Kolin Seward had to decide whether to spend time with his newborn twins or his Sam Houston Electric Cooperative family and all the members who showed up for the annual meeting June 9.
Real family or work family? For a few hours, he chose work family. But his thoughts were never far from his real family. His kin. That includes his wife, Kendall; their identical twins, Kate and Karoline, born May 30; and their 3-year-old, Korinna.
Kate and Karoline were still in the neonatal intensive care unit at Memorial Hospital in Lufkin, but Kolin, power supply engineer at the Cooperative, knew they were in good hands while he joined his co-workers at the Polk County Commerce Center in Livingston.
“I like visiting with members, answering any questions they have,” Kolin said. The members were in good hands, too, as Co-op employees welcomed them like longtime friends, treated them to snacks and drinks handed out by Livingston High School cheerleaders, and then, as always, set up Walter Plant on stage for an hour or so of serenading.
Director of Operations John Williams, right, welcomes members outside the Polk County Commerce Center to the Sam Houston EC Annual Meeting of Members.
A couple shares a laugh during a light-hearted moment at the annual meeting.
Phylis Davidson, who has been a Co-op member for about 35 years and attends the meeting almost every year, said she has gained information there that has helped her lower her utility bill. She also noted that she’s like most members who show up—she hoped to win one of the 33 door prizes awarded after official business concluded.
Sure enough, Davidson’s name was called, and she went home with a portable camping lantern.
The business meeting fulfills an important requirement of the Co-op, which follows the Seven Cooperative Principles. One of those guiding principles, Democratic Member Control, means the 250 in attendance—and all 70,000-plus members—are co-owners of the Co-op and have a say in how it’s run.
To that end, members elect the 11 members of the board of directors. Two of those board seats were up for election this year. The elections committee received no petitions for those seats from members, so incumbents Steve Hill and Jim Seale, both in District 5, were reelected to five-year terms.
Another cooperative principle, Education, Training and Information, was celebrated when Chief Communications Officer Rachel Hawkins announced the Co-op awarded $88,500 in scholarships in 2026 to nurture East Texas students.
Engineer Merek Brister, center, demonstrates the operation of the fault isolation and service restoration system the Co-op has implemented across much of the distribution system.
Walter Plant entertains attendees at the annual meeting for another year. Except for a couple years during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Plant has been the musical entertainment at the event each year since 1988.
The Co-op also sent two high school students to Washington, D.C., in June as part of the annual Government-in-Action Youth Tour. Texas sent over 140 students on the all-expenses-paid trip, supported by co-ops around the state, and they joined about 2,000 other teens sent by other states.
Natalie Mayronne, who will be a senior at Willis High School and was one of the Co-op’s representatives, said she’s quite passionate about history and was eager to visit the capital’s museums, memorials, the Library of Congress and the emotionally moving Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “It’s an amazing opportunity,” she said.
Assistant General Manager Ryan Brown spoke about what drives the Co-op and accomplishments since last year’s annual meeting.
“One of the greatest strengths of the cooperative model is simple: We exist to serve you, not shareholders,” Brown said. “That means every decision we make is focused on reliability, safety and long-term value for our members. Our employees work year-round to build and maintain a system that you can count on through inspections, maintenance and upgrades.
“We’re strengthening our grid to better withstand storms and reduce outages. One example is our self-healing automation system. Last year alone, it saved our members nearly 1 million outage minutes by automatically rerouting power around damaged areas.”
Bonnie Whitley has a conversation with Robert Mccue, utility designer, before the start of the annual meeting of members. Co-op employees are delighted to interact with members during the event.
Nearly 300 people attended the annual meeting. For many attendees the meeting is an opportunity to see friends and to be an active participant in their power provider.
Brown noted that two new substations in Tyler County, near Ivanhoe and Fred and connected by a new 20-mile transmission line, have already resulted in 350,000 fewer outage minutes for members in that area compared to last year. And he said the Co-op’s right-of-way team continues to stay ahead of potential issues by trimming and inspecting trees along power lines.
CEO and General Manager Doug Turk continued the update, spotlighting a point of great pride among Co-op employees and then delivering news regarding capital credits that drew hearty applause.
“Based on our research, we know that you want four main things: convenient, timely and reliable service; reasonable electric rates; to be informed about the co-op; and for the co-op to care about you,” Turk said. “Every single project that we undertake is aimed at achieving these outcomes.
“The most important metric for success to us is your opinion. Last year, you rated Sam Houston Electric Cooperative with one of the top American Customer Satisfaction Index scores for the electric energy sector nationwide. Our score of 93 is significantly higher than the electric industry average of 74 and significantly higher than the electric co-op average of 76.”
Turk then shared the news that the Co-op board has voted to retire $4.6 million in capital credits, which will be reflected as credits on Cooperative members’ September electric bills.
Natalie Mayronne, a student at Willis High School, was recognized as a Government-in-Action Youth Tour representative for Sam Houston EC. She recently returned from the event held in Austin and Washington, D.C.
A member asks a question during the annual meeting. About 10 people asked questions during the meeting, which were then answered by a Co-op employee.
He closed by opening the floor to questions or comments by members, and they proved eager to keep learning. Several members chose to speak, including one member who wanted to know if any data centers are in the pipeline for Sam Houston EC’s service territory. Turk said there are no specific plans or contracts in place.
Another member asked about the use of drones for inspecting the Co-op’s grid.
“We do use drone technologies for inspection,” Turk said. The Co-op first used them to inspect substations and obtain close overhead photos of the equipment. Drones now also inspect power lines, crossarms, insulators and vegetation along rights-of-way.
One member was quite brief, but she reinforced that glowing ACSI score Turk mentioned. She said she sometimes gets phone solicitations from Generac, a popular brand of standby generators that many co-op members in Texas find to be a reliable solution to temporary outages. But she ends those phone calls quickly.
“Who needs Generac?” she said. “I’ve got Sam Houston Electric.”
A couple checks out their portable flashlight, one of the more than 30 door prizes distributed during the annual meeting.
