Deaf Smith EC Brings Community Together for Annual Meeting
Andrew Ramirez was handing out capital credits checks to members of Deaf Smith Electric Cooperative at the co-op’s annual meeting March 19.
But just two weeks earlier, he was helping his neighbors in a very different way: changing out power poles in the blackened Canadian River basin, where the Smokehouse Creek wildfire—the largest in Texas history—destroyed vegetation, more than three dozen homes, power poles, livestock, and farm and ranch facilities. It devastated more than 1 million acres in Texas and Oklahoma.
Deaf Smith EC sent Ramirez, seven other lineworkers and five trucks for six straight days of work in the rugged, remote and scorched northern Panhandle, where they assisted North Plains Electric Cooperative.
“It almost looked like a warzone at the co-op,” said Ramirez, who described an incident when the DSEC crew happened upon an active barn fire. “All of us just grabbed water hoses, and we attached them together and got in there and put out the fire.”
Eighty-seven years after farmers, ranchers and their neighbors pooled their funds to string power lines across Deaf Smith County, the co-op remains steadfastly committed to the community that built, owns, staffs and operates it. That commitment was on full display at the annual meeting, when the co-op fed 840 meals to a packed Bull Barn.
“Those other Texans up there, they’re struggling, they’re reeling,” said Tim Burkhalter, DSEC president and general manager. “We helped them out a little bit, but it’s going to take us all to get them back on their feet.”
One of the principles that underpin all cooperatives is Cooperation Among Cooperatives, which means that when disaster strikes one co-op, neighboring co-ops come to their aid.
“You’re not going to find anybody who works any harder than these guys,” Burkhalter said. “I’m very proud of them, the board is very proud of them, and I know you guys are too because they work this way for you right here at home. Just to see other people recognize what we have—there’s nothing better in the world.”
Praise for the co-op’s employees was a theme throughout the meeting, but the main reason for the annual gathering is the election of directors—an important aspect of another co-op principle, Democratic Member Control.
Incumbent directors Robert Boozer of Dimmitt, Danny Hand of Friona and Steve Olson of Hereford all were elected to additional three-year terms, announced co-op attorney Lynn Tate after mail-in ballots were tabulated.
“The members have an important role in electing us, and they entrust us to look out for the co-op’s business, look out for the employees, look out for the supply, look out for reliability—that’s all part of looking out for the members,” said Jim Hoelting, board president. “It’s not just a matter of being the cheapest.”
In his annual report to the membership, Burkhalter called 2023 a banner year for Deaf Smith EC, one in which energy sales were up, natural gas prices were lower and more predictable, and prices and delays for materials and equipment started to come back down to earth. All of that resulted in an average electricity rate of 7.63 cents last year—nearly half of the statewide residential average in 2023, which was 14.32 cents, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“That’s one of the lowest that I can recall,” Burkhalter said. “That’s a really good number.”
The co-op puts a lot of effort into making sure that external factors beyond their control—natural gas prices, rainfall, grid conditions—minimally impact power rates from month to month, Burkhalter said. “The stability and consistency of our cost per kilowatt-hour across those years—that’s our intent, to keep that stability going, so that you kind of know what to expect,” he said.
DSEC works as efficiently as possible to be a good steward of its revenue, and as with any co-op, the money that’s left over at the end of the year is returned to the members. Unlike a lot of cooperatives, Deaf Smith EC has been returning that money in as little as 10 years.
“I’m proud to say that we have one of the shortest cycles for capital credits among co-ops across the nation,” Burkhalter said. “That’s really the benefit of the co-op way: As you pitch in a little bit, we do what we can with it, we make the best most efficient use of your investment and then we return that to you in the form of capital credits.”
More than $7 million in capital credits was returned to members this year, including patronage from DSEC and Golden Spread Electric Cooperative, the generation and transmission utility that supplies power to Deaf Smith EC and the 15 other co-ops that own it.
In a video update, Golden Spread EC management reported that the G&T experienced record peak usage of 1,840 megawatts in 2023 as it takes on more nontraditional loads, like data centers, but is benefiting from lower natural gas prices and is focusing on adding grid switching capabilities to its gas-fired power plant in Abernathy, which will eventually allow GSEC to sell power to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and Southwest Power Pool markets.
“As we proudly step into our 40th year, we remain steadfast in our commitment to you and in the cooperative principles that have guided us from the beginning,” said Kari Hollandsworth, Golden Spread’s CEO. “We are here to innovate and to serve, always keeping your needs at the forefront.”
Burkhalter outlined several projects that Deaf Smith EC is working on this year to boost reliability, including its pole inspection program that aims to check 8,000–10,000 poles per year but fell just short in 2023 as the rejection rate for poles increased.
“We’re inspecting areas that are a little bit older, a little outdated, a little bit more worn,” he said. “We’re trying harder to replace those poles, and I think we’re really seeing the fruits of these projects.”
The co-op is installing a double circuit from a substation near Milo Center to absorb demand from the load growth brought by the increasing number of Santa Rosa irrigation wells, Burkhalter said, and another project south of Hereford will replace an aging substation this summer.
“We think we’re creating good value for you, and we hope that you agree,” Burkhalter said. “As we look to the future, we continue to search for avenues to increase our reliability and efficiency and keep our costs down.”
The co-op also invests in its membership, awarding 14 scholarships of $2,000 each to local students last year, and it will send two local students, Jarrett White of Friona High School and Michael Fulkerson of Nazareth High School, on the annual Government-in-Action Youth Tour trip to Washington, D.C., this June.
Because at the end of the day, the co-op only exists because of the members who own and support it. They’re the best part of the meeting for board President Hoelting.
“The annual meeting is their chance to look at us, the leadership, and know who’s who,” Hoelting said, acknowledging that the dozens of door prizes, including the $500 grand prize and the free meal are nice enticements as well. “I just like seeing everyone—the members—and of course I know a lot of them. But getting the chance to actually talk to some of the members, I think that’s the best part.”