Each summer for a number of years BEC has sponsored area teenagers on a week long adventure to Washington D.C. for a trip of a lifetime. This year the BEC board of director sent four students who  submitted winning essays. The young adults left the Hill Country June 12 and returned June 20. The BEC group joined other teens from around Texas to fly from DFW to our nation's capital. The four in the BEC group were:

• Jordan Martinez, Leakey

• Maria Ponce, Vanderpool

• Jesse Pfieffer, Utopia

• Anne Jenschke, Bandera

If you would like to see the adventures of the students check out the following website:

 2008 Texas Youth Tour Pictures

As part of the 2008 Energy Efficiency program announced earlier in the year, BEC is beginning a high-efficiency heat-pump rebate program on June 1. The heat pump program will pay licensed heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) contractors $200 for every 14 SEER or greater central heat pump they install for BEC members in EXISTING HOMES (see complete article).

E-Check Payment Option Now at BEC

BEC has added an “E-Check” option as another convenient way for our Members to pay their monthly electric bill. It is a direct way to pay from a Member’s bank account without using a credit or debit card. Members can pay online, by phone or in person using the E-Check option. 

Here is how it works:

• the member gives BEC the account information on the bill they are paying (their name has to be on the account)
• they provide the bank account number on the bottom of a check and the routing number
• they provide the name on the checking account (it has to be the same as the one on the BEC account)
• payment is posted electronically at the time
• funds are transferred from the member’s bank account to BEC’s

 The E-Check payment option has been in use by other businesses for some time, it has proven to be a safe and reliable payment method.

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We urge you to get involved and to let our elected officials know that they must take you and your family into consideration when crafting our energy future. After all, you ultimately will bear the cost of whatever solution is mandated go now to: https://www.ourenergy.coop/ and let your voice be heard!

1. Experts say that our nation’s growing electricity needs will soon go well beyond what renewables, conservation and efficiency can provide. What is your plan to make sure we have the electricity we’ll need in the future?

2. What are you doing to fully fund the research required to make emissions-free electric plants an affordable reality?

3. Balancing electricity needs and environmental goals will be difficult. How much is all this going to increase my electric bill, and what will you do to make it affordable?

Multiply your most recent electric bill by four? (see complete You Can Speak Out on Energy Policy article)

May 20, 2008 - Wholesale electric generators continue to see a rise in the cost of natural gas, which is a key component of the price that is placed on power purchased by electric utilities. The escalation in natural gas prices is causing the cost of purchased power to rise, affecting many utilities across Texas and the nation, including Bandera Electric Co-op (BEC).

BEC members should expect to see the purchased power cost increase by approximately 1¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) beginning in late June. What this means is for every 1,000 kWh a member uses, they should expect their electric bill to increase by $10.00. Another 1/2¢ increase is likely to occur in late October. See complete article

BEC has several job openings, we need Groundmen or experienced Linemen (multiple positions available).   See jobs.

The Medina Lake to Pipe Creek transmission line supplies power from the state-wide electricity transmission network for BEC Members in the Medina Lake area. The current line was built in 1964 and has served BEC members well for the past forty years. However, the Medina Lake area has experienced tremendous growth during those years and has out grown the line (see complete article).

 A Medina Lake to CPS Line route was approved by the Public Utility Commission on July 20, 2007. "Except for an approximate 3,500 feet that crosses through open country (near the Bandera/Medina County line), the entire route parallels FM 1283." See more details in special section.