CEO’s Message – September 2025

Looking Ahead

What does Wiregrass Electric Cooperative (WEC) stand for? What are we trying to achieve each day as a cooperative? The answers to those questions have not changed with time. We want reliable and affordable electricity for our members.

During our Annual Meeting on October 10, we will look back over the past year of operations. But we will also look forward.

When planning for the cooperative’s future, it is important to think strategically. Every 2 years, the cooperative’s board of trustees and senior management team evaluate the co-op’s goals and the initiatives to help us reach them.

We did that earlier this year, developing a set of goals and outlining a path to take us through the next 5 years. As we move forward, we have 2 main missions — to take care of our members and do it safely.

There are key priorities in WEC’s strategic plan: keeping the cooperative financially healthy; engaging with our members and communities; expanding the cooperative’s commercial load; operational efficiency and safety; emerging risks and opportunities; and workforce development.

All of these priorities are important and point back to our mission, vision, and values as a cooperative. We strive to be forward-thinking, as our cooperative’s vision statement reads, and empower the communities we serve through innovation and exceptional member services.

Prioritizing our members involves everything from employee training to technology, community involvement, and economic development. We have to adapt to the challenges that come our way, and sometimes that means changing how we do things.

This year, members will vote on revisions to the cooperative’s bylaws as proposed by the board of trustees. While some proposed changes are cleaning up language or clarifying the intent of the bylaws, some incorporate the electronic means by which many of us already do business — email and text for meeting notifications, allowing members to vote electronically, and use videoconferencing for regular board meetings. Under the proposed changes, language also clarifies that only an individual person can be a trustee rather than a business, association, or other organization.

The proposed changes shorten the time frame for when board trustees are to be notified of a special-called meeting of the board of trustees. Currently, it’s 5 days, which can seem like an eternity following a hurricane when emergency funding is on the line. The proposed change is to shorten that to 2 days. There is also a new section proposed for Article V, which pertains to meetings of the board of trustees. This new section allows your board to act by written consent — a move that, again, will allow us to respond quicker during times like natural disasters. The new language details how such board action can be conducted.

These proposed changes came out of the board’s strategic planning and the belief that they are in the best interest of our members.

Our strategic plan also tackled artificial intelligence, data center service requirements, and cybersecurity threats. We continue to monitor industry trends and potential member demands when it comes to AI-driven technologies so the cooperative can adapt quickly and responsibly to the changing technology landscape.

Even when we look at the future potential for growth in our load, our strategic plan considers AI technologies and data centers. Manufacturing, services, and technology are all sectors with potential, and we will continue to collaborate with our wholesale energy partner, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, to ensure we have adequate capacity.

Wiregrass Electric has always worked closely with local governments and chamber organizations to recruit new businesses to the area. Commercial growth in our service territory would help balance our heavy residential load and eventually could benefit our members through savings on their monthly bills. In the end, doing what is best for our members is what matters most.

And while the path forward may shift with the times, our focus on the future remains sharp and where it has always been — on the members.