Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative Inc. was incorporated in 1937 to provide electricity to rural areas of Central Texas. The Co-Op has over 15,000 members and over 20,000 meters served by over 3,700 miles of line.
The Co-Op's service area includes parts of Bell, Bosque, Coryell, Falls, Hamilton, McLennan and Milam counties.
In order to receive electricity, a person must join the cooperative, which makes the person a member/owner. The member/owners elect a minimum of seven persons from the general membership to a Board of Directors which sets policy and hires a General Manager to operate the business. Three Directors are elected each year on a rotating basis.
The Co-Op employs over 50 people in three departments - Operations, Administrative Services, and Member Services.
On July 1, 2007, members of McLennan County Electric Cooperative and Belfalls Electric Cooperative voted to consolidate operations, resulting in a new cooperative called Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative Inc.
Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative Inc. receives 100% of its power from Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, a generation and transmission supplier organized in 1941 to provide electric distribution cooperatives with dependable electric power at the lowest possible cost. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative is the largest generation and transmission cooperative in Texas, supplying electricity to member distributive cooperatives and municipalities that serve consumers in 66 Texas counties.
Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative is governed by a Board of no fewer than seven (7) Directors, each of who is elected from a different geographical district. Just like you, the Directors are members of the Cooperative. They must have been members for five (5) years to qualify to run for election.
They are elected for a three-year term and may be re-elected. Directors are elected on a rotation basis so that there will always be members on the board who are knowledgeable of the operations and on-going projects.
What Are the Duties and Responsibilities of a Board Member?
Because Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative is a corporation, directors have the same basic duties and responsibilities as a director or officer of any other public or private corporation during their three-year term. Primary duties will include setting policy, approving budgets, contractual considerations, hiring the general manager, and monitoring the financial and operational needs of the Cooperative.
It takes a lot of effort to prepare, stay involved and do the job well. Training and educational programs in the area of governance responsibilities, utility operations and management oversight are necessary for a director to function most effectively in his/her responsibilities.
Director Qualifications
The following list summarizes the qualification necessary for a person to be eligible to become and/or remain a director for HOTEC. The complete list of qualifications can be found in the Cooperative's bylaws under Section 4.3 The qualifications are:
- A person is a current Heart of Texas Electric Co-op member in good standing.
- A person is a current member of Heart of Texas Electric Co-op and has been a resident in the district they seek to represent for at least 5 years.
- A person cannot be employed or have a financial interest in a competing enterprise or business selling electric energy.
- A person has not been employed on a full-time basis by Heart of Texas Electric Co-op within the previous fifteen years.
- A person cannot have been convicted within the previous 5 years of a crime that would constitute a felony or plead guilty to a felony.
- A person cannot hold an elective public office for which a salary is paid.
Outage Reporting
Outages
Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative is dedicated to providing the most reliable power supply possible. However, if your electric power goes off, please follow these instructions.
- Check your fuses or circuit breakers to determine if the problem is within your home.
- Check to see if your neighbors have power. This will help HOTEC determine whether the trouble is caused by a transformer serving your home, or is more general in nature.
- To report an outage 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, call 254-840-2871 / 1-800-840-2957 (toll free) for the McGregor office or 254-231-0444 /1-800-840-2957 (toll free) for the Rosebud office. Please have your bill available, or be able to provide the dispatcher with the name that appears on your account.
- If a serviceman makes a call to your premises and finds the problem is not HOTEC's responsibility, you will be billed for a service charge to cover the expenses.
- If the outage is HOTEC's responsibility, there is no charge.
Member