Whether you are a researcher, YEC member or you simply want to know more about York Electric Cooperative, take this opportunity to browse our news archive.
One of our priorities at York Electric Cooperative is to be our members’ trusted source of relevant energy information. As a cooperative, we take this responsibility seriously because we aim to serve you beyond the power in your house. To carry out this goal, this relationship must also extend to those serving you and me—our lawmakers at the State House and in Washington, D.C.
Every year, South Carolina’s General Assembly, the U.S. Congress and governmental agencies consider issues that affect our members. Whether it is legislation or regulations involving energy generation, tax breaks, infrastructure funding or anything else that impacts your quality of life, we strive to make certain that cooperatives are a trusted source of reliable public policy analysis. That’s why we work closely with elected officials, ensuring that they understand and are enabled to act on the issues that are important to our members.
The cooperative model provides a strong network of resources that helps us cultivate these relationships and advocate for you. It’s a collective effort that involves our staff, trustees and our cooperative partners statewide and in the nation’s capital. Fortunately, more often than not, we see those relationships and that advocacy yield positive results for cooperative members and our state as a whole. Last year, the General Assembly passed, and our Governor signed into law, legislation that did just that.
One piece of legislation increased tax credits to entities, such as YEC, that are engaged in infrastructure and development projects. This helped us invest in projects such as our new commercial and industrial business park on Hwy. 321 in York and continue site-readiness work to attract industry to our area. This economic activity can have a positive impact on those living here locally and it can help lower the overall price of power for YEC members, making our systems’ use of generation resources more efficient.
Legislators’ understanding of how we operate and educate our employees was crucial in a driver training bill that passed last session. It allows our statewide association, which provides much of the training to our workforce, to offer entry level driver training now required to obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). Without this allowance, cooperatives would be forced to absorb an added and unnecessary expense.
We’re thankful for our elected officials and the relationships we have with them. We’re encouraged when they seek our expertise on energy-related issues and trust our input when bills that matter to us are being considered.
With a new legislative session just beginning, we’ll continue to serve as a trusted source for you and for our elected leaders, standing by our mission to always look out for you.
The East York Industrial Park was York Electric Cooperative’s first large economic development project that began after many textile industries left our area. Providing enticing locations for industrial customers to land not only helps bring quality jobs to our community, but it also helps keep power costs low for all members.
Sincerely,
Paul Basha
President and Chief Executive Officer
by R. Marc Howie, Vice President of Community Development
Working together is part of the cooperative culture and one of the ways York Electric is able to fulfill our goal of making a positive impact in our communities. We can all agree that our local and state government has a considerable influence on where we live and our quality of life, which is why it is so important for your electric cooperative to form meaningful relationships, building trust and support to those who matter most—our members.
York Electric is proud to work with such a strong local delegation at the SC State House who, like your co-op, puts the best interest of our members and their constituents first. In my role at York Electric for over 25 years, I’ve had the honor and privilege of building these relationships with political leaders in Columbia; but this year will be a little different. Gary Simrill, majority leader of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 2016 until May of 2022, served our area for 30 years. Gary’s commitment to his elected duty and well-rounded views on what is best for all South Carolina residents will be greatly missed.
I’m proud to know Gary professionally and would be remiss if I did not show my sincere appreciation to him for his steadfast support of York Electric Cooperative. His good character made my job easy. He was always responsive and quick to return a call or text, he had a strong voice that was respected by all parties, as well as constituents from urban and rural areas, had the best interest of our state at heart and studied issues before speaking or making rash decisions. Like me, folks respect Gary, his willingness to get the job done and the humility he showed by never caring who got the credit. He was never afraid to cross the aisle if it meant finding a compromise to help our members, our area or our state.
Personally, I’m honored to call Gary my friend, fellow Winthrop alum and York County native. Although we will miss him in Columbia, it is nice knowing he is still working and supporting our community in his new role at Winthrop University, continuing his efforts to make our area the best place to live. Thank you, Gary.
Exciting trip, scholarship and art contest opportunities are available for local students of all ages! Learn more and apply now by scanning the codes below. As your Touchstone Energy Cooperative, York Electric firmly believes our educational efforts can have a far-reaching effect not only for the individuals we help but for the community at large. We believe educational outreach is one of the most important things we can offer.
 | Washington Youth Tour, Cooperative Youth Summit Application Apply by February 24, 2023 |
 | Scholarships for seniors Apply by March 25, 2023 |
 | Art competitions Apply by April 7, 2023 |
The Burrell Foundation’s Board of Directors, Executive Director and the employees of York Electric Cooperative invite community members to dress up and enjoy a night of fun at our Mardi Gras-themed Gala. Guests will enjoy a nice dinner and an open bar, and have the opportunity to bid on silent and one-of-a-kind live auction items. All proceeds from the event will benefit The Burrell Foundation, a 501c3 organization, FEIN 84-3059846.
Saturday, February 25, 2023, 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
McBryde Hall at Winthrop University
695 Scholars Walk
Rock Hill, South Carolina 29733
About the Burrell Foundation
The Burrell Foundation works to create a better quality of life for community members living in York Electric Cooperative's service territories: York, Chester, Cherokee and Lancaster Counties. Started in the memory of Mr. Dick Burrell, a former trustee for York Electric Cooperative, the goals of the foundation are to honor his legacy of fostering hope, generosity and blessings to all of those around him.
Together with the employees of York Electric Cooperative, the board of directors and executive director will work to raise money from our community and surrounding areas so that we are able to provide charitable contributions to those who need it most within York Electric's service territory. Help could come in the form of a bike for a child or helping hands and materials to repair a leaking roof. The most important goal with each donation is to remain true to what is best for the people and families in our communities.
As We Welcome a new year, your York Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees continues to work as a team to serve you with affordable, safe and reliable electricity. Our boardroom table has been full of conversations thinking of you, our valued members, and our goal to govern your cooperative so that your voice is heard, your bills are low and your lights stay on.
Looking back on our accomplishments in 2022, we are proud to have invested in our infrastructure, strategized to maintain low rates despite economic challenges and damaging storms and increase the availability of rural internet to many of the unserved members in our territory, all while being able to return the largest amount of capital credits to members in your co-op’s history—$2.5 million.
Additionally, we’ve been discussing the future. Each day, the electrification of the economy becomes more of a reality than a theory and we want to assure you that your co-op is prepared. For example, we are working with other cooperatives across South Carolina to continue learning about electric vehicles so that our delivery system, employees and members are educated on what may come. Last year, we launched the ChooseEV tool on our website to help with EV education and information. This tool includes real-time data and cost projections so that members are informed before making an EV purchase.
We continue to be good stewards of each dollar that comes in to the cooperative as we invest in projects that make your service more reliable, your distribution system more resilient and the process to conduct business easier for members. Our board’s financial responsibility for the integrity of your co-op and future plans has been crucial as our energy future evolves.
Most of all, and I speak on behalf of my eight other colleagues, we are proud of our employees and the tremendous job they do for you. On the accompanying page, let’s look at what we’ve been able to accomplish together.
It is my privilege to lead our board, support the great work our team of employees accomplishes for our members and to always look out for you.
Max T. Settlemyre
Board Chairman, District 1
Year in review
A recap of YEC’s major accomplishments in 2022
Everything we do is in service to our members. So, we want you to know what’s been done to keep our services to you safe, reliable and affordable. Here are some of the milestones that made 2022 a successful year for York Electric.
Organizational accomplishments
- Onboarded and trained new employees.
- Placed 4th among midsized companies as one of SC’s Best Places to Work.
- Trained employees to provide consistent information to members, improve job skills and support additional education efforts to better serve you.
System reliability
- Installed state-of-the-art equipment in two of our substations.
- Installed smart devices that locate and isolate outages across our system. Began construction of the new Flint Hill Substation; estimated completion May 2023.
- Worked towards completing our goal of burying distribution lines underground in areas that are hazardous and hard to reach in outage situations. This year, we accomplished 1.5 miles of this task and are proud to be over halfway finished with our goal.
- Added 29 major projects to our system, including large residential subdivisions and commercial sites.
Service excellence
- Received a score of 94 from members on the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey.
- Our team has driven 603,816 miles and answered 114,812 calls to serve you.
- Excluding large storm events, our lineworkers responded to all outages within one hour of the first report 99% of the time.
- All mailed payments are now processed in the York office for better service and efficiency.
Financial, system security
- Trained all employees on the importance of awareness of cyber security.
- Integrated new technologies to process eCommerce payments more efficiently.
- Developed inclement weather and outage response tools for our Information Services and Member Services teams.
- Created an incident response plan to better prepare for handling security incidents.
Rural internet
- Installed 480 miles of fiber.
- High-speed service is now available to 3,500 previously unserved members.
- Through our partnership with Comporium, 1,100 members are signed up for this new service.
- We expect completion of our Rural Internet Project by the year-end of 2023, providing access to over 5,000 unserved members.
Community support
- Provided $13,500 in scholarships for high school seniors.
- Provided $14,500 to local teachers through our Bright Ideas Grant Program.
- YEC’s Operation Round Up Program, which is completely funded by our generous members, supported the most vulnerable in our community with $250,315 in charitable donations. Since it began in 2000, the Operation Round Up Program has provided over $3.6 million in community support.
- Continued working with local economic development leaders to bring more quality jobs to our area, invest in local infrastructure and develop new commercial opportunities to attract businesses that will positively impact our area.
- Purchased 32 acres on Hwy. 321 in York for future business park development.
Your co-op has two amazing trips planned this summer. Juniors: Apply for the Washington Youth Tour. Sophomores: Apply for the Cooperative Youth Summit. The application deadline is February 24, 2023.
Washington Youth Tour: June 17-22, 2023
Juniors: Experience Washington, D.C., with hundreds of students from across South Carolina and the country, meeting lawmakers and touring all the sights. Your electric co-op will cover your round-trip plane ticket, tours and meals. In other words, it’s all free!
2023 Cooperative Youth Summit: July 10-13, 2023
Sophomores: Experience South Carolina’s capital like never before. Tour the Statehouse, meet lawmakers and see how co-ops are preparing for our state’s energy future. Plus, there’s plenty of fun with visits to popular Columbia attractions like Riverbanks Zoo & Garden. Your electric co-op will cover all your expenses. We’ve made it easy to apply for either FREE trip.
YEC awards grants to local teachers for their bright ideas
York Electric Cooperative was proud to award a total of $14,500 to support projects submitted by 17 teachers from Clover, Fort Mill, Rock Hill and York in 2022. Teachers were awarded up to $1,000 to implement innovative learning techniques in their classrooms through the Bright Ideas Grant Program funded by York Electric and our member-funded Operation Round Up Trust.
A committee consisting of three Operation Round Up board members, one winner from last year’s Bright Ideas program, Dr. Anne R. Witte, and two York Electric Cooperative employees reviewed the teacher applications. Grants were awarded to projects that will create new ways to make learning fun and memorable for students.
Help us celebrate their bright ideas and commitment to our students by congratulating them on a job well done!
Grants are available to all kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers in York Electric’s service territory. If you are a local teacher interested in applying for the Bright Ideas Grant Opportunity for the 2023/2024 school year, the online application will be open beginning July 10, 2023.
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Sarah Nivens, Cotton Belt Elementary School, York
Project: “Robotics Kits for STEAM Club.”
“I want to give my students various experiences while they are young so that they see what kinds of things they can do out in the ‘real world.’ I want my students to find STEAM topics interesting and fun. The goal of these robots is for my students to learn to build and code their robot to move in a specific way.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Michelle Young, Bethel Elementary School, Clover
Project: “Springs of Learning.” Project will provide 5th-grade students ongoing STEAM learning support.
“Our goals are to implement STEAM-based learning to strengthen inquiry and collaboration across grade levels. We also want to integrate multiple grade level standards including design solutions, data analysis and testing.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Taylor McSwain, Hickory Grove Sharon Elementary School, York
Project: “HGSES Fitness Club”
“The #1 goal of the Fitness Club is to create healthy habits for my students. I want these students to get into the routine of exercising each day in hopes they will continue those habits later in life. Other goals for this club are to help students become healthier right now, and to become better athletes.”
Photo credit: Emma Anne Mobley
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Stacey Hunter, and her team, Verla Mayfield-Benjamin (left) and Lori Patrick, Rawlinson Road Middle School, Rock Hill.
Project: “Sensory Support” for 6th to 8th grade students in the Autistic Program.
“My goal teaching those with autism is to help them develop and learn sensory strategies and how to process sensory information. Some students might be sensitive to sensory inputs and find it difficult to stay calm and focused. Others might need more sensory inputs to understand the sensation. My overall goal is for them to become independent and learn how to self-advocate for themselves on what they need.”
Photo credit: Stacey Hunter
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Scott Boyd, Clover High School, Clover
Project: “Smoke and Fog Machine”
“This will help prepare students interested in Fire Science prepare for their state testing and give them first-hand experience in what it is like to be in a hazardous environment.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Ashleigh Erb, York Intermediate School, York
Project: “Amazing Me…in 3D,” supporting STEM learning for special education students in 5th and 6th grade.
“I would like to give these students an opportunity to learn and take advantage of rapidly changing technology. More often than not, this population of students does not have access to opportunities to engage with higher-level thinking outside the classroom and even in the classroom because resources are very limited given school budgets. I would like to give these special pens as an accessible means to explore and learn how 3D technologies work and impact our daily lives.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Jessica Hardy, Kings Town Elementary School, Fort Mill
Project: “First Tee Golf Unit,” supporting social emotional learning from kindergarten to 5th grade. Hardy supports her project through research that shows how the game of golf provides “life skills that coincide with the sport.”
“Implementing golf into our physical education curriculum brings exposure to the game and the skills involved that many students might not get to experience otherwise. The First Tee curriculum centers around the game of golf but also brings social and emotional learning into each lesson. Life-long skills and character behaviors are also taught in each lesson such as respect, responsibility, and confidence. We look forward to teaching golf to our Kings Town Elementary students.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Vickie McCorkle, Hickory Grove Sharon Elementary School, York
Project: “Note Reading Can Be Fun.” Introduces students from kindergarten to 6th grade to music.
“Most students look forward to making music in many ways. I plan to offer as many hands-on experiences to my students as possible. After students learn the basics of note reading, it is important that they use a variety of instruments to apply what they have learned. A good foundation in music is so important and helping students to understand ‘why” they are learning this skill is sometimes challenging. In the future, I hope that my students will be able to share what they have learned with our school and community.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Tracy Mitchell, Griggs Road Elementary School, Clover
Project: “Innovative Creativity with Legos.” Project will create a makerspace in the school’s media center.
“In this space, students will learn through inquiry-based play that focuses on literacy and content curriculum. This will provide equal access and opportunities for all students by providing the needed materials for projects inspired through mentor texts. Students are often hesitant to take risks while learning at school because of fear of failure and the possibility of receiving a poor grade. A makerspace area provides students with the opportunity to be risk-takers in their education. A place to think outside the box without fear of failure that results in a negative impact on their grades.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Angela Carpenter, Clover Middle School, Clover
Project: “Blue Eagle School Tools”
“Given the appropriate support, students with significant disabilities will develop academic and social skills related to a work environment. Students will gain the background knowledge and skills to move forward to gainful employment in the community after leaving the school setting.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Molly Byrum, Jefferson Elementary School, York
Project: “Classroom Transformations”
“Transforming classrooms into an engaging environment for students will help students have an enjoyable experience at school with learning that is fun and memorable.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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DeEtte Mann, York Intermediate School, York
Project: “Sensational Science STEAM Stations.” Project will impact more than 350 5th-grade students.
“My goal for this project is to have students gain a deeper understanding of science concepts through hands-on learning opportunities, engage students in fun, interactive activities and inspire students to think creatively. By using these stations as a means of assessment, our goal is to have a higher percentage of students understand and have future interest in the content.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Michelle Hubbard, Clover Middle School, Clover
Project: “Today’s Weather—Live from Clover Middle School.” Students in 6th grade will learn about weather first-hand with an installed weather station at their school.
“Installing a weather station at our middle school, as well as using other hands-on weather tools, will help our students be able to learn across several subject matters including Science, Language Arts and Math. Students will be able to access the information and take readings from our weather station to use to track changes and predict the weather, with a year-end goal to calculate our area’s average climate.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Susan Rodriguez, York One Academy, York
Project: “Coding for Middle School Students”
“The goal of coding for students is to help them to think critically, reason systemically, and work collaboratively. Coding also encourages creativity. The creativity developed allows them to create optimal programs and is a pathway to possessing many other entrepreneurial skills. Even if students do not pursue coding as a career, they will enter their chosen careers with the ability to create efficient processes, solve complex problems logically and work effectively in teams.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
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Rita Woodley, Cotton Belt Elementary School, York
Project: “Bringing Science to Life.” Project will help 3rd-grade students as they learn science and social studies.
“My project goals are for students to have more hands-on experiences with our new science standards. Tying our learning to real-world situations shows the purpose behind learning in school. Lastly, this project will help build social and teamwork skills, and promote independent learning.”
Photo credit: Erin Powell
Highlighting young talent, learning with art
Thinking creatively is an important part of learning communication skills, expression and strategizing for the best outcome. At York Electric, we’re proud to support education and the bright futures of our youngest members. Show us your creativity, best design and brightest colors to help YEC celebrate our community and share the cooperative difference.
Visit yorkelectric.net/learn-with-art or scan the code to learn more about each competition and the prizes. All entries are due by Friday, April 7, 2023.
Lineworkers Gear Up for Safety Coloring Contest for ages 6–7
This will be our 10th year sharing the importance of electrical safety with our youngest members through our coloring contest. Judged by our Lineworkers’ Rodeo Team, the winner receives $50!
Co-op Magnet Design Challenge for ages 11–14
One of the 7 Cooperative Principals is Concern for Community, which is why empowering and improving the communities we serve remains a top of mind at YEC. Illustrate a bumper magnet that showcases this important message for a chance to win $100 and have your design on YEC’s fleet for one year.
Cooperative Principles Art Competition for ages 15–18
Build your resume while helping your co-op showcase the cooperative difference. Using any medium of your choosing, create a work of art that communicates one of the 7 Cooperative Principles and have your work displayed at our main office for an entire year. The winner will be recognized in our magazine and win a $300 cash prize.
Save the date for your 2023 Annual Meeting of Members on Saturday, May 6, 2023. Our team is excited to offer another year of convenient drive-thru registration. We’re even bringing back the hot dogs! Look for more information about our annual meeting in upcoming issues of South Carolina Living, on our website and on our social media channels.
If you are interested in running for YEC’s board of trustees, please review the qualifications and timelines as they are written in our Bylaws:
Bylaw excerpt
Article IV Trustees, Section 4.06 Nominations:
Not less than ninety (90) days prior to the meeting, nominations may be made by twenty-five (25) or more Members of the Cooperative in writing over their signatures on an explicit petition document listing their nominee(s) in like manner. This document must be obtained from the Cooperative no more than one hundred twenty (120) days prior to the Annual Meeting and must be specific to each Trustee District. In addition to the required petition, candidates must attend a Board-developed educational program on Cooperative history, operations and governance not less than sixty (60) days prior to the next Annual Meeting, or have a minimum of three (3) years of service as an electric cooperative Trustee. The educational requirement will be offered at the Cooperative on two (2) specified dates prior to the Annual Meeting. In addition to the other qualifications and requirements set forth herein, no person shall be eligible to be nominated as a Trustee candidate if they were an unsuccessful Trustee nominee for any Trustee District in any of the last three (3) years. In other words, a person may only be nominated as a Trustee candidate once every three (3) years.
The Secretary shall mail to the Members with the notice of the meeting, or separately, but at least thirty (30) days, but not more than forty-five (45) days prior to the date of the meeting, a complete statement of the names and addresses of all nominees for each Trustee District from or with respect to which one (1) or more Trustees must be elected, showing clearly those who have completed the educational requirement and those who have completed a minimum of three (3) years of service as an electric cooperative Trustee. The Secretary shall post in like manner such nominations at the Cooperative offices at least forty-five (45) days prior to the next Annual Meeting.
Statement of Nondiscrimination
In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.
To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at the USDA website and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: 1. mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; 2. fax: (202) 690-7442; or 3. email: . This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
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