Your Rights as an NEC Member

Click HERE to view or print your rights as a Member in English & Spanish as of April 2014. As a valued Member, we want you to know and understand your rights as well as some of the policies of Nueces Electric Cooperative. Please use the attached document to serve as your guide to understanding: 

    • Meter Testing 
    • Outstanding Bills 
    • Disconnection & Reconnection 
    • Service & Bill Disputes 
    • Alternate Billing Plans 
    • Financial Assistance 
    • Deposit Policy                       

Nueces Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NEC) is proud to be your local electric cooperative. Whether NEC provides your electric delivery services, or your competitive retail power supply services through NEC Retail, or both, we exist only to serve the needs of our members like you. It is our belief that working together towards a common vision is the cooperative difference. Let us tell you more about your cooperative.

Release of Cooperative Information
Nueces Electric Cooperative believes its members should have an opportunity to request certain information with regards to the operation of the cooperative. Such information includes our bylaws, policies, Articles of Incorporation and the tariff, just to name a few. We welcome requests for cooperative information and are happy to visit with any member interested in understanding how their cooperative works. Standard information (mentioned above) is available via the links on the left or by contacting our office. Requests for other and more specific information must be made in writing to the cooperative. NEC believes that as a member, you have every right to know how your cooperative is doing.

Written Requests for Co-op Information May Be Sent to:

Nueces Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Attn: Request for Information
14353 Cooperative Ave
Robstown, Texas 78380

Member Education & Involvement
As a member of Nueces Electric Cooperative, we encourage you to be informed and involved in the co-op. First, all members are encouraged to attend the annual meeting and participate in the election of their directors. NEC also sends a monthly magazine to all of its members called Texas Co-op Power. The center eight (8) pages of this magazine are customized for NEC members and its here, on this website and through bill inserts, that NEC communicates important information to its members. NEC has a Community Involvement Committee (CIC) that includes members from each district of the co-op. If you would like to serve on this committee, please contact your director directly or the co-op. NEC is also active in the school systems through our electric safety, Youth Tour, and scholarship programs. We encourage you to contact us for more information about these programs. Operation RoundUp supports Nueces Charities, a charitable trust dedicated to community investment. The money in the Operation RoundUp fund is voluntarily donated by our delivery service consumers as they round up the delivery services portion of their bills. Grants are awarded to worthy causes within the eight South Texas counties of NEC's delivery, or "wires" area. NEC members, who meet eligibility requirements, may submit requests to Nueces Charities to receive a contribution for worthy projects and causes.

Director Election Process
NEC prides itself on its director elections. The election process reflects one of the Seven Cooperative Principles - democratic member control: one member, one vote. Nueces Electric Cooperative is member-owned and is governed by a seven (7) person, member-elected board of directors. These directors represent the seven-member directorate districts of the cooperative. A portion of the co-op directorships stand for election each year - usually three districts. The board of directors determines the method for voting in the director election. For many years, the method of voting has been an in-person or proxy voting process which takes place in conjunction with the annual membership meeting. Relevant information about this meeting and the annual report appear in the Texas Co-op Power magazine. It is up to you, the members, to elect the directors best qualified to run your cooperative. There is no term limit for an NEC director but he/she must complete the nomination process every three years and be re-elected by the members.

Nominating Process
NEC's director nomination process begins each June as members in the districts up for election are invited, through the Texas Co-op Power magazine, to request petition packets to become candidates on the annual meeting director election ballot in accordance with the bylaws. Any NEC member in a district up for election may seek to become a candidate. Those members interested in becoming candidates may request and sign for an official petition form and instruction sheet. At least twenty (15) signatures of qualified members within the voting district, received at the co-op by the designated deadline, are required to nominate a member from a district for the Board. If more than two candidates are nominated for a directorship, a primary election will be held in the district to select two candidates who will appear on the election ballot. At the annual membership meeting all members of NEC may vote to elect the new directors in the districts up for election. All members will receive a ballot by mail or attached to the Texas Coop Power Magazine. If members cannot attend the meeting, they may cast their vote by mailing in the ballot.

Director Responsibilities
Directors are tasked with the development of governance policies and monitoring the financial health of the cooperative. In addition, they are charged with keeping up-to-date on industry trends, legislative actions, and other pertinent issues affecting cooperatives as well as representing the membership at cooperative related functions.

Director Compensation

Section 8.  Compensation; Expenses.

(a)                 Directors shall not receive a salary for their services as such. However, subject to subsection (b) below as determined by policy adopted by the Board, directors may receive a fee, which may include insurance benefits, for each day during which they attend meetings or otherwise perform duties on behalf of the Cooperative. Fees for otherwise performing their duties need not be the same as for attending meetings of the Board. 

(b)           For attending meetings and otherwise performing duties pursuant to authorization thereof by the Board, directors shall be advanced or reimbursed their related expenses actually and reasonably incurred and expended by them, in accordance with the same policy established by the board for advancement or reimbursement of expenses for Cooperative employees, except that the policy may be different as it relates to uses of personal automobile.

Each year NEC files IRS Form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax). NEC is a 501(c) (12) organization under the IRS code. Form 990 has financial information for the cooperative in addition to a list of directors and the executive manager along with their annual compensation. This document is public information. The IRS regulations, which became effective on June 8, 1999, state that every organization required to file Form 990 annually is obligated to immediately provide copies of its three most recent 990s to anyone requesting them in person, or send out copies within 30 days to any written request. You may request copies from NEC, download them via the link at left or Form 990s are also available from the IRS upon request at the district office where the forms would have been filed.

Capital Credits
Because we are a not-for-profit organization, any margins made above and beyond our operating expenses are allocated to our members. The board of directors determines each year whether or not to return (or "retire") capital credits. Their decision is based on the cooperative's financial position. To date, Nueces Electric Cooperative has returned approximately $11.1 million dollars to its members in capital credits.

Escheated Funds
After three years, unclaimed retired capital credit funds are forwarded to the State of Texas. The State then allocates a portion of the unclaimed funds back to the cooperative for the purpose of distributing the funds through specified accounts. This money funds the NEC Ramiro De La Paz Memorial Scholarship program for high school seniors.