Wells Rural Electric Company at a Glance
1400
Miles of Power Line
10000
Square Miles of Service Area
6000
Total Accounts Since Start of Operation
100
Megawatt Load Total for Residential and Business Owners
Wells Rural Electric Company (WREC) is a member-owned, non-profit cooperative that provides electrical service across 1,400 miles of power line to more than 10,000 square miles of northeastern Nevada and part of Tooele County in Utah.
Incorporated in 1958 to obtain central station power for the rural areas around Wells, WREC started operation in June of 1960 with 583 customers and has since grown to more than 6,000 accounts with headquarters in Wells and offices in Carlin and West Wendover.
Our owners range from residential users to business owners, casinos, ranchers, and mining operations, with a total load around 100 megawatts.
Board of Directors
Thad Ballard
CEO
Scott Egbert
Board President
M. Jonathan Dahl
Board Vice President
Jim Whited
Secretary/Treasurer
Gerald Anderson
Member
Kirk Dahl
Member
Tony Macias
Member
Ouida Madison
Member
Gary Pollock
Member
Cameron Huff
Member
Bruce Widmer
Member
Bob Wilcox
Member
Vernon Dalton
Director Emeritus
History
WREC is a member-owned, non-profit cooperative incorporated in 1958 to obtain central station power for the rural areas around Wells. A board of directors was formed, and Robert Wright, a rancher in Clover Valley, was elected president.
1959
In 1959, the cooperative secured a Rural Electrification Administration (REA) loan, reached an agreement to purchase wholesale power from Idaho Power Company, and purchased Wells Power Company. WREC officially began serving 583 customers in June 1960.
1961
In 1961, WREC acquired the Wendover Power Company with the aid of an REA loan, which also brought central station power to the Jiggs/Lee area located south of Elko, Nevada, pushing the number of WREC accounts to 824.
1971
Nearly 20 years later, in 1979, WREC purchased the City of Carlin’s municipal power plant and began providing electric service to that community, increasing WREC’s membership to 2,430.
1986
On February 4, 1986, residents in Pine Valley, south of Carlin, received Wells Rural Electric service for the first time, bringing the cooperative’s total number of active accounts to 3,800.
Cooperative Principles
WREC follows the 7 guiding principles of the cooperative form of business:
Voluntary & Open Membership
Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.
Concern for Community
While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.
Democratic Member Control
Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (1 member, 1 vote), and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.
Autonomy & Independence
Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.
Education, Training, & Information
Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public, particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefits of cooperation.
Cooperation Among Cooperatives
Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, regional, national, and international structures.
Members’ Economic Participation
Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.
Generation
Roughly 85% WREC’s electricity is generated from carbon-free hydroelectricity via the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA).
BPA is a federal nonprofit agency that supplies about a third of the power in the northwest. They generate a vast majority of their power from 31 federal hydro projects in the Columbia River Basin and also operate 1 nonfederal nuclear plant and several other small nonfederal power plants.
Bonneville Power Administration Fuel Mix Percent Summary Calendar Year 2015 Data
(Source: Bonneville Power Administration, June 2016)
83.6%
Large Hydroelectric
and
0.9%
Small Hydroelectric
9.9%
Nuclear
4.5%
Non-specified
Purchases
0.9%
Wind without RECs
and
0%
Wind with RECs
0.1%
Natural Gas &
Biomass and Waste
and
0%
Coal, Geothermal, &
Solar with RECs