Giving thanks

What does it mean to truly be thankful?

For me, it means more than simply saying thank you. It means having a genuinely grateful heart, recognizing the people, opportunities and blessings in our lives and being careful not to take them for granted. It means appreciating what we have and the people who make a difference in our lives.

As Thanksgiving approaches, we naturally think about family, friends, health and meaningful work. But I also believe gratitude should extend to the places, organizations and relationships that strengthen our lives and communities.

That’s why I’m thankful for Wiregrass Electric Cooperative.

Wiregrass Electric means many things to many people. To our members, it is the cooperative they depend on to keep the lights on. To our employees, it is a place to build a career and serve their neighbors. To our vendors and business partners, it is a relationship built through working together. And to our communities, it is an organization committed to helping rural areas grow and thrive.

No matter our connection to Wiregrass Electric, there is much for which we can be thankful.

I’m thankful Wiregrass Electric is an at-cost electricity provider. We don’t exist to generate returns for stockholders. Our charges are designed to recover the costs of serving our members. When finances are strong, we can reinvest in the cooperative and ultimately return excess revenues through capital credits. This year, we returned nearly $1.6 million, bringing our total return to members over the years to $24.1 million.

I’m thankful we can provide the reliability our members deserve. Over the last year, our members had power 99.9% of the time they needed it based on outage reports. I’m also grateful our members trust us, view Wiregrass Electric as well-managed and believe we care about them. These sentiments were reinforced by our member satisfaction survey earlier this year. I’m thankful that despite rising costs and an evolving energy landscape, we have kept our rates competitive with our industry peers. That takes employees who work every day to maintain the careful balance between reliability and affordability.

I’m thankful we can give back because of members who generously round up their monthly bills through Operation Round Up. Those small contributions become grants and scholarships that make a meaningful difference throughout the Wiregrass. I’m also thankful for everyone who supports our annual charitable golf tournament, which generated nearly $40,000 this year for our charitable foundation.

I’m thankful for a Board of Trustees that supports our employees and management while keeping the best interests of our members at the forefront and making strategic decisions to prepare our cooperative for the future. And I’m incredibly thankful for our employees. They answer the call when storms come, conditions are difficult and our members need us most. They take seriously the responsibility of serving our members and looking out for one another. I’m especially grateful for their commitment to safety and ensuring everyone returns home safely at the end of each day.

Perhaps that is what Thanksgiving should remind all of us: Don’t take the good things for granted. Whether we are a member, employee, trustee, vendor, business partner or friend of the cooperative, we each have something to be thankful for. Wiregrass Electric would not be what it is today without all of those people playing a part. A truly thankful heart recognizes what it has, appreciates the people who make it possible and looks for ways to give something back. At Wiregrass Electric, we are thankful for the opportunity to serve, and we will continue getting up each day with an intentional focus on improving the quality of life for the members and communities we are blessed to serve.