News Releases

Annual Meeting Draws Thousands to Walton County

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 22, 2005

Contact Greg Brooks, 770/266-2307, or Katie Woodall, 770/266-2572

MONROE, Ga. – Customer-owners of Walton Electric Membership Corporation gathered to celebrate 69 successful years at their annual members' meeting held Sat., June 18.

CEO Ronnie Lee shared good news. “We have one of the lowest costs of operation in Georgia,” Lee said during his remarks. He also reported that the amount customer-owners pay for electricity had gone down 14 percent over the last 10 years.

Board Chairman Johnny Allgood spoke of the co-op's success. “We've been successful in keeping your electric bills reasonable,” he said. He also mentioned Walton EMC's two subsidiaries, EMC Security and Walton EMC Natural Gas. “They have great success in serving both our own customer-owners and new customers from outside our traditional service area,” Allgood explained.

Four Walton EMC directors were re-elected during the business session. Tommy Adcock from the Good Hope district, Dan Chelko from the Centerville-South Snellville district, Warren Few from the Bostwick-Apalachee-Rutledge district and Bud Wiley from the Farmington district will serve three-year terms again on the board.

Children danced and sung along with the Hands of Grace puppet team as they performed during Kids' Fest at Walton EMC's annual meeting.

The crowd enjoyed bluegrass entertainment provided by Hard Labor and gospel music by The Calvarymen. Hundreds took part in health screenings given by local health providers at Health Check, while children took part in Kids' Fest with rides, refreshments and puppet shows. Walton EMC demonstrated electrical safety for the children and presented families with child identification kits.

Exhibitors shared information on energy efficiency, electric water heaters, and heating and air conditioning systems. Operation Sandbox also collected items and notes of appreciation for U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Many customer-owners took home door prizes, including Paul Hampton of Snellville who won the grand prize, a retired pickup truck.

Walton EMC is a customer-owned electric cooperative, serving 110,000 accounts in 10

Northeast Georgia counties. Its subsidiary, Walton EMC Natural Gas, serves customers statewide.