woodruff electric cooperative edition
Carl Horton retires after nearly 29 years with Woodruff Electric In May of 1989, Carl Horton began his career at Woodruff Electric as a material clerk working in the Augusta district under the direction of Harold Flowers. After working a year for the cooperative, he took the position as the Purchasing Agent, Warehouse Manager and Meter Reader Coordinator in Forrest Carl Horton City. His employment was interrupted in December of 1990 when his Army Reserve unit was activated for the Gulf War and Dessert Storm. Carl spent time in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey and northern Iraq, but he kept in touch with employees at Woodruff Electric during his deployment. Upon his return from active military duty in 1991, Carl accepted the position of Member Services Representative. Little did he know at the time, this would lead to a long career at Woodruff Electric in the Member Services Department. His work included covering many aspects of the electric cooperative business. One aspect that Carl became especially interested in was residential energy efficiency. He became quite knowledgeable in this area and was able to help resolve members’ concerns with their energy usage. Carl stated, “I always enjoyed showing members how to fix, save and stop wasting energy.” As a result of Carl’s experience and expertise, Carl was named Member Services Director in June of 1993. In 2002, Carl was promoted to the Vice President of Member Services where he maintained that position until retirement. During his time in the Member Services Department, he traveled Woodruff Electric’s seven-county area and became very familiar with the roads and communities throughout the area. When asked about the most challenging part of his career, with deep thought and a little
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MARCH 2018
WOODRUFF ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE
hesitation, he mentioned the methods of communicating the unique functionality of the utility business. “Utilities are complicated and not like any other retail business. Energy usage is hard to understand and the rules we are bound to by the public service commission are unfamiliar to most people,” said Carl. Carl continued to share his knowledge with members and became the voice of Woodruff Electric during weather related events such as the flood of 2011 and the ice storms in 2014. When asked about changes in his career, he was quick to mention the communication methods to the membership. “There are so many different communication devices that we use to reach our membership — magazine, newsletters, Facebook, radio, newspaper and television.” Also, the change in the electric system has been very evident over his 28-year career at Woodruff Electric. “The electric systems are in much better shape with advances in technology such as computerized outage reporting and right-of-way efforts,” said Carl. When asked about his plans for retirement, Carl had a lot to say. “I look forward to being more available to spend time with my grandchildren. I plan on attending more ball games and other activities that I have been missing out on,” said Carl. Also, he plans to finish working on a family cabin that he is building near where he grew up in the Newcastle community. He plans to start more projects in the future and take a few trips. He ended with stating, “I will miss the people — the employees and membership interaction.”