CEO’s Message – September 2026

Healthy outlook

Wiregrass Electric Cooperative is in a good place.

I don’t mean physically—although we do love the communities we serve here in Southeast Alabama. I’m speaking financially. Many of our members may have already received their bill credits from this year’s retirement of capital credits.

This year, our members will share in nearly $1.6 million in capital credits, bringing the cooperative’s total returned to members over the years to $24.1 million. We are able to return those dollars because Wiregrass Electric remains financially strong.

That doesn’t happen by accident.

A healthy cooperative is built through careful planning, responsible financial stewardship and leadership that keeps the long-term interests of the collective membership at the forefront. Our employees work diligently to ensure every dollar is managed wisely, while our Board of Trustees provides the governance and strategic direction that help guide the cooperative’s future. Together, we make thoughtful decisions that strengthen our financial position, support reliable service and ensure Wiregrass Electric remains well-positioned to return capital credits to our members.

Your cooperative is in a strong position today because of years of thoughtful planning, sound financial management and a commitment to making decisions that serve the long-term interests of the entire membership. Those decisions aren’t always easy, but they help ensure we can continue investing in reliability, maintaining safe operations and managing costs as responsibly as possible.

One example is how we’ve responded to the changing cost of wholesale power.

Once upon a time, WEC’s demand caused us to pay the highest per-kilowatt rate for wholesale power among the more than 20 cooperatives and utilities that purchase power from PowerSouth Energy Cooperative. Reports from earlier this year show we ranked ninth highest — a significant improvement achieved within the past two years. While the cost of power continues to increase, our need for capacity has declined because many of our members have responded to our requests to reduce electricity use during those cold mornings when peak demand is most likely to occur. Their efforts have helped lower the cooperative’s overall demand.

As wholesale power costs changed, our board and management took a proactive approach to ensuring our rate structure continued to reflect the actual cost of providing electricity. The decision to restructure our rates and introduce a demand charge wasn’t an easy one, but it positioned the cooperative to recover rising wholesale power costs more equitably while giving members the opportunity to influence their own bills by reducing electricity use during periods of peak demand.

It’s working.

Today, our lower peak demand means we purchase less costly capacity than we once did, helping strengthen the cooperative’s financial position while better aligning with the actual cost of providing service.

Decisions like these reflect the long-term planning and fiscal discipline that have helped keep Wiregrass Electric financially strong. Through the board’s governance and oversight, coupled with the daily commitment of our employees and the participation of our members, the cooperative continues to invest in a reliable electric system, maintain safe operations and return capital credits when financial conditions allow.

Managing a cooperative isn’t about making the easiest decisions — it’s about exercising good stewardship and making the right decisions for the long-term benefit of the entire membership.

We still face challenges. The cost of providing electricity continues to rise, and our industry
is changing rapidly. Even so, Wiregrass Electric is well-positioned for the future because we have remained focused on sound financial management, thoughtful governance and long-term planning.

With an engaged Board of Trustees providing strategic oversight, dedicated employees carrying out our mission each day and members who continue to partner with us, we are building a cooperative that is financially strong today and prepared to serve future generations.