Pedernales Electric's Board of Directors voted at the Oct. 19 meeting to continue the cooperative's rebate programs for commercial lighting and for heating, venting and air-conditioning systems.

The rebate programs assist members trying to improve the energy efficiency of their homes or businesses. The HVAC rebate provides incentives for members to upgrade from older, less-efficient units.

Through September of this year, the cooperative had paid $766,300 in HVAC rebates to members and $17,458 to commercial members who installed efficient lighting in their buildings.

The conservation-minded rebates are consistent with the board's 2008 goal to reduce residential and commercial electric use across the cooperative by up to 20 percent.

In a report on PEC's financial status, Chief Financial Officer Mike Vollmer indicated the cooperative has generated a higher revenue and margin this year due to increased kilowatt-hour sales, mostly as a result of hotter weather.

Vollmer also announced that PEC has mailed letters to eligible members regarding capital credit allocations. PEC plans to distribute capital credits to members in November as credits on their electric bills.

During the comment section of the meeting, several members voiced opinions about singlemember voting districts. The board later voted against directing its Governance, Bylaws and Legal Committee to offer recommendations on single-member districts and board term limits. This committee plans to address these and other issues in a complete analysis of the cooperative's bylaws.

The next board meeting will be Nov. 16 at 10 a.m. at PEC's E. Babe Smith Headquarters Building in Johnson City.