In the late 1930’s our nation’s government saw the need for providing electric power to the rural areas of the nation. Agriculture needed electricity, but large power companies were reluctant to venture into rural America because of the excessive cost involved in building miles of power lines for only a handful of consumers. On May 11, 1935, rural America took a giant step forward when Congress passed the Rural Electrification Act. This Act called for establishment of the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) which would have the authority to make available loans to groups of rural citizens working together to bring electricity to non-urban areas. These organized groups of citizens were called Electric Cooperatives.
Meetings were held throughout the various rural areas to acquaint farmers and ranchers with the feasibility of securing electric service. Prospective members were required to sign an agreement to buy electricity from the Cooperative when the lines were built and to pay a membership fee into the organization. The agreement and fee made them members of the Cooperative, and each member had one vote in elections for representatives or Directors of their Cooperative.
The Cooperative members elected a Board of Directors and they prepared and adopted the Articles of Incorporation with the assistance of legal advisors from REA. A Charter was secured from the State of Texas and a loan was obtained from REA in Washington, D. C., to provide the capital necessary to construct the initial power lines.
Nueces Electric Cooperative, Inc. was chartered December 7, 1938, by a group of farmers and ranchers who truly exemplified the pioneer spirit. In 1939, we held our first annual membership meeting. From the originally signed 355 members, the Cooperative has evolved some 60 years later into a Cooperative that provides delivery services to over 17,000 meters utilizing over 3,000 miles of energized power line. NEC also provides competivie retail services to over 18,000 consumers in Texas outside the NEC delivery area, and the growth continues.