Rare Vintage Football star-turned-vintner finds that life gets better with age - Tri-County Electric
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The exodus of The lady who saved The ageless wonder
the runaway scrape texas bluebonnets oF lightning bugs
F o r e l e c t r i c c o o p e r at i v e M e M b e r s april 2021
Rare
Vintage
Football star-turned-
vintner finds that life
gets better with age
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2020
contents
April 2021
04 currents
The latest buzz
06 tcp talk
Readers respond
18 co-op news
Information
plus energy
and safety
tips from your
cooperative
29 Footnotes in
texas history
The Bluebonnet
Lady of Texas
By Sheryl
Smith-Rodgers
30 tcp Kitchen
Fresh Herbs
By Megan Myers
34 hit the road
Heart of the Matter
12 By Chet Garner
08 The Seed The 37 Focus on texas
Photo Contest:
Flourishes Runaway Storms
Former NFL player Alphonse
Dotson turns idea sowed in
Scrape 38 observations
Houston into notable grapes The exodus of Texians is the Flashes of the Past
and wines in Central Texas. least understood episode of the By Bill Sanderson
Texas war for independence.
By Michael Hurd
Photos by Dave Shafer Story and photos by Julia Robinson
ON THe COver
Alphonse Dotson and LucyLu
in his vineyard in voca.
Photo by Dave Shafer
AbOve
A memoir from a girl in
the runaway Scrape.
Photo by Julia Robinson
T e x ASC O OppOwer .COm A p r i L 2 0 2 1 T E X AS C O - O P POW E R 3
Currents
A Big Step
F r i Day n i g h t l i g h t s ?
Boys take the spotlight.
75 years
Saturday afternoon national spotlight? That could require a gifted
female athlete.
Someone like Sarah Fuller. The college soccer player from Sachse,
outside Dallas, calmly stepped onto a football field November 28
oF ropin’
The Texas high school
in Columbia, Missouri, and kicked off for Vanderbilt University—
rodeo association, the
becoming the first woman to play in a major college football game.
largest such high school
Two weeks later she became the first to score in a game when she
group in the u.s., began
kicked two extra points against Tennessee.
in hallettsville in 1946.
“I just want to tell all the girls out there that you can do anything
you set your mind to. You really can,” said Fuller, who was the goal-
keeper November 22 when Vanderbilt won the Southeastern Confer-
ence women’s soccer championship.
All of the Commodores’ kickers were sidelined by COVID-19, so the
football team recruited Fuller, who wore No. 32, her soccer number, and a
sticker on her helmet that said “Play Like a Girl” when she made history.
wheel thrills
e.H. Green of Terrell bought
what is believed to be the
first gasoline-powered auto-
mobile in Texas, in 1899—
a phaeton runabout.
Green was also in the first
car wreck in Texas. George
Dorris, co-owner of St. Louis
rOpe : Je Su S CervAN Te S | SH uT T erSTO Ck .CO m. Fu LLer: COLLeGiATe imAGeS | Ge T T y imAGe S. COr ker : LiSA HArT COrker
motor Carriage Company,
which made the car, was
driving Green to Dallas
to show it off, and they got
crowded off the road by
a farm wagon and drove
into a ditch.
Contests and More
on texascooppower.coM
$500 recipe contest
Sweet potatoes
Focus on texas photos
portraits
recoMMenDeD reaDing
photographer Julia robinson has
tips for making better portraits in
Memorable Moment, October 2020.
4 T E X AS CO-OP POWER A priL 2021 T e x ASC O O p pOw e r .C O m
write on
michael Corker with April 10 is National encourage
chef Susan kuehler at a young writer Day. Here’s
a hospital fundraiser.
advice for young writers from
power oF our Texas Co-op Power writers
people To nominate
and editors:
a co-op member who
is making a difference
chris burrows: most editors are
in your community,
email details to people@ failed writers, but as T.S. eliot
texascooppower.com. famously said, “so are most
writers.”
travis hill: write first, agonize later.
you can’t hone your prose if the
page is blank.
charles lohrmann: Learn how to
accept (and learn from) criticism
without taking it personally.
Power of Our People Jessica ridge: revisions are fertile
terrain for inspired writing. but
building community health know when to stop.
tom widlowski: read whenever
you can. it bonds you to fine
D u r i n g M o r e t h a n 15 years as a board member of the St. Mark’s Med-
writing.
ical Center Foundation, Michael Corker has helped south Central Texas
address the challenges facing rural health care. At a time when rural
hospitals were closing, St. Mark’s opened in La Grange in 2005 and
serves Fayette and Lee counties. The 100,000-square-foot, 65-bed
facility, complete with specialty clinics, also is a member of Fayette EC.
“We can provide the same great level of health care found in major
cities,” says Corker, a Fayette Electric Cooperative member.
Regional health care is Corker’s most demanding cause, but he has
made his mark on the community in other ways, too. Gale Lincke, a “Writing is easy.
Fayette EC board member and past chair of the Lower Colorado River
Authority board, says, “Michael is kind, gentle and unassuming, and All you have to do
he does everything for the good of the community.”
La Grange businesswoman Linda Morrison has worked with Corker is cross out the
on the town’s historic Main Street program, as well as on other causes.
“He is just as committed to picking up trash on the median for a Rotary wrong words.”
Club project as he is to raising money to build a hospital,” she said.
— M a r k T wa i n
“He works hard for what he believes is right.”
Finish this Tell us how you would finish that
sentence. email your short responses
kiss in the car wash.
TO m A N D eu N i C e L e m O N
Say, “i’m sorry.”
m A r y pA N D O
sentence
peDerNALeS eC u N i T e D C O O p e r AT i v e S e r v i C e S
C e D A r pA r k Gr ANbury
to letters@TexasCooppower.com or
I THougHT I comment on our Facebook post. include
your co-op and town. Here are some
Get married. my fiancé,
88, and i, 74, will marry
Do the right thing.
waS SMaRT
p e N N y H Au L m A N
Tri-COuNTy eC
of the responses to our February Saturday, may 8. Gr ANbury
unTIL ...
ANN SHAFer
prompt: you’re never too old to … CeNTrAL TexAS eC
FreDeriCkSburG To see more responses,
read Currents online.
T e x ASC O OppOwer .COm A p r i L 2 0 2 1 T E X AS C O - O P POW E R 5
TCP Talk
timely Message
“Michael Hurd’s Time To
Talk About That [February
2021] was a beautifully
written, informative and
timely essay. I appreciate
your publishing it.”
Tr AC i DA b er kO
sTeve housewrighT
T r i n i T y va l l e y e C
CanTon
inspired Devotion pageantry in laredo living heirlooms
Thank you for Michael Hurd’s thought- I so enjoyed the beautiful I was given a clipping from
ful column on Black History Month my yard is full of illustration by Paul Cox that a huge ficus tree my dad had
[Time To Talk About That, February plants that family have accompanied Elaine A. Peña’s after my dad and the tree
given me [Putting
2021], along with your tribute to war hero Down Roots, Febru-
interesting article [A Specta- died [Putting Down Roots,
Doris Miller. Something that always in- ary 2021]. Some have cle, by George; February 2021]. February 2021]. That clip-
spires me about the United States is the passed on, but i feel He captured so well the feel- ping is now 6 feet tall. I have
degree of loyalty and devotion it inspires that i have a part of ing of these joyous occasions taken clippings from my tree,
them in the plant.
even in people it has treated poorly. with the movement and rooted them and sent them
Students sometimes ask me why we JANeT bArker colors of the waving flags, to my children along with my
v i A FA C e b O O k
have Black History Month but not white swirling gowns, flying feath- nieces and nephews. We all
history month. I tell them it’s because we ers juxtaposed with the digni- have a part of Dad’s tree.
have white history year. fied and historic Washington
Sherry Crecraft krupinski
reenactors (below). And all
walter D. kamphoefner via Facebook
played out against the back-
bryan Texas utilities
bryan ground of Laredo’s lovely old
buildings.
Dee Tusch
pedernales eC
write to u s
San marcos
letters@TexasCooppower.com
editor, Texas Co-op power
1122 Colorado St., 24th Floor
Austin, Tx 78701
please include your electric
co-op and town. Letters may
be edited for clarity and length.
pAuL COx
Texas Co-op power
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T e x ASC O OppOwer .COm A p r i L 2 0 2 1 T E X AS C O - O P POW E R 7
alphonse dotson with a glass of gotas de oro at his winery in voca.
B y M i C h a e l h u r d • p h o T o s B y d av e s h a f e r
THE S E E D
FLo u R I S H ES
Former nFL player turns
idea sowed in Houston
into notable grapes and
A
wines in Central Texas
n impressionable 10-year-old Alphonse
Dotson happily trailed his grandfather, Alphonse Certen-
berg, as they toured the old man’s Kashmere Gardens back-
yard in 1953 North Houston. They walked past two grazing
mules, chicken pens, rabbit pens, a vegetable garden and
two fishing boats underneath a carport draped with an There were days when he’d sit in his favorite restaurant at
arbor of … grapes?! the Berkeley Marina, listening to a jazz pianist and pondering
Grandson asked grandfather, “You can grow grapes in what he was going to do "after being, humbly, a gladiator.”
Houston?” And in those moments of deep thought, he kept return-
In response, Certenberg just smiled, and off they went for ing to those grapes. Yet when the Sunday stadium din of
deep-sea fishing in the Gulf. Raider Nation ceased, Dotson began a journey to define his
“It was the first time I had been to his house,” Dotson post-NFL life. He was destined to grow grapes for a living,
remembers, “and it was the best vacation week I ever had! but, for a change, that was somehow the furthest thing
The seed was planted.” from his mind as he dabbled in event promotion, oil field
That “seed” was Dotson’s fascination with growing trucking, being a sports agent and traveling—most fortu-
grapes, and the allure would lie dormant for decades— itously to Mexico and Spain.
throughout a successful football career—and finally come Dotson settled for 15 years in Acapulco, which is where
to life in the sandy loam of the Hill Country, 115 miles north- the Raiders caught up with him in 1994. NFL teams often
west of Austin. There, Dotson and his wife, Martha Cer- include former players on junkets, and the Raiders invited
vantes, became vintners. Their boutique winery in Voca him to travel to Barcelona, where the team was playing a
grows several varieties of grapes and produces the award- preseason game against the Denver Broncos.
winning Wines of Dotson-Cervantes from their 32-acre Also on the trip was Kam McLeod, son-in-law to one of the
Certenberg Vineyards, a fitting homage to Dotson’s late Raiders’ part owners. McLeod owned a vineyard in Ruther-
grandfather and a boyhood experience that was a harbinger ford, California, and invited Dotson and Cervantes to visit.
for his future. “My research into growing grapes started with my Oak-
“Maybe once a week, from 1953, did I not think about land Raiders family,” Dotson says. “I visited with [McLeod]
growing grapes,” says Dotson, 77, who was an NFL defen- and was introduced to different kinds of soils, grapes and
sive end from 1965 to 1970, primarily playing for the Oak- came back to Acapulco and started charting all that I
land Raiders and maverick owner Al Davis (“Just win, learned. Martha said, ‘You don’t grow no plants here!’ But
baby!”). Dotson played for Jack Yates High School in Hous- you have to be listening to who’s talking to you that you
ton’s Third Ward, then at Grambling State University, where can’t see, and then you have to pay attention.”
in 1964 he became the first small-college player named to a By 1995, Dotson was fully locked in to learning about
major All-America team. grape growing and the wine industry, and Cervantes came
T e x ASC O OppOwer .COm A p r i L 2 0 2 1 T E X AS C O - O P POW E R 9
Dotson-Cervantes
winery’s trophy
collection.
aboard, reluctantly. The couple met in
Acapulco, where she helped him find a
residence. She was a highly valued employee
for a timeshare company that managed
resorts worldwide, working her way up from
concierge to director of member services.
Dotson says he kidnapped her from a job she
couldn't be fired from.
“I fell to the ground when he said, ‘We
may have to move to Texas,’ ” she says with
a laugh, but move they did—away from the
lush mountains, Pacific Coast beaches,
nightlife and other attractions of Acapulco,
to Central Texas, where “the only neighbors
you have are cows and horses. The kids said,
‘Mom, you gotta get us outta here!’ But we
never gave up. God kept us together.”
Dotson’s last act as a sports agent was to
negotiate a deal with the Green Bay Packers for
his free-agent son, Santana, who also played
at Yates and was a 1991 All-America defensive
end at Baylor University. Dotson used his commission to mentor and advise them. And they hit it big in 2008 with
purchase the land for his vineyard, and the couple moved their first wine, Gotas de Oro—drops of gold. Made from
to Texas in 1997. orange muscat grapes, the wine is described as “a medley
“We didn’t know doodly-squat about growing grapes,” of fruits—pears, star fruit and ripe peaches.” Among its
Cervantes says. many awards, Gotas won gold at the 2019 Houston Live-
For all he and Cervantes lacked in grape-growing and stock Show and Rodeo.
winemaking knowledge, they made up for in hard work and Before producing their own wines, they focused solely on
study, talking with soil and winemaking experts, scientists, growing grapes (cabernet sauvignon, merlot and chardonnay)
grape growers, and other experts who took the time to for Ed and Susan Auler, owners of Fall Creek Vineyards in
Tow. Ed Auler has called Dotson’s grapes “the best in Texas.”
Jeff Cope, founder of the Texas Wine Lover website,
declares, “I can honestly say that he has perfected white
wines, dry all the way up to sweet.”
Despite the couple’s initial success, several years of late
freezes caused grape production to drop, from yields of 110
tons to only 2 tons. Now there are plans for growth, includ-
ing an expansion of the tasting room that will add a dining
area and paving the dusty, rocky access road that is not
unlike Dotson’s path to success.
Ever amiable, Dotson flashes a wide, toothy smile and
welcomes visitors to the tasting room, adorned with over-
sized photos of his playing days and magazine covers
featuring him and his wife. Between sampling sips, he
explains the design of their label, which features his signa-
ture floppy cowboy hat and a rose, symbolic of the yellow
roses he gave Cervantes when they courted in Acapulco.
The label is distinctively silver and black with a back-
ground of the Raiders’ shield.
w e b e x t r a Author michael Hurd,
“I wanted a label that represents both of us,” he says,
right, got to know Alphonse Dotson when
“but I also wanted to give a nod to Al and the guys I played
conducting interviews for his book Thurs-
day Night Lights, the story of black high with … and to agitate the damn Dallas Cowboys!
school football in Texas. “When I asked Al’s permission, he said, ‘Just have fun,
baby!’ ” D
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S HIENE
R R1 1, TXTHE
RUNAWAY SCRAPE
Exodus of Texians
is an unsung
episode of
the Texas war
for independence
sTory and phoTos By j ulia roBinson
1 2 T E X AS CO-OP POWER ApriL 2021 T e x ASC O O p pOw e r .C O mColonists began their flight from conflict well ahead of
the fall of the Alamo in March 1836, and for some of them,
the escape culminated within a mile of the San Jacinto
battlefield site in a dramatic crossing of the San Jacinto
River. There, 5,000 settlers waited their turn at Lynch's
Ferry, desperate to outrun Santa Anna and his approach-
ing troops.
About the time of the fall of the Alamo, Hardin says, the
Runaway Scrape “goes into hyperdrive.” Sam Houston and
his small, inexperienced army began a retreat from Gonza-
les, where the army had been gathering. The order to
evacuate came at midnight March 13, and the Texians
burned the town before they left.
As Houston continued his retreat, many of the 30,000
residents of Texas—including Anglos, enslaved people and
Mexican nationals—fled Santa Anna’s army in the rain and
cold, carrying what possessions they could on muddy roads
and across flood-swollen rivers. In an April 1836 letter to a
The Texas Revolution is defined friend, colonist John A. Quitman remarked, “We must have
by its battles—the siege of the Alamo, the massacre at Go- met at least 1,000 women and children, and everywhere
liad, the 18-minute Battle of San Jacinto that sealed the along the road were wagons, furniture and provisions
Texian victory. But there was a slower struggle that wet abandoned.”
spring of 1836 that defined the revolution’s civilian strife. Dilue Rose Harris was 11 when she fled her home in
As Gen. Antonio López de Santa Anna amassed troops Stafford’s Point, just southwest of what is today Houston,
across the Rio Grande, Texian rebels and noncombatants with her family. In 1898 she wrote of her memories of the
fled the looming conflict. Runaway Scrape: “We left home at sun-set. Hauld beding
This eastward frantic flight from Mexican troops, clothing and provision on the sleigh with one yoak of oxin.
toward the Sabine River—which separates Texas from Mother and I walking she with an infant in her arms.”
Louisiana—and the safety of the United States,
came to be known as the Runaway Scrape.
“The Runaway Scrape touched virtually every
citizen in Texas,” says Stephen L. Hardin, profes-
sor of history at Abilene’s McMurry University,
describing the exodus as the great untold story
of the Texas Revolution. “I think the Runaway
Scrape, far more than the battles, played a major
role in the forging of the Texian character.
“It is tremendously important because if you
look at the Texas mythos—Texans are tough,
Texans are resilient, this notion that we can
endure damn near anything because we’re Texans.
I think that’s where it starts.”
O ppOSiTe The southern terminal of the Lynchburg Ferry
sits across from the San Jacinto monument. AbOve A
sculpture by J. payne Lara at the San Felipe de Austin
State Historic Site depicts a family fleeing in the run-
away Scrape. riGHT The historic site’s museum features
an interactive map of the 19th-century town. Caption on image: as the sun sets in
granbury, Cowboy fred awaits the next
T e x ASC O OppOwer .COm A p r i L 2 0 2 1 T E X AS C O - O P POW E R 1 3
vehicle at Brazos drive-in.Guy Bryan, a nephew of Stephen F. Austin, was 16 when
he fled his home near San Felipe de Austin with his family.
“Some families left their
He told his story in an 1895 letter to Kate Terrell, a survivor home with their table
of the Runaway Scrape and writer who chronicled the
event. “Some families left their home with their table spread for the daily meal;
spread for the daily meal; all hastily prepared for flight as
if the enemy were at their door,” he wrote.
all hastily prepared for
The second-largest city in Texas on the eve of the rev- flight as if the enemy
olution, San Felipe had close to 600 residents and was a
bustling center of government and commerce. As in the were at their door.”
town of Gonzales, the Texians and their army burned the
town behind them, a strategy to deny Santa Anna’s troops
food and supplies.
Angelina Peyton Eberly, a tavern owner, recalled in a
letter to a friend the evening she evacuated San Felipe
across the Brazos River: “Much was left on the river banks.
There were no wagons hardly … few horses, many had to
go on foot the mud up to their knees—women and children
pell mell.” Safely across the river, Eberly could hear
“the popping of spirits, powder &c [etc.] in our burning
homes.”
Creed Taylor, a Texian soldier who escorted his family
to safety before fighting in the Battle of San Jacinto,
wrote in 1900, “I have never witnessed such scenes of
distress and human suffering. … Delicate women
trudged alongside their park horses, carts, or sleds
from day to day until their shoes were literally worn
out, then continued the journey with bare feet, lacer-
ated and bleeding at almost every step. Their clothes
were scant, and with no means of shelter from frequent
rains and bitter winds, they traveled on through the long
days in wet and bedraggled apparel, finding even at night
mAp: JO HN A . wi LSO N
Dilue rose Harris’ memoirs
are at the Albert and ethel
Herzstein Library in the
San Jacinto museum of
History in La porte.
1 4 T E X AS CO-OP POWER ApriL 2021 T e x ASC O O p pOw e r .C O mThe crossing was daunting. The ferry was a wooden,
flat-bottomed raft, hand-drawn along cables. A few dozen
people and possessions could travel per trip.
After crossing the ferry at Lynchburg, Bryan and his
party moved 6 miles southeast. “When we joined the long
line of ‘Runaways’ at Cedar Bayou the sight was most
piteous. I shall never forget the sight of men, women and
children walking, riding on horseback, in carts, sleds,
wagons and every kind of transportation known to Texas.”
Many became ill or died along the route. There are no
official records of deaths, but historians estimate hundreds
died. “Measles, sore eyes, whopping cough, and every other
disease that man, woman or child is heir to, broke out
among us,” wrote Harris. Her younger sister died of a flux—
diarrhea—and was buried at Liberty. With scant updates,
families kept moving east, toward the Sabine River and the
safety of the United States.
Harris recalled one evening: “All of asddnt we heard a
report like distant thunder. … Father said it was cannon
that the Texas army and Mexicans were fighting.” They
thought the Texians had lost because the cannon fire ended
so quickly. They hurried eastward until a messenger found
them and yelled, as Harris wrote, “Turn back, turn back.
The Texas army has whipped the Mexicans. No danger,
no danger.”
Relieved but exhausted, many halted their exodus.
Refugee camps sprang up for families to rest and regroup.
“They suffered just as much and sometimes more on the
return trip,” Hardin says. Many returned to find their
homes burned and their livestock missing.
Harris’ memoirs recall quicksand and a fatal alligator
attack when they turned back toward home after five weeks
on the run. Eberly had traveled more than 100 miles before
hearing of the victory at San Jacinto. Once back in San
Felipe, Eberly found her tavern and home in ashes, “the
place bare of everything but the ruins of all my things burnt
up,” she wrote. Many residents, including Eberly, aban-
doned San Felipe de Austin, which never regained its
former stature. Many left Texas for good after the spring
of 1836. For those who stayed, the scrape left a scar.
Hardin explains that many Texians were hesitant to
TOp many families in the runaway Scrape rebuild after the war. “I’ve found many people saying they
passed through what is now the San Jacinto don’t want to invest in a fancy house because the Mexicans
battleground State Historic Site. AbOve A frieze
might invade again, and we’re going to have to burn it
on the San Jacinto monument.
down again,” he says. “So that plays a huge role in the
Texian psyche for years because they just didn’t have the
little relief from their suffering since the wet earth and confidence.
angry sky offered no relief. … Thus these half-clad, mud- “ ‘Remember the Alamo’? What they’re remembering is
besmeared fugitives, looking like veritable savages, trudged the Runaway Scrape and the hardship.” D
along.”
Harris, Bryan and Eberly converged with other refugees
at Lynch’s Ferry, on the south bank of the San Jacinto w e b e x t r a Check out
River, within a mile of the future battlefield at San Jacinto. some of the relics that remain
from the runaway Scrape.
“Arrived at the San Jacinto River in the night,” wrote Harris.
“There were fully 5,000 people at the ferry. … We waited
three days before we crossed. … It was all-most a riot to see
who should cross first.”
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Winter Storm and Grid Crisis
A S W E A R E A L L P A I N F U L L Y A W A R E , in mid-February, the entire State of Texas experienced severe winter
weather with ice, snow and sustained sub-freezing temperatures. This storm brought various challenges
MESSAGE
FROM to our communities, including Tri-County Electric Cooperative, and impacted nearly every facet of
PRESIDENT/ our day-to-day lives. There were supply chain breakdowns due to transportation difficulties, schools
CEO were closed, inventory shortfalls plagued our grocery stores and home improvement stores, and there
RRYL were delays to mail, trash and online delivery services. But, perhaps the most impactful and publicized
C RI ER breakdown was the effect this weather had on the state’s electric grid and the Electric Reliability Council
of Texas (ERCOT).
The rolling blackouts that were mandated by ERCOT affected Tri-County Electric Co-op and all
our members and employees. The event made local, state, and national headlines. As of this writing,
state legislators continue investigations of ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to try
and understand the events that led to the grid crisis and scarcity pricing for electricity at rates of
approximately 300 times the normal rate. Resignations by board members of ERCOT and two of the
three PUC commissioners have been submitted, and the CEO of ERCOT has been terminated. Through
these investigations, we have learned that the entire electric grid was about four and a half minutes from
complete failure which would have resulted in a disastrous statewide blackout that could have lasted
weeks and likely months. The fallout of these events has reached far and wide, and Tri-County Electric
Co-op has not been isolated from the domino effect. 800797804
As you may have read in our press releases, social media and other member communications, Tri-
County Electric Co-op’s wholesale power supplier, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (Brazos),
filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 1. We are one of 16 member cooperatives that purchase all
wholesale power and transmission services from Brazos. Although we have been assured by Brazos that
the bankruptcy will not affect the reliable flow of electricity and that its bankruptcy is to protect Tri-
County Electric Co-op and our members from exorbitant costs, we continue to investigate the impact this
situation will have on our costs. Your Tri-County Electric Co-op Board of Directors has instructed me to
investigate this situation fully and to leave no stone unturned as we take all actions necessary to make
sure Tri-County Electric Co-op is treated fairly and cost allocations are verified and validated.
This continues to be a fluid and difficult situation to manage. We pledge to be transparent and keep
you informed as reliable information comes available. As of right now, we know that Brazos has approved
a temporary rate increase of 2 cents per kilowatt-hour that has been added to our wholesale power costs.
Please see the articles on the next two pages that explains how this adder affected your bill. Although
the overall impacts of this winter event are not yet completely settled, please rest assured that we will
continue to fight for the Tri-County Electric Co-op membership. We are in this together. D
What’s my electric charge?
Most residential member bills have a Here is what’s included in the residential
single line item or “bundled” electric electric charge:
charge. For March billing statements, ▶ Monthly service charge: $15
the overall kWh charge increased from ▶ kWh charge: kWh consumed x $0.064
9.4 cents to 11.4 cents for residential ▶ PCRF: kWh consumed x $0.035
members using 1,000 kWh.
March billing statement PCRF includes the budgeted $0.015 amount for PCRF plus the $0.02 Brazos winter
storm adder for a total PCRF of $0.035 per kWh.
1 8 TE C O - OP PO ER APRIL 2021 T RI- C O U NT Y E L ECT R I C CO-OP
April Pages.indd 18 3/15/2021 8:48:04 AMTri-County Electric
Winter Storm, Grid Crisis and Cooperative
Your Bill
C ON T A C T U S
What our members need to know
200 Bailey Ranch Road
Aledo, TX 76008
Phone (817) 444-3201
Email customer_service@tcectexas.com
IN OUR MARCH MEMBER BULLETIN we communicated what we know to our Web tcectexas.com
members. In case you missed it, here is what we know:
P CEO
Darryl Schriver
▶ You are only charged for the electricity you use. When you were out of
power during the February rotating outages, your meter was not turning and
Jorden Wood, District 3 - Chairman
you will not be charged.
Max Waddell, District 9 - Vice Chairman
John Killough, District 6 - Secretary/Treasurer
▶ You can track your electric use on your online member portal or through Kevin Ingle, District 1
the app, TCEC Connect. Margaret Koprek, District 2
Jerry A. Walden, District 4
Steve V. Harris, District 5
▶ As a distribution cooperative, we purchase power through Brazos, our Larry Miller, District 7
generation and transmission cooperative. Brazos owns and operates Dr. Jarrett Armstrong, District 8
generation in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid and
contracts for additional generation up and above what they generate so that
all Brazos cooperative loads have power. 2003400001
24/7 For information and
to report outages, please
▶ Brazos announced a $20 per megawatt-hour adder on February 23 contact us.
due to the winter storm and grid crisis. This will affect member bills and Outage
temporarily increase the power cost recovery factor (PCRF) by 2 cents per
kWh. A residential member using 1,000 kWh per month will see their bill
Reporting Online: oms.tcectexas.com
App: TCEC Connect
increase from $94 to $114 (see sample bill on next page). Phone: (817) 444-3201
▶ Through all of this, our commitment to you remains the same. We are in
this together and we will be honest and transparent about the information ABOUT T R I - COUNT Y EL ECTR I C C O - O P
we receive from Brazos and ERCOT relating to the impacts of the winter Tri-County Electric Co-op owns and maintains
storm. We will continue to fight for the best prices for our members. more than 9,390 miles of line to provide electric
service to more than 94,500 members in Archer,
Baylor, Denton, Foard, Haskell, Hood, Jack, King,
▶ We will work with you to find the best solutions we can to help in these Knox, Palo Pinto, Parker, Stonewall, Tarrant,
trying times by setting up payment arrangements, waiving late fees and Throckmorton, Wilbarger, and Wise counties.
postponing disconnects. Please contact your co-op by phone at 817-444-3201
OF F I CE L OCAT I ONS
or email at customer_service@tcectexas.com if you need assistance. D Aledo
200 Bailey Ranch Road, Aledo 76008
We are in this together. Azle
600 NW Parkway, Azle 76020
Granbury
1623 Weatherford Highway, Granbury 76048
Tri-County Electric Co-op is a distribution cooperative. Keller
4900 Keller-Hicks Road, Fort Worth 76244
This means we build the distribution lines to take purchased wholesale
Seymour
power from Brazos substations and deliver it to your homes and
419 N. Main, Seymour 76380
businesses. 2550010
I T PAY S T O S T AY I NF OR ME D
We are the full-service provider for our members by bundling Brazos Find your account number in pages 18-25 of
generation, transmission, and substation service with Tri-County Texas Co-op Power, and you will receive a $20
Electric Co-op distribution service, meter service, billing service, outage credit on your electric bill. Simply contact one of
response, and member service to provide you, our member-owners, the offices listed above and make them aware of
your discovery!
with one company to interface with and the benefit of receiving one total
bill. Tri-County Electric Co-op does not make a profit from any of the V I S I T US ONL I NE
services we receive from Brazos, we pass those costs on to you, dollar- tcectexas.com
for-dollar with no mark-up. Facebook.com/TCECTexas
TCE CT E S.C 817 444 3201 A P R I L 2021 T E C O - OP PO ER 1 9
April Pages.indd 19 3/15/2021 8:48:05 AMHow to Read my Bill
A indicates your Account Number and
Statement ID.
B shows your account information. If
this is not correct, please let us know.
C indicates your last payment made and
total from last bill.
D indicates your current bill charges.
C
PCR
.
Some members may have city franchise
fees and other applicable taxes and
fees included in the line item or as a
separate line item. Other line items may
include outdoor lights and city taxes.
E shows your Account Balance, which
is the total of current charges and
anything owed from last month, current
bill due date and if you are on Auto Pay.
provides information on PCRF and
the customer charge of $15.00. For
March billing statements, PCRF equals
$0.015 plus the $0.02 Brazos winter
storm adder for a total of $0.035 per
kWh.
G shows dates of service and your
meter number. This shows your
What’s in my rate? previous reading and the reading at
the end of the billing period and total
Tri-County Electric Co-op has a set kilowatt hours consumed during this
kilowatt-hour rate. Most residential billing period. 800793375
members have a single line item or
“bundled” electric charge. H shows your current and previous
Here is what is included in this bundled billing information and 13-month
winter rate (November through April) of kilowatt usage history so you can watch
6.4 cents per kilowatt-hour: trends and electric consumption.
▶ Power costs: 4.8971 cents per kWh
▶ Tri-County’s delivery charge: 1.5029 I is the payment stub to be filled out and
cents per kWh returned with mail-in payments or in-
person payments. D
2 0 TE C O - OP PO ER APRIL 2021 T RI- C O U NT Y E L ECT R I C CO-OP
April Pages.indd 20 3/15/2021 8:48:06 AMFinal Call: 2021 Director Nominations Planning Your
Deadline approaching for candidates seeking nomination by member petition
Petition
Members may obtain the petition on our
THE 2021 DIRECTOR NOMINATION DEADLINE for member interesting in seeking website at tcectexas.com/director-
election to the board of directors through member petition is 5 pm on Thursday, elections under Documents.
April 15. This year, director districts 3, 6
The first page includes information to
and 8 are up for election.
help members complete the petition.
The second page includes blocks for
DISTRICT 3, suburban district
member information, and candidates may
DISTRICT 6, suburban district
print as many pages as needed in order
DISTRICT 8, urban district
to obtain a sufficient number of member
signatures. We recommend gathering
Members in these districts interested
more than the minimum in the event a
in serving on the Tri-County Electric
member’s signature cannot be verified or
Cooperative Board of Directors must
is not valid.
submit their application packet to
be nominated by member petition Once the petition is complete and meets
by 5 pm on Thursday, April 15. nomination requirements, director
The deadline for members seeking candidates must submit it to the co-op
nomination through the Committee on along with the other required documents.
Nominations and Qualifications was
Director candidates may obtain a list
March 11. The committee will report
of members within their district by
back to the members next month and
contacting the cooperative via email at
present a slate of eligible candidates
memberrequests@tcectexas.com.
who met the director requirements.
Bylaws related to the board of directors
Nomination by Petition are located in Article 4, including director
Eligible members interested in qualifications, director nominations,
seeking election to the board of director elections and director terms.
directors still have time to submit their A copy of the bylaws is available at
application to be nominated through tcectexas.com/bylaws. Members may
member petition. 800885247 also request a copy of the bylaws by
For a complete application packet, calling our offices at 817-444-3201.
members must meet the following
Please contact us with any questions
requirements by the deadline, 5 pm on
related to the director nomination
Thursday, April 15:
process.
e Eligible members seeking
nomination by petition may T
nominate themselves for
a position on the ballot, by
returning a petition containing the
signatures of fifty (50) members who reside in the district.
e The petition must be filed with the cooperative by the deadline established T
in the election schedule and must be on the form as provided by the
cooperative.
e The petition must be accompanied by a candidate application and
background check consent forms.
Visit tcectexas.com/
e Each petitioning director candidate applicant shall also attach an director-elections for
application fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) or a fee determined by the
board to recover a portion of the election costs.
nomination documents
and additional
e Petitioning candidates who are determined eligible shall have their names
included on the ballot for election for the applicable director district. The information.
label of Petitioning Candidate shall accompany the petitioning candidate’s
name on the ballot. D
TCE CT E S.C 817 444 3201 A P R I L 2021 T E C O - OP PO ER 2 1
April Pages.indd 21 3/15/2021 8:48:07 AMThank a Lineman
Lineman Appreciation Day is April 12
O N A P R I L 1 2 , we are honoring our linemen for their efforts and dedication to taking care of you,
our member-owners.
If we asked you to associate an image with Tri-County Electric Cooperative, “lineman” would
most likely be the first picture that came to mind. These men go above and beyond to take care of
our members. They work tirelessly to ensure our communities receive safe and reliable electric
power.
Electric lineman is one of the most dangerous professions in the United States. Your linemen
receive specialized training and equipment to help keep them safe. At Tri-County Electric Co-op,
safety is a huge priority. Our Safety Strong campaign was designed
with our employees in mind. We want our linemen to go
home safe to their loved ones every day.
When a storm hits, they set aside their
personal priorities because Mother Nature
doesn’t work around holidays, birthdays
and kids’ extracurricular activities.
Tri-County Electric
A service-oriented mentality is one of
the many admirable characteristics of
Co-op is proud
an electric lineman. 800852917
Our dedicated and beloved to honor our 75
linemen that
linemen are proud to represent Tri-
County Electric Co-op, and they
deserve all the appreciation and
accolades that come their way on maintain more than
Lineman Appreciation Day.
Join us on Monday, April 12, and
help thank a lineman. D
9,390 miles of power
lines in our service
territory.
2 2 TE C O - OP PO ER APRIL 2021 T RI- C O U NT Y E L ECT R I C CO-OP
April Pages.indd 22 3/15/2021 8:48:08 AMDid You Know... I Work for You
linemen carry
around 35 pounds
of gear?
Linemen have hooks, a belt, tools and
more that they take with them up a pole.
DALTON STEVENS
our linemen Second Class Lineman
maintain more than Operations department, Granbury
Dalton Stevens grew up the son of a
213,600 poles? line contractor and worked summers on
We have 6,311 miles of overhead line a crew. “I hated it,” he said, “because I
held by 213,679 poles. Additionally, missed all the summer fun.” A bull rider,
linemen maintain 3,086 miles of he went to Hill Junior College on a rodeo
underground line. scholarship, but left after a semester. He
went to work at a sand plant and quickly
topped out in a dead-end job. “I got back
into line work and I’ve loved it ever since,”
he said.
He started running a crew at 24 and found
himself doing jobs for Tri-County Electric
linemen wear Co-op as a contractor. He caught the
attention of co-op staff and entertained
protective an offer to join the co-op family. Before
accepting, he had a visit with his wife,
equipment? Ashley.
To safely do their job, linemen wear “Everything happens for a reason,” he
protective equipment from head to toe, said. “She was expecting our second child,
including a hard hat, safety glasses, fire- having a rough pregnancy, and it just all
resistant clothing and steel-toe boots. fell into place.” He lived in his camper and
commuted home on weekends for about a
year, then moved his family to Weatherford
a couple of years ago.
Dalton and Ashley have known each other
since they were high school seniors, he
at Brownwood and she at Bangs. Their
daughter, six-year-old Landry, loves
linemen complete school and has been deer hunting with her
continued education dad since she was two. Brother Ty is just a
toddler, but he’s not far from his first hunt,
and training? either.
“I can’t wait,” Dalton said. “I love taking
A typical lineman trains more than 500 hours
them.” They all like camping, fishing and
a year. Training includes classes, safety
hanging out at the lake. D
meetings and progression modules to further
their skill set. A new groundhand can progress
to a journeyman lineman in approximately four
and a half years if they are dedicated to their
“We live in Weatherford. It’s
training.
super convenient. I can get to
any outage almost quicker
than anybody.”
TCE CT E S.C 817 444 3201 A P R I L 2021 T E C O - OP PO ER 2 3
April Pages.indd 23 3/15/2021 8:48:08 AMWelcoming New Directors
YOUR TRI-COUNTY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE Board of Directors has two new
directors as of Friday, February 26. The new cooperative bylaws, effective E IN
November 1, 2020, included a redistricting of director districts and two new IN LE
urban seats, districts 1 and 2 were created. These seats were vacant until the
DISTRICT 1
board appointed two members to fill the seats. 800640444
We notified all members of the vacancies and mailed letters to each
DIRECTOR
member of districts 1 and 2 asking for interested and eligble members to
apply by January 27. The Committee on Nominations and Qualifications
interviewed all candidates and recommended top candidates to the board
of directors for consideration. After a second round of interviews, the board
appointed, in accordance with cooperative bylaws, two new directors. R RET
Kevin Ingle, director of district 1, and Margaret Koprek, director of district OPRE
2, will serve the remainder of the term and will be up for election in 2023.
DISTRICT 2
Ingle works at GM Financial as the vice president of servicing analytics.
He holds a bachelors degree from the University of Tulsa and a masters of DIRECTOR
business administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.
Koprek works at BNSF Railway as director of agreement technology. She
has been with BNSF since 2007 and holds a bachelors degree and masters
degree from Texas A&M University and a masters in industrial engineering
from St. Mary’s University. D
Coming Soon: New Outage Map
M E M B E R S C A N E X P E C T a new outage map to launch this month. Our team is working behind the scenes to bring a new and
improved resource to you, our members. 800826760
Once live, the new map can still be found on our website or at oms.tcectexas.com. Members will still be able to report any
outages though the website, the app TCEC Connect, or by calling 817-444-3201. Aside from a new look and advanced functions,
members will not see a difference. Stay tuned for more information on this new feature! D
2 4 TE C O - OP PO ER APRIL 2021 T RI- C O U NT Y E L ECT R I C CO-OP
April Pages.indd 24 3/15/2021 8:48:09 AMButterscotch Bundt Cake
BY CARMEN JO SANDERS
FORT WORTH
1 yellow cake mix
1 small box vanilla instant pudding mix
12 oz. package butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup coconut
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, butterscotch chips, nuts, and
coconut. Stir in eggs, sour cream and oil. Mix well by hand.
2. Grease a bundt pan and pour in the mixture.
3. Bake at 325oF for 60 minutes, or until done. Cool in pan for 5 FREESTO CKS | U NSPLASH
minutes before turning out onto a plate.
Enjoy!
COO TIP: For a finer textured cake, beat cake mix, sour
cream, eggs, oil and pudding mix with a mixture. Then fold in
coconut, nuts and butterscotch chips.
Tri-County Electric Co-op
Member Recipe Submission Form
____________________________________
MEMBER
____________________________________
CITY
____________________________________
EMAIL or PHONE NUMBER
____________________________________
RECIPE NAME
SUBMITTING YOUR RECIPE:
EMAIL: Please include the above information with your
recipe and send to pr@tcectexas.com
ONLINE: tcectexas.com/recipe-submission
MAIL: Please detach and submit this form with your recipe
and mail to:
Tri-County Electric Cooperative
Attn: Recipe Submission
200 Bailey Ranch Road
Aledo, Texas 76008
TCE CT E S.C 817 444 3201 A P R I L 2021 T E C O - OP PO ER 2 5
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