Pedernales Electric Cooperative electrified the Texas Hill Country

Courtesy Photo

In the 1930s, Texans in Austin and San Antonio came home to lit rooms, humming refrigerators, and running water. Drive an hour into the Hill Country, though, and farmhouses still burned oil lamps, water came from a hand pump, and chores that ended at dusk in the city stretched on by lantern light in the country. The power companies had run the math and decided rural Texas wasn’t worth the wire.

Private utilities only built where homes sat close together and profits came quickly, but locals weren’t content to let the status quo stand. A persistent young congressman named Lyndon B. Johnson continued to petition the government for the REA loan they had been denied, while rancher E. “Babe” Smith worked to get enough residents signed up for service to make it viable. In 1938, Pedernales Electric Cooperative was formed.

Nearly nine decades later, that founding spirit still runs through everything PEC does. The cooperative has grown into the largest of its kind in the nation, serving more than a million Central Texans across a fast-growing swath of the Hill Country.

“Because PEC does not answer to shareholders, our members’ needs come first as we focus on our mission to provide safe, reliable, and low-cost electric service,” says PEC CEO Christian Powell. “As a member-owner, you have a say in the cooperative’s direction and receive capital credits.”

While a traditional utility seeks to maximize profits, PEC members benefit from the cooperative’s success instead. The focus is on their mission, so they don't cut corners on maintenance and infrastructure, resulting in outstanding reliability and safety.

“Our members invest in the co-op every month when they pay their bill by helping finance PEC operations,” said PEC Chief Financial Officer Randy Kruger. “Because of that investment, our members share in the financial health of the co-op they own. Once we invest in a reliable system and meet our financial obligations, we return any remaining funds back to our members as capital credits.”

Every year, PEC provides refunds to each member based on the rate and quantity of electricity they purchased. In January, PEC returned $10 million to its members. This process reflects a simple principle: the value a cooperative generates is shared by all, not a distant few.

The cooperative is governed by a board of seven directors, each elected by members from one of seven districts across the service territory.

“PEC is a democratic organization governed by members elected to the board of directors by other members,” says Powell. “When you vote, exercise your right to speak at a board meeting, or even run for a seat on the board, you’re ensuring your voice is heard and that the cooperative reflects your priorities and values.”

Through its Power of Change program, PEC channels member donations into grants for local nonprofits and assistance for neighbors struggling to pay their bills. The co-op awards scholarships to local students, runs youth programs that bring hands-on learning into classrooms, and shows up for the kinds of community efforts that hold a region together.

The Hill Country PEC serves today looks nothing like 1938, but nearly ninety years later, PEC members still own the co-op, still elect its leaders, and still share in what it builds. And Powell still remembers the words of the congressman who made it all possible: “Of all the things I have ever done, nothing has given me as much satisfaction as bringing power to the Hill Country of Texas.”