65 years, 65 memories
To commemorate West Florida Electric Cooperative’s 65th anniversary, we continue our list of 65 randomly-selected highlights from Cooperative history. We at WFEC hope you’ll be entertained, inspired and informed as you join us in this walk down memory lane.
9. WFEC’s first office opens for business
1938
WFEC’s members have held their first meetings in the upstairs of the old post office in Graceville, but locate their first office next to the old post office on Hwy. 90 in Marianna. After three months of manning the new office, WFEC’s first general manager, Claude H. Smith, receives a salary of $100 per month.
10. Westville substation is energized
1955
WFEC’s new facility serves northern Washington County and a major portion of Holmes County. By late 1990, a total of 13 substations, now owned and
maintained by WFEC’s power supplier, Alabama Electric Cooperative, provide energy to WFEC’s electric distribution system.
11. Arab nations impose oil embargo
Oct. 17, 1973
Following U. S. support of Israel against Egyptian and Syrian forces, most members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries,
or OPEC, cut oil supplies to the U. S. and elevate prices by 70 percent to America’s Western European allies. The nation’s electric consumers, including WFEC’s, feel the effects of the embargo’s harsh blow to the U. S. economy. President Richard Nixon calls on homeowners to turn down their thermostats. Motorists encounter long lines, ten-gallon-per-customer limits, even dry pumps and a ban on Sunday gasoline sales, at the filling station. Congress approves the construction of a Trans-Alaskan oil pipeline designed to pump one million gallons of oil per day. OPEC lifts the embargo March 18, 1974.
12. WFEC starts reading meters
Oct. 8, 1988
By voting to being having their meters read by Co-op personnel, WFEC’s members end a 50-year practice. Until this point, WFEC has been one of only two Florida co-ops whose members still read their own meters for billing purposes.
13. Sneads school catches fire
March 1, 1991
Jackson County Emergency Management personnel call WFEC to disconnect electric service at the site. Lightning appears to have caused the blaze, which completely destroys the 20-classroom structure, bandroom, two gyms, lunchroom and ag building. WFEC offers office space for classroom use and restores service to the school by March 7, when classes are scheduled to resume.
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