At YEC, your voice matters and carries weight. We enjoy hearing feedback from our membership because it guides our board of directors and leadership team when planning for the future of your co-op. Our goal is to take every nugget of information we can to make the best decisions for the good of our members and local communities. For example, we heard the need for internet from several members, so we recently began the rural internet project. This will bring broadband to approximately 5,000 members who previously did not have access to high-speed internet. The more people we have that speak up, the more informed we are about what matters most.
At the most basic level, we look to address individual concerns from the source. If we aren’t serving you and your needs, we aren’t upholding our promise to look out for you. While your concern may lie with your electric service or with a community-wide issue, we are here to listen and to serve. This fundamental rule is something we live by at YEC and is the basis of grassroots efforts.
The South Carolina House Representatives and Senators from our area work the same way. We have 13 local men and women who make up our delegation. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with your senator and representative from the updated list in this issue of South Carolina Living. My hat is off to them. Not only am I thankful that they aim to serve you with the same mentality of your co-op, but they also help look out for our members. Most recently, they have been responsive and supportive regarding the Santee Cooper investigation originating from the two abandoned nuclear units. They are helping us fight to protect our members, keeping your impact minimal and your rates low—and it has worked. YEC’s rates have been flat for 10 years and will be slightly lower for members this year.
We were founded on grassroots, addressing the need for electricity in rural areas. Folks joined together to make their voices heard. More than 80 years later, we still care about what you have to say. We have streamlined this process and have representation for each cooperative at the Statehouse, making the cooperative presence known and respected. I appreciate our delegation always taking the time to listen when we talk, keeping the concerns of our members highlighted in their work.
If your presence is ever needed again, could we call on you to join others to represent your co-op and help carry the voice of our community? Let me assure you that the co-op voice is a mighty one and we’d love to have each and every member together with us if the need ever arises because we’re stronger together. We will always hold true to the mentality that the voice of the people matter and we’ll always have your back, even in the halls of government.
Sincerely,
Paul Basha
President and Chief Executive Officer
Support your co-op
At YEC, we’re always prepared to go to work for you in any storm. Although we can’t predict if the need would ever arise, we’d like to know we can call on our members to support their co-op. Join your fellow YEC members on our grassroots contact list. Visit yorkelectric.net/grassroots to enter your information. We’ll call you if we need you. Until then, we’ll keep your information safe.