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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, In 2018, the Nueces Electric Cooperative will |
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| 6 | 7 | | celebrate the 80th anniversary of its founding, and this is a |
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| 7 | 8 | | fitting opportunity to honor the history of this successful |
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| 8 | 9 | | nonprofit, member-owned electric utility; and |
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| 9 | 10 | | WHEREAS, In the years before World War II, South Texas was |
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| 10 | 11 | | still largely without electric power, and in 1938, leaders from |
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| 11 | 12 | | within the community came together to bring electricity to the |
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| 12 | 13 | | towns and farms of the area; as a result of their efforts, the |
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| 13 | 14 | | Nueces Electric Cooperative was chartered on December 7 of that |
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| 14 | 15 | | year, and by January 1940, the cooperative had nine employees and |
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| 15 | 16 | | 355 members; and |
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| 16 | 17 | | WHEREAS, The co-op expanded following the end of WWII, and by |
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| 17 | 18 | | the 1950s, it had reached full coverage of its service area; by |
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| 18 | 19 | | 1962, it had paid off its original loans, and throughout the 1990s, |
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| 19 | 20 | | it invested millions in rebuilding old lines; originally situated |
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| 20 | 21 | | in an office in Robstown, the utility has relocated twice over the |
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| 21 | 22 | | years to new and larger headquarters buildings, and since 2013, its |
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| 22 | 23 | | main offices have been located in a state-of-the-art facility in |
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| 23 | 24 | | Calallen, with member service centers in Ricardo, Orange Grove, and |
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| 24 | 25 | | Ben Bolt; and |
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| 25 | 26 | | WHEREAS, Today, Nueces Electric Cooperative and its 82 |
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| 26 | 27 | | employees serve more than 19,000 electric meters in eight counties |
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| 27 | 28 | | along the Gulf Coast, and its affiliate, NEC Co-op Energy, sells |
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| 28 | 29 | | electricity to an additional 26,000 consumers across the state and |
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| 29 | 30 | | is the only electric cooperative in the competitive market; since |
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| 30 | 31 | | 2008, the co-op has been under contract to maintain and operate the |
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| 31 | 32 | | electric utility infrastructure on the Naval Air Stations in |
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| 32 | 33 | | Kingsville and Corpus Christi, and in 2015, it built the first |
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| 33 | 34 | | community solar array in the Coastal Bend; and |
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| 34 | 35 | | WHEREAS, The co-op is an active supporter of such community |
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| 35 | 36 | | efforts as the Ramiro De La Paz Scholarship Program, the American |
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| 36 | 37 | | Cancer Society Relay for Life, and area livestock shows and county |
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| 37 | 38 | | fairs; moreover, its members have contributed more than $1 million |
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| 38 | 39 | | to nonprofits in the region since 1997; and |
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| 39 | 40 | | WHEREAS, For eight decades, the Nueces Electric Cooperative |
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| 40 | 41 | | has played a vital role in the economy of South Texas by providing |
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| 41 | 42 | | area residents with reliable and affordable electric power; now, |
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| 42 | 43 | | therefore, be it |
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| 43 | 44 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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| 44 | 45 | | Legislature hereby commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Nueces |
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| 45 | 46 | | Electric Cooperative and extend to all those associated with the |
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| 46 | 47 | | co-op sincere best wishes for continued success; and, be it further |
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| 47 | 48 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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| 48 | 49 | | prepared for the Nueces Electric Cooperative as an expression of |
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| 49 | 50 | | high regard by the Texas House of Representatives. |
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