Thursday, February 6, 2025
Under new leadership, one of the Azle area’s largest energy cooperatives might be looking to old solutions.
One proposed solution in scaling down Tri-County Electric Cooperative’s “mountain of debt” could have them out of their Aledo headquarters. Recently, TCEC’s board of directors approved exploring the sale of its 200 Bailey Ranch Road office and in a January “Current Conversations” newsletter, Scott Spence, president and chief executive, broached the idea of selling off the building in order to reduce costs and help pay off outstanding debt.
“As it remains early in the process, several options are being evaluated related to the potential sale and planning for where Aledo-based employees may work from if the building is sold,” Spence said in an email to the Tri-County Reporter. “As mentioned in ‘Current Conversations,’ the sale of TCEC’s headquarters is just one of the actions that the cooperative’s new leadership team is evaluating as it works to address the financial challenges facing the cooperative. The TCEC leadership team and its employees are committed to fulfilling the cooperative’s mission by reducing operational expenses without compromising the quality of service by transitioning to less costly facilities.”
According to the newsletter, the sale of other properties could also be underway including Haslet land, Weatherford land, two transmission substations and several other small tracts of land.
TCEC got its start in Azle, where it was headquartered for most of its history. According to the company, a community meeting at Liberty School on Halloween night in 1938 led to the co-op being chartered through the Rural Electrification Administration. The business is a not-for-profit electricity provider owned by its customers who may be reimbursed after each fiscal year. At its start, it had 375 members and a rented office in the building that now houses the Azle Historical Museum. In 1945, the co-op had a new office on Main Street and was supplying power to around 1,300 members. The co-op moved again making 600 Northwest Parkway its head office in 1964. While holding on to Azle as a satellite location, the company moved its headquarters to Aledo in 2020, citing space constraints. TCEC is now the fourth largest electric cooperative in Texas with over 100,000 member owners in 16 counties.
Though a decision has not been reached, if the company does sell its Aledo location, Azle could conceivably stand to once again become the company’s base of operations. Yet, it may face competition with TCEC’s other offices in Keller, Granbury and Seymour.
Spence was appointed by the group’s board of directors in March after the dismissal of former CEO Darryl Schriver for alleged financial misconduct. Throughout the fall and winter of 2024, Spence has addressed TCEC’s longstanding debts, and possible solutions, at length in public meetings and newsletters.
A major source of money woes, February 2021’s Winter Storm Uri wreaked havoc on Texas’ energy industry. As a result, TCEC’s wholesale electricity provider, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, filed for bankruptcy leaving TCEC on the hook for $485 million. For the foreseeable future, TCEC customers pay additional fees, via a “Brazos Rider,” on top of their bill as collateral for its loans.
Spence has attributed additional debts to the company’s subsidization of new customers. Over the last six years, Spence said that TCEC has accrued an additional $240 million in debt by offering complimentary connection services and construction.
Among the many efforts that TCEC is taking to tighten its belt include the cessation of these subsidization efforts, a freeze on the company’s employee headcount, more closely tracking budgets at a department level and selling off nonessential assets.
In financial audits made available to the public on the TCEC website, the co-op lists its total debt as more than $904 million.
