For Debbie Robinson, Wood County Electric Cooperative has become a way of life in 25 years on the job. She joined WCEC as an accountant in 1983, rose up through the ranks, and in 1996 became chief executive officer and general manager of the electric cooperative that provides power to all or parts of nine counties in the Upper East Side of Texas: Camp, Franklin, Hopkins, Smith, Rains, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wood.

She is only the third manager in WCEC’s 70-year history and one of the first women to manage an electric co-op in Texas.

WCEC got its start in 1938 when a group of farmers got together to bring electricity to the region after President Franklin Roosevelt passed the Rural Electrification Act. It now serves about 33,000 users in nine counties and works with nine other co-ops for a combined 340,000 East Texas users, giving it a larger market for buying power less expensively.

“The larger the market, the better price you get,” Debbie said, calling on her business administration accounting degree from Texas A&M University to cite one of he realities of commerce.

Under her leadership, WCEC also has ownership interest in power plants that supply about half of its needs.

“Co-ops are very focused on meeting members’ needs; there is no incentive to meet any stockholders‘ profit needs,” Debbie said.

That fact means co-ops can offer electricity cheaper and also emphasizes a focus on service. Being able to control costs and expenses is one key to success; long-time employees is a second.

“Being a good employer is a key,” Debbie said. “One thing about WCEC is that we don’t have a lot of turnover in employees, so we have a knowledgeable employee base.

“When you work for the co-op, it’s almost like you are called to service. When there’s an outage or storm, we know we’ve got a job to do. And we believe in being good neighbors - to help out in the area whether it’s serving in volunteer fire departments or local churches, schools, chambers of commerce, or whatever we can do.”

While the primary focus is on providing electricity to rural areas, being good corporate citizens is also important to Debbie and WCEC. That’s a role outlined in the founding Seven Cooperative Principles.

“It’s important to be good corporate citizens. We are big supporters of education in the area through our safety demonstrations and scholarship programs. That also helps us recruit the employees we need because they see that as important in their lives also.”

WCEC manages about 4,400 miles of power lines in the nine counties it serves. Its “mobile convenience center,” developed in 1993, is a visible presence Mondays in Van, Tuesdays in Mount Vernon, Wednesdays in Hawkins, Thursdays in Winnsboro, and Fridays in Grand Saline.

The mobile office is a reality based on growth and controlling costs.

“We could not identify one particular area that was growing faster than the rest. We wanted to reach out to the membership, to offer more convenience, but we couldn’t justify five-day-a-week offices so we came up with the mobile office that is in a different town each day of the week,” Debbie said. “It’s been a real success for us, averaging about 100 visitors a day to pay bills or ask questions or request new service. Anything we need to do in an office, we can do in the mobile office.”

In Debbie’s 25 years with WCEC, the co-op has averaged about three percent growth a year in net consumers, with that growth expected to remain steady.

“We see that as very manageable. You can’t manage day-to-day operations or fall short of control if you grow too fast,” she said. “Our growth is residential, and when people move here, they are here to stay. There are a lot of qualities that attract people to move here to East Texas; one of those that we need to promote more is low-cost power that’s reliable. That’s helping us grow.”
Because WCEC has traditionally served more rural and unincorporated areas than towns, it takes a regional approach to business development.

“We always need to recognize that our source of revenue is not just from one area, but from all areas,” Debbie said. “The majority of the service we provide is residential, so we need to focus on that - meeting those customers’ needs.

“Customers today know what’s going on in the world and are very focused on their financing needs and their budgets. The costs of all the things we need are rising and energy is part of that, whether it’s gasoline at the pumps or electricity,” she said. “We need to be particularly focused on electricity and where it comes from.”

Debbie refers to a web site, www.ourenergy.coop that presents information about power supply choices including coal, natural gas, nuclear, and renewable energy.

“Our area consumers need to be more aware of moving this country to renewable resources whether it be wind or solar to help us decrease our independence on foreign oil,” she said. “We also need to keep in mind the baseline costs. Baseline fuels like coal get a bad rap these days, but are good reliable sources of power.”

While Debbie spends most of her time finding less-expensive power for members, she said she enjoys meeting the members and speaking at ag shows and at schools.

“I’m on the road a lot with power-supply issues, contracts, and feasibility inquires, but one of the joys of working for the co-op is getting out and being with people.”

Debbie is also president of East Texas Electric Cooperatives, past chairman of the Texas Electric Cooperative Board, is a past director of the Quitman Chamber of Commerce, and served on the East Texas Workforce Development Board and in other civic volunteer roles.

Burke Bullock, Wood County commissioner and dairy farmer, is on the WCEC board of directors and has known Debbie for about 20 years.

“She was one of the first women in the state to be a co-op manager, and surrounded herself with good advisors - highly qualified men and women,” Burke said. “We consider WCEC to be one of the best electric co-ops in the nation under her leadership. It’s progressive and has good contracts to buy power, and she’s kept it on good financial footing. Debbie has good rapport with each community we serve.”

Dr. Beverly Waddleton Johnson grew up with Debbie’s husband and met Debbie through their children’s involvement in scouting and other activities.

“In a male-dominated profession, Debbie Robinson is the star to follow,” Beverly said. “She does a great job with employee relations and community relations, and continues to give superb service for the areas Wood County Electric Cooperative serves.”

Debbie and her husband, Troy (who is president of Quitman-based BankTexas), have two sons in college. One is a senior at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and one is a sophomore at Texas A&M, where Debbie got her degree in business administration accounting.

Lately, the Bryan native has been reading a book called “Balance of Power,” which reminds her that life and work are equally important.

“I try to keep life balanced with work and exercise. I love to cook, and health and nutrition are important. And spirituality; I’m very involved with my church,” she said. “I lead a good East Texas life.”

By Tom Geddie
www.countylinemagazine.com/