Although it is several months until Pee Dee Electric’s Annual Meeting, scheduled for Oct. 3, the election process for the cooperative’s Board of Directors is rather involved and must start early.

Our cooperative has 10 board directors who are elected by the membership for three-year terms. Director terms are staggered, so approximately one-third of the board is elected each year. In accordance with Section 5.05 of the cooperative’s bylaws, a 10-member nominating committee is appointed to nominate members and post the results at the cooperative’s headquarters, located at 9825 U.S. Highway 74 East, Lilesville, NC.

This year, the committee will nominate members to stand for election to the cooperative’s Board of Directors from District No. 3, District No. 5, and District No. 6. These districts are described as follows:

• District #3: Composed of Gulledge and Morven Townships and the portion of Wadesboro Township south of U.S. Hwy. 74 west of Wadesboro and west of U.S. Hwy. 52 south of Wadesboro in Anson County.
• District #5: Composed of that part of Richmond County north of U.S. Hwy. 74 west of Rockingham and west of U.S. Hwy. 220 north of Rockingham to Norman, then with the cooperative’s service area north of N.C. Hwy. 73 north of Norman in Richmond, Montgomery, and Moore Counties.
• District #6: Composed of the Cooperative’s service area east of U.S. Hwy. 220 north of Rockingham to Norman, the Cooperative’s service area south of N.C. Hwy. 73, beginning at Norman, in Richmond, Montgomery, and Moore Counties, the Cooperative’s service area north of U.S. Hwy. 74 Business from Rockingham to N.C. Hwy. 177 at Hamlet, and the Cooperative’s service area west of N.C. Hwy. 177 north of Hamlet.

There are no at-large director positions expiring with this Annual Meeting.

Section 5.05 of the cooperative’s bylaws also describes how director candidates may be nominated by petition. The petition must be signed by 50 or more members and received in the Lilesville corporate office no later than July 25. This allows time to verify membership of the petition signees, nominees meet bylaw qualifications, the person so nominated is interested in serving, and to include the names of all director candidates on the Annual Meeting Official Notice. It is recommended that potential director candidates contact the cooperative for additional guidance on petition requirements.

Keep in mind that the cooperative’s bylaws do not allow write-in candidates or floor nominees to be elected to the Board during the Annual Meeting of Members. Section 5.02 of the bylaws outlines the qualifications to serve on Pee Dee Electric’s Board of Directors.

Listed below are some of those qualifications:

• Be a natural person (not a private or public organization)
• Have the capacity to enter legally binding contracts
• Reside at their primary residential abode at least 180 days preceding the director election and live within the boundaries of the applicable Director District
• During the twenty-five (25) years immediately prior to becoming a director, the director or director candidate cannot have been convicted of a felony or pled guilty to a felony
• Cannot be employed by a competing enterprise
• Must be current in all respects regarding payment to the cooperative and not subject to disconnection for non-payment of electric service at their primary residence
• Cannot be a close relative of a Pee Dee Electric Director or employee