received her BA and Masters of Science in Social Work from UT Arlington. She has taught smoking cessation, communication skills, stress management and parenting in hospitals, corporations, community groups and churches. Linda Kaye moved to Wimberley in 2000 where she built a straw-bale cottage and immediately established a rainwater collection system as her water supply. That same year she began volunteering at the Katherine Anne Porter School and has worked in various capacities at the school. She is an avid organic gardener, animal lover, conservationist, and environmentalist. In 2005 she spearheaded efforts to defeat a road bond that would have benefited a developer and cost Woodcreek North residents a dramatic and 20-year tax increase. Linda Kaye is a member of PEC4u, the group of PEC members who initiated the investigation of PEC Board governance and practice.