Individual wires are stronger when twisted together into strands, and those strands are further strengthened when combined to make an electric line. In the same way, communities benefit when members form a cooperative, and when those cooperatives work together, new opportunities become possible.

PEC belongs to several industry organizations, and we participate in earnest, sharing our best practices with other co-ops and learning from their successes. This cooperation enables co-ops to provide the best possible reliability and services to our members and is rarely found in the private sector, where such information is often considered a trade secret.

We also work with other co-ops in less formal (but often more important) ways. When disaster strikes, PEC dispatches linemen to help neighboring co-ops restore service to affected areas because we know that our co-op partners will be there for us if we face an emergency.

When a group of co-ops contributes toward the cost of common resources, we can offer all our members more for their money. That’s why we shared a Touchstone Energy Services conservation brochure with you last October in the Texas Co-op Power magazine. If you missed it, you can view the low- and no-cost tips in our Ways to Save section. Other benefits of our Touchstone collaboration include the Kids Zone and Together We Save online tools, which PEC did not have to develop independently.

You may not be aware that the Texas Co-op Power magazine is also a group effort. It’s published by Texas Electric Cooperatives, and co-ops throughout the state can personalize the center pages of the edition distributed to their members. Creating this publication would be a huge undertaking for an individual cooperative, but when co-ops come together, actions that could be cost-prohibitive for an individual co-op become cost-effective. At less than the cost of a postage stamp per issue, the monthly magazine is an economical way to provide our members with a wealth of information about their community, energy conservation, electric safety, and Co-op news and events. More than 80 percent of PEC members indicate that they read the magazine, making it our most effective communication channel and a great value.

How have you benefited as a member from our collaboration with other cooperatives?