Pedernales Members Demand Cleaner Energy, More Conservation

Press Release from pec4u

JOHNSON CITY--As the Pedernales Electric Cooperative’s five new board members took their seats at the table for their first regular board meeting on Monday, cooperative member-owners had their own message to deliver to the board. Before the meeting, members delivered over 4,500 letters and postcards to the board, demanding that the co-op get more energy from renewable sources and invest in more extensive conservation programs.

“All the new board members ran on platforms promising increased focus on conservation and renewable energy, and it’s clear that the membership supports these ideas too,” said Ric Sternberg, one of the founders of PEC4U, the co-op member group that led the push for reforms at PEC.

Clean Water Action gathered the letters in recent months for presentation to the new board. Now, a coalition of the PEC4U steering committee, Clean Water Action and Public Citizen has joined forces to encourage further improvements at PEC.

“Conservation programs help members reduce their monthly bills,” said David Foster, Program Director for Clean Water Action. “PEC increased rates twice in recent months because of rising costs related to coal and natural gas. Buying more renewable energy will help protect co-op members from rising fossil fuel costs. The City of Austin has proved that with Austin Energy’s Green Choice program.”

“LCRA, which provides the majority of PEC’s energy, has just announced plans to buy even more electricity from polluting coal, and that’s not what the members want,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, the director of Public Citizen’s Texas Office. “It is certainly not what our environment needs either. Utilities in Texas produce more global warming pollutants than those in any other state in the U.S. And a staggering 10% of mercury emissions in the U.S. come from coal plants in Texas.”

“PEC has a real opportunity to purchase affordable solar energy by joining with Austin, San Antonio and other co-ops on a new concentrating solar plant,” said Smith. “All they need is the will to do it.”

The letters from members ask the PEC board to set the goals of purchasing at least 30% of PEC’s energy from Texas renewable energy companies by 2020, and to meet at least 20% of energy needs from efficiency and conservation by 2020. To achieve these goals the member-owned cooperative would need to establish aggressive energy efficiency and conservation programs, with substantial rebates for customers. In doing so, the board would also promote local jobs, reduce pollution and save members money.

Contact: David Foster, Program Director, Clean Water Action, 512-474-0605;
Ric Sternberg, pec4u, 830-825-0133;
Tom “Smitty” Smith, Texas Director, Public Citizen, 512-477-1155