It's Wiregrass Electric's 70th Anniversary

Annual Meeting is Oct. 10, 2009

Click here for a report and photos from the 2009 Annual Meeting

The 2009 Annual Meeting will be historic for Wiregrass Electric Cooperative. It will mark the 70th anniversary of WEC, and the first time in the utility’s 70 years of service that members will have the opportunity to cast their votes by mail. Members voted at the 2008 Annual Meeting to allow mail balloting. Voting will be more convenient and will make the entire voting process more accessible to all WEC members. Watch for updates here and in Alabama Living magazine in the coming months to learn more about how the mail balloting process will work.

Click here for the Annual Report.

Members can vote by mail and still attend the Annual Meeting -- or they can wait to vote at the Annual Meeting. The meeting will be Sat., Oct. 10, 2009, at the headquarters in Hartford. Members will have a fun day of Bingo for prizes before the business session and enjoy a Moon pie and RC cola to go along with their mouth-watering grilled hamburger!

This year's grand prize will be a 1999 Ford F-150 Pickup Truck.

The Annual Meeting offers members an opportunity to elect trustees that will represent them for a three-year term and to meet together to receive information important to each and every member -- including financial data and any new business that might come before the membership. The day is designed as a family day where WEC members and their neighbors can come to the Cooperative and enjoy food and fellowship. In addition, members have the opportunity to win many different prizes throughout the day – and each registered member receives $5 credit on their electric bill plus a calendar. Everyone attending the event in Hartford will receive a commemorative 70th anniversary gift. The Annual Meeting is one of the benefits of being a member of Wiregrass Electric Cooperative.

Brad Kimbro was a guest with anchor Lisa Blackwell on WTVY Channel 4's "Live At Lunch" to talk about Annual Meeting and voting procedures. Click here.

Registration will be 9:00 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. in Hartford. Registered members at the Annual Meeting at the Hartford office will be able to play Bingo, receive $5 credit, door prizes and hamburger lunch and will be eligible for any prize drawings.

Registration will be 9:00-11:00 a.m. at the district offices (Dothan, Ashford & Samson). Registered members at district offices also receive the $5 credit, a moon pie and drink, and will be eligible for any prize drawings.

Members voting by mail only will receive $5 credit on their electric bill and be entered into the drawing for prizes.

Election for the Board of Trustees this year will be for the following districts (deadline was Sept. 1 for nomination petitions to be filed).

Voting Information

Board district elections for 2009 are Districts 2, 5 and 8.

Members may vote by mail, at Annual Meeting in Hartford, or at district offices on Oct. 10. View REGISTRATION and VOTING INSTRUCTIONS here.

All information is provided in the OFFICIAL NOTICE of the meeting mailed in late September. Deadline for mail ballots to be received by the independent auditor is October 8. Ballots must be mailed and cannot be dropped off at a WEC office.

GENERAL ANNUAL MEETING INFORMATION

Board of Trustee Elections

Voting may be done by mail with information being sent at the end of September -- or at any time after registering at Annual Meeting by qualified members from 9:00-11:30 AM in Hartford, and from 9:00-11:00 AM at district offices in Ashford, Dothan and Samson. Election will be held by electronic voting machine. WEC's attorney Edward Price and an independent Balloting Committee of Cooperative members will oversee the election process.

Three members of the board of trustees will be elected for 2009 for Districts 2, 5 and 8. Eligible members interested in running for a position on the Board must fill out and submit a petition signed by at least 15 members residing in their district. Petitions to run for Trustee are available at the Headquarters office in Hartford or online here. Board candidates are also asked to fill our a questionnaire for publication prior to Annual Meeting. Deadline for petitions and questionnaires is September 1, 2009.

The requirements to serve on the Board are listed in Article IV, Trustees, of our Bylaws, and candidates will be furnished a map showing Director districts. In compliance with the Bylaws, completed and signed petitions must be mailed or delivered to the CEO by the board meeting of the month (September 1) preceding Annual Meeting (October 10) for the candidate to be placed on the ballot for the current year's elections.

Trustee qualifications

• A trustee must be a member and bona fide resident in the area served by the Cooperative.
• A trustee must be a resident of the district from which he/she is elected to represent.
• Must not be financially interested in a competing enterprise or business selling energy or any supplies to the Cooperative.
• Must not be an incumbent of an elective public office which receives a salary or compensation in excess of $100 per year.
• Trustee cannot be an employee of the Cooperative nor may he/she become an employee within 2 years after leaving office.
• Cannot have a close relative employed by the Cooperative or serving on the board of trustees at the time of qualification. (Close relative means father, mother, brother, sister or child, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and to include step-children. (Does not apply to any person presently serving on the board at time this qualification was amended.)
• Cannot be an employee of the Cooperative or have been an employee in preceding 5 years.
• Cannot have been convicted of a felony offense.

Board Petition (pdf)

Board Questionnaire (pdf)

Additional information about Board of Trustee Elections and copies of district maps are available on the Board of Trustees page.

Notice about your membership and voting

Only qualified members will be able to register, vote and win prizes at Annual Meeting.

How to know if you’re qualified?

Look at your bill card. Only the person listed on that card is able to register, vote and win prizes. If your name is not listed on that card, you are not a qualified member and will not be able to register.

What you can do to qualify?

Members may be required to show photo or other suitable identification at the time of registration. If the account is not listed in your name, you should go to the nearest Wiregrass Electric office to take care of this before Annual Meeting. You can change the account to a “joint account” between husband and wife by having the person listed on the account make the request in writing. For a husband or wife to register and vote, that account will have to be listed as a “joint account”. Forms are available online or in all offices to make this change. Persons with joint accounts have only one (1) vote between them; however, either person may vote.

Joint Account Form (pdf)

If the person listed on the account is deceased and you are the surviving spouse, you should go to a Wiregrass Electric office, show a photo ID, proof of death and sign a new membership application. There is no charge.

If the person listed on the account is not you and none of the above apply, you will need to pay a deposit and sign a membership application to have the account put in your name. Each member is entitled to only one (1) vote, regardless of the number of accounts that he/she may have.

No church, school or lodge hall is eligible to vote without the prior approved authorization by the Attorney for the Cooperative. Copies of by-laws and articles will need to be reviewed by the Attorney.

No person may vote for a member by virtue of a proxy or power of attorney.

A person wishing to vote on behalf of a corporation, partnership or limited liability company will be required to present appropriate resolutions or authorizations authorizing said person to vote on behalf of the company. Appropriate forms below:

Form-LLC (pdf)
Form-CORPORATION (pdf)
Form-PARTNERSHIP (pdf)

For report and photos from the 2009 Annual meeting, click here.

Past Annual Meeting Information

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