THE MESSENGER
A Publication for North Arkansas Electric Cooperative Members
Little line workers
Supporting our students
NEXT, Powered by NAEC personnel present Mountain Home School District personnel with a check for $1,000. Each of the 12 school districts within NEXT’s service area received $1,000 in May. Administrators will direct the funding according to their specific needs and to support one of the following programs: covering outstanding student meal balances, providing food for students to take home over weekends and breaks through backpack programs or purchasing essential school supplies.
Wiles reelected to NAEC board
North Arkansas Electric Cooperative (NAEC) members reelected Sonya Wiles of Melbourne to a six-year term on the NAEC Board of Directors.
Survey & Ballot Systems of Minnesota conducted the election on NAEC’s behalf. The company mailed each member a ballot, candidate biographies and 2024 Annual Report in May. Ballots received by Survey & Ballot Systems by June 17 were considered valid.
Attorney Roger Morgan announced election results during the 85th Annual Meeting at the Salem Civic Center on June 19. Survey & Ballot Systems received 5,404 valid ballots from members.
Incumbent Wiles was nominated by the nominating committee for the Izard County position. Michelle Graetz of Horseshoe Bend was nominated by petition. Wiles received 2,942 votes; Graetz received 2,462 votes.
CEO Mel Coleman and senior staff shared updates on their respective departments. In addition, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation President and CEO Buddy Hasten also gave an update from the generation and transmission cooperative, which is NAEC’s wholesale power provider.
A recording of the meeting is posted on the Annual Meeting section of naeci.com.
CELEBRATING INDEPENDENCE
DAY — NAEC offices will be closed July 4. A dispatcher will be on duty, and personnel will be on call in the event of an outage. Please report an outage using the NAEC app or by calling (870) 895-3221.
NAEC Operations personnel Randy Smith, right, and Lance Neal share electric safety information with the Mammoth Spring School District Preschool. They also showed kids the tools and equipment they use on the job and gave a bucket demonstration.
LIHEAP helps with electric bills
The federal government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides help for qualifying members with their energy costs during the summer.
LIHEAP is administered by community action agencies. In NAEC’s service area, those are Northcentral Arkansas Development Council and Ozark Opportunities.
Summer assistance should be available in July. We encourage members needing assistance to reach out to the agency serving their county for more information. (Please see sidebar for your county’s phone number.)
Northcentral Arkansas Development Council serves residents in Fulton, Izard, Sharp and Stone counties. Ozark Opportunities serves residents in Baxter and Marion counties. The amount of help available varies based on a person’s income, number of people in the home and other factors.
Northcentral Arkansas Development Council
nadcinc.org
Fulton County — (870) 895-3628
Izard County — (870) 368-4329
Sharp County — (870) 994-7353
Stone County — (870) 269-5427 Ozark Opportunities
TIP
During summer months, run
and
harder than necessary.
TIPS TO AVOID
ENERGY SCAMS
Always be cautious of unsolicited calls (or in-person visits) to your home from companies claiming to conduct energy audits. These are typically telemarketing firms that claim to be a third-party company or pose as a representative from your electric utility to gain access to homes and sell services with the promise of government rebates. North Arkansas Electric Cooperative personnel can conduct energy audits, but they are scheduled at a member's request.
—energy.gov
May 16,
Source: Better Business Bureau