When South Plains Electric was founded 80 years ago, members of the community knew it was a locally-owned business—likely because they or someone they knew played a part in founding the Cooperative.
Over time, the novelty of receiving electricity waned, the founders passed on and new people moved into the community, unaware that South Plains Electric Cooperative was different from other energy providers.
But we are different. The key to that difference is you, the member-owners of our Cooperative. Without your support and commitment, we would not exist.
Research proves that when people own something, they treat it differently, which is why we encourage our members to act as owners rather than customers. As an owner, you play a critical role in our success.
With that ownership comes certain rights, like the opportunity to interact directly with the board of directors. If that seems like too big a commitment, we still want and need you to participate in our annual membership meetings.
We welcome your advice and counsel as we continually look for innovative ways to help you use energy efficiently and in a cost-effective manner. We recently launched a new website where hundreds of members come for information and to conveniently pay their bill. Almost 7,000 members follow us on Facebook and receive outage updates, notifications of scholarship and Youth Tour programs, get to know our employees and have fun trying to win gift cards and other great prizes in contests. If you’re a member on the go, download our free app to easily manage your accounts including bill pay and outage reporting, all from your smart phone. Want even more control of your energy usage? Sign up for Co-op Power PrePay. It allows you to put money on your account and will notify you when it’s time to add to your account. Sign up for our outage texting service as another on-the-go way to report your outages. Just text SPEC to 85700 to sign up. Last, but certainly not least, sign up for our community-support program, Operation Round Up. The average contribution per meter is only $6 per year, but if all meters were enrolled, the Operation Round Up Board would have over $200,000 a year to give back to our local communities. Wouldn’t that be fantastic!
As a local business, we have a real stake in the community, just as you do. That is why we seek opportunities to engage with community service organizations that also work to meet the needs of folks in our service area.
Although electric power is the commodity we sell, the real power comes from all of us empowering our community together. When people feel empowered, they can accomplish great things.
The world is different today than it was when South Plains Electric Cooperative was founded 80 years ago, but our mission of serving you and our community is constant. Working together with your active, inspired engagement, we can continue to accomplish great things.
Thanks for celebrating our 80th anniversary with us this past year! As one final hoorah, we are hosting a Member Appreciation Day on Thursday, December 21 from 2–4 p.m. at each of our four local service offices. Take a break from Christmas shopping to enjoy some snacks and pick up some great stocking stuffers.
