**** IMPORTANT: Any payments received after 1:00 pm will be posted the following day. ****
All bank draft payments and re-curring credit card payments will be processed on the 10th of each month, depending on what day of the week the 10th falls on.
WCEC has recently upgraded its online bill-pay and pay-by-phone automated systems. The URL to pay online is https://ebill.wcecnet.net/css/ and Phone Number is 979-543-5394.
In order to access the Online bill-pay, please visit: https://ebill.wcecnet.net/css/ or by going to http://ebill.wcecnet.net to securely pay your bill online. If it is your first time to pay your bill online with the NEW WCEC online bill-pay system, you will need to create a new account. You can do so by clicking the following link: Register Here! . Once you have successfully registered, you can then login to your account to pay your bill, view your previous balances, view your capital credit history, and view your previous service requests.
Click the Read More link below for instructions on accessing the new system.
WCEC will be hosting another blood drive at the Wharton County Electric Cooperative, Inc.'s headquarters parking lot on May 21, 2008. Not only are you helping those who are in need, but it may be for your own benefit.
"The mission of the South Texas Blood & Tissue Center is to collect blood and tissue from volunteer donors and to provide the community with the highest quality health care at the lowest possible cost." http://www.bloodntissue.org
Information on the benefits of donating:
* Type O negative blood is called the "universal blood type" because it can be transfused to people of all blood types. Type O positive can be given to anyone with a positive Rh factor.
* People do not donate enough blood to keep up with the needs of patients.
* If half the people who donate one time a year were to donate a second time, there would be no shortages of blood.
* Many people consider it a right to receive blood when needed, but don't often consider the responsibility of giving blood to maintain the community supply for others.
WCEC would like to announce that Wireless Broadband is now available in the El Campo, Taiton, Hillje and Danevang areas. If you live within 5-7 miles of any of the above areas, please contact WCEC in order to have a site survey performed to see if you are eligible to receive the Wirehand Wireless Broadband Internet Service.
Contact WCEC for any questions you may have at 979-543-6271.
The WCEC headquarters has recently been annexed into the City limits of El Campo. We are now required to charge city tax on all services and products, other than electricity, sold to our members and non-members. The tax increase will be shown as an additional 1.5% on your statement if you are currently an Internet customer of Wirehand Wireless or Wildblue Satellite Internet.
"(1) For local sales tax purposes, city, county, transit authority, and/or special purpose district sales taxes are due if the Internet access service provider has only one place of business (the location from which the provider accepts orders for Internet service) within the boundaries of a local taxing entity. Local sales tax must be collected based upon the tax rate at that location, except that no transit authority sales tax is due on services provided to a location outside the boundaries of the transit area. In the case of multiple locations, if an order for Internet service is taken at one location but the service is provided from another location from which customers may order service, the place of business from which the service is provided will determine to which local taxing entity the tax is allocated."
In Texas, House Bill 1699 and House Bill 2391 requires you to call in before you dig. The Texas One-Call law requires anyone (with a few exceptions such as cemeteries) to call at least 2 working days (48 hours excluding weekends and holidays) before you dig if you are planning on digging 16 inches or deeper using mechanical equipment. http://www.onecalltexas.com/faq.html
Please visit http://www.onecalltexas.com/ for a full explanation of how the One Call system is designed to work as well as important phone numbers and miscellaneous information.
FROM THE MANAGER’S DESK… January 2008
As we begin a new year, your electric cooperative, and the electric utility industry in general, faces many challenges. The most immediate challenge is trying to control the rapidly rising cost of all material, energy, fuel and services required to delivery electric service to you. WCEC will increase rates 5% in 2008. WCEC has held its rates to only a 1% increase in over 10 years but now needs to increase revenue to offset rising costs.
From the Manager\'s Desk - December 2007
The Most Joyous Time of the Year is Here!
On behalf of the Board of Directors and Employees of Wharton County Electric Cooperative, I want to wish all of our members a very Merry and Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. This is the time of the year when we wrap up our business and begin thinking about friends and family and preparations to celebrate one of the Highest Holy days of the year.
Many people believe that the earth is warming abnormally due to carbon dioxide produced when fossil fuels are burned in cars, planes, trucks, heaters and power plants. There is indeed evidence that the earth is warming but it is only opinion that it is caused by man’s activity. The opinion is becoming so emotional that it has become political… science and reason seem to be going out the window.
Rural Texas is losing political clout in the state and federal legislatures. It is a sad reality that urban areas now dominate the elections of state and federal representatives leaving rural and agricultural interest out in the cold.
Wirehand Wireless along with WildBlue Satellite Internet gives WCEC the ability to offer several high speed packages of internet access.
At a strategic planning session of directors and management staff last summer, one of the strategies for success of the future of Wharton County Electric Cooperative was to have broad band high speed internet service available in rural areas.
HURRICANE PLANNING
The full-fledged hurricane season will be on us again in the next few weeks. Now is the time to plan. WCEC personnel have been conducting serious hurricane planning based on the damage and experience of east Texas electric cooperatives and the coops in the Louisiana area. We have learned much from sending employees to help in those areas and by making on-site visits after the hurricane restoration to better prepare WCEC for such an eventuality. Experts say that weather trends indicate a period the next few years of higher than normal hurricane activity.
Connections.coop
Click above to see details on local and national discounts.
Tips of the day
*When doing laundry, wash and dry full loads. Cutting down on the amount of times the unit runs will reduce your energy bill tremendously.
Energy Conservation
Click below to find out how to lower your electric bill.
About WCEC 
In Texas, House Bill 1699 and House Bill 2391 requires you to call in before you dig. The Texas One-Call law requires anyone (with a few exceptions such as cemeteries) to call at least 2 working days (48 hours excluding weekends and holidays) before you dig if you are planning on digging 16 inches or deeper using mechanical equipment. 
