In fact, the entire atmosphere was a bit different this year as area FFA students and SEC employees served members at the tables.  Service to the members is an important aspect of Swisher Electric and we hope the members felt that as they were treated with special service.

Made in the USA was the goal when purchasing registration gifts.  A member brought to our attention that some of the registration gifts from 2011 were “made in China” and that didn’t sit well with her.  Upon reflection, we found that it didn’t set well with us either!  So all of the items in the registration bag were “made in the USA”!  And it will be the practice of current SEC management to continue supporting the good ‘ole United States of America. 

Jenabeth Gunter and Brewster Garcia, 2011 Government-In-Action Youth Tour participants led the pledge of allegiance.  Both gave a brief word of the highlights of the trip to Washington, D.C.  Many in the crowd were touched as both students expressed a sentimental experience at the Vietnam Memorial.  Jenabeth, having a cousin give the ultimate sacrifice in the conflict and Brewster because he observed a veteran having a highly emotional moment while viewing the Memorial.

The Tulia and Happy FFA were recognized and presented with donations to their respective organization for serving at the Annual Meeting.  2012 SEC scholarship winners, Mikala Whitaker and Maci Bryan were also recognized.

Swisher Electric Cooperative, Inc. Board President, Dwain Strange welcomed the members and guests and conducted the business meeting.  Jimmy Burson, SEC Board Secretary/Treasurer presented the 2011 financial report.  175 ballots were counted declaring Jimmy Burson and Gene Latham the winners of the director election.  Following the Annual Meeting, the Board of Directors met in special session for the purpose of electing officers.  The results were:  Dwain Strange, President; Mace Middleton, Vice President; and Jimmy Burson, Secretary/Treasurer.

As a highlight of the many on-going maintenance and construction projects, General Manager, Steve Gee spoke of the continuation of the business that was presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of SEC.  Due to member’s request, the answering service has been brought in house, and is manned entirely by SEC employees!  SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) collects information from the system and allows remote operation of specific devices.  By the end of April, two substations will have been modified and changed from the old to the new SCADA.  Work will continue until all seventeen stations have had the necessary modifications completed to increase the efficiency and reliability of the system. 

The entire 145 miles of transmission lines have been inspected.  The inspection provided information confirming over 500 defective crossarms.  As the 19 transmission poles were replaced, the porcelain insulators were replaced with polymer insulators.  When just the crossarm is replaced, one porcelain insulator will be added per phase to stop the new crossarms from burning through.  Estimates are to install over 5,000 additional insulators in the transmission system.  Some repairs required immediate repair to prevent imminent outages.  Contractors were hired to perform the remainder of the repairs required to bring the system into a state to have the ability to provide reliable service.  This activity will continue, as the load allows, until complete. 

It is the desire of SEC management and employees that the system improvements continue until Swisher is running at peak performance in order to supply the present and future electrical service needs of its consumers in an efficient and economical manner.

Mark your calendar for next year’s Annual Meeting to be held on March 28, 2013!

Applicants may be high school graduates, currently enrolled college students, or persons wishing to continue their education after an extended absence.  Recipients will be chosed based upon character, communitiy involvement and service work, recommendations, an essay, SAT/ACT scores and academic honors.  Applications may be obtained from area high school counselors, on this website, or at SEC office.  Completed applications must be received by Friday, March 9, 2012.

Swisher Electric Cooperative held the annual Government-in-Action Youth Tour speech contest on October 24, 2011.  Nine students participated, vying for the two slots for a free and exciting trip to the country’s capital in June of 2012.

All the participants did an outstanding job of selecting the topic, researching their materials, and presenting their speeches.

There are four ways to get your entry turned in:

 1.  by fax to:       806-995-2249

 2.   By email to:   mmatsler@swisherelectric.org       

 3.   By mail to:   Swisher Electric Cooperative, P.O. Box 67, Tulia, TX 79088

 4.  In person at:  401 SW 2^nd St., Tulia, Texas.

 The contest will be at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 24th in the Willie Room at Swisher Electric located at 401 SW 2^nd St., Tulia, Texas.  

 If you have any questions, please feel free to call Andy or Mary at 806-995-3567.

 We look forward to seeing you on October 24 and good luck!  Remember that two students from this area will win an all-expense paid trip to Washington D.C.—the trip of a lifetime.  It could be YOU!

Eddie Bryan, President SEC Board of Directors brought the meeting to order and Mace Middleton, Vice President gave the invocation. 2010 Government–In-Action Youth Tour participants, Alejandra Muñoz and Alisha Rogers led the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. The two girls also spoke briefly on their experiences on the trip. Alisha summed it up well saying, “It brought my history books to life”. Jenabeth Gunter of Olton High School and Brewster Garcia of Silverton High School were judged the winners of the Speech Contest held in October and will represent SEC in the 2011 Government-In-Action Youth Tour. The 2011 scholarship winners were also announced. Recipients are Heath Keller of Wayland Baptist University, son of Murlyn and Janie Keller; and Chelsea Schulte of Nazareth High School, daughter of Doyle & LaDawn Schulte.

Gene Latham, Board Secretary/Treasurer read the legal notice of the annual meeting. He announced that there were 171 registered members in attendance as well as two proxies, which constituted a quorum. Latham proceeded to present the financial report.

Steve Gee, SEC General Manager/Executive Vice-President reported on 2010’s major activities:

• Completed wage & salary structure review
• Completed system wide engineering study
• Implemented system wide maintenance of all over-current and voltage regulation devices
• Changing over 300 defective poles throughout the system since May of 2010, using larger poles to add strength and integrity back into the lines
• Adding lightning arrestors to preclude outages and equipment damages
• Changed the type and speed of fuses used for transformer protection with the goal of reducing the occurrences of blown fuses
• Changed the way in which transformers are sized to load
• Implemented Mil-soft Engineering software package for system studies and analysis
• Changed substation meters to smarter devices that supply load and operational data back to the office via radio on a real-time basis. Used in new SCADA system for operational control
• Currently changing the after-hours call center so that calls will be answered by a Swisher employee

Gee also presented two inter-related areas of concern: Construction schedules and System Outages/Blinks.

1. Construction schedules—Presently SEC crews are unable to dedicate the required amount of manpower for the construction of new facilities. As we reduce the amount of time and effort required to change and repair defective equipment, more of our crew time becomes available for new construction projects.

2. System Outages/Blinks—Frequency of outages is high. Too many fuses and other pieces of equipment are having to be replaced. As outage time goes down, effective work time that can be allocated to new projects goes up.

In summary, Gee emphasized to the members that the goal of Swisher Electric is to provide safe, dependable, reliable, and affordable electric power. Effecting change takes time—we are working to make it happen.

Phyllis Bryan, wife of retiring Board President, Eddie Bryan, surprised him with a touching presentation of a plaque honoring him for thirty-six years of loyal and dedicated service as a Board member. Eddie served as president from 1975 until 2011. Eddie’s daughter and two of his grandchildren also surprised him with their presence.

Bryan then concluded the business meeting by announcing the election results. After tabulating the votes, both Dwain Strange and Mace Middleton were re-elected and Zeke Frost was elected to fill the vacancy left by retiring Board Member Eddie Bryan.

Fifty-three door prizes including cash and power bill credits were given away. Lucky member Wilma Dunn was the grand prize winner of a Toshiba 32” HD LCD Television.

Mark your calendars for the 2012 Annual Meeting which will be held March 20, 2012 at the Tulia Senior Citizen’s Center!

Applicants may be high school graduates, currently enrolled college students, or persons wishing to continue their education after an extended absence. Recipients will be chosen based upon character, community involvement and service work, recommendations, an essay, SAT/ACT scores and academic honors.

Applications may be obtained from area high school counselors, www.swisherelectric.coop, or by calling Swisher Electric Cooperative at (806)995-3567. Completed applications must be received by Friday, February 25, 2011.

Directors whose terms expire at the 2011 annual meeting are Eddie Bryan, Mace Middleton, and Dwain Strange.

Members are encouraged to participate in the nominating process by making their desires and opinions known to committee members prior to the meeting. The nominating committee is:

Dennis Bryan

Barry Evans

Gaylord Cogburn

Dennis Wilks

Louis Walker

Elton Cantwell

Clinton Henderson

The committee’s nominations will be posted at the cooperative office no later than March 11 (20 days prior to the annual meeting).

The nominations will also be published in the annual report sent to members in March. Questions concerning operation of the committee or bylaw requirements can be answered at the cooperative’s office, by directors, or by the nominating committee members.