July 2005

Thousands Attend Annual Meeting

Customer-owners of Walton Electric Membership Corporation gathered to celebrate 69 successful years at their annual members' meeting held 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.

Incumbents Dan Chelko (District 5–Centerville-South Snellville), Warren Few (District 2–Bostwick-Apalachee-Rutledge), Bud Wiley (District 3-Farmington) and Tommy Adcock (District 6-Good Hope) were re-elected to three year terms on the Walton EMC Board of Directors at the annual meeting.

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 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.

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