UCEMC - Local People - Local Power

Keep up with what’s happening at your cooperative here. Photos and information, tidbits and facts – everything from UCEMC Member Appreciation Day to the Annual Meeting is featured on this page. Want us to post photos of your event? Send them to us along with a few words on how your event empowers the community.

In Memory of ROBERT D. WOODARD and L.C. GRISHAM

Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation’s Board of Directors and General Manager recently passed resolutions honoring two beloved employees who offered many years of service and dedication to the cooperative and to the community. UCEMC presented the families of our former colleagues with the signed, matted, and framed resolutions as a token of our esteem and appreciation.

Mrs Carol Woodard with UCEMC General Manager Jimmy Gregory Mrs. Carol Woodard is presented with the resolution honoring her late husband, Robert Woodward, by UCEMC General Manager Jimmy Gregory.

Robert Woodard began employment at UCEMC in 1963 and served in various roles – including General Manager and Assistant GM until his retirement in 2006. After retirement, Mr. Woodard served on the Board of Directors and was President of the board at the time of his death on December 7, 2013. Mr. Woodard is survived by his wife, Carol, daughter Susan Woodard Marvin and son, Robert Harrison Woodard.

Faye Grisham Cosby receives the resolution honoring her late father, L.C. Grisham.

Tim Aldridge is presented with the resolution honoring his late father-in-law, L.C. Grisham.

L.C. Grisham’s grandson, Taylor Aldridge, proudly receives the resolution honoring his late grandfather’s legacy from UCEMC General Manager Jimmy Gregory.

L.C. Grisham was a community-minded servant. In addition to his employment at UCEMC for 51 years and serving as District Manager of the Carthage District Office, L.C. was a longtime Carthage Town Councilman, was elected Vice Mayor and was a member of the Carthage Fire Department. Mr. Grisham is survived by two daughters, Faye Grisham Cosby and Minnie Grisham Aldridge and husband Tim; and a grandson, Taylor Aldridge.

Mr. Woodard, Mr. Grisham, and Mr. Scott are truly missed by the Board of Directors Management and Employees of Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation. We express our feelings of sadness at their passing and convey our sentiments regarding these fine gentlemen to their families.

In Memory of BILLY SCOTT

Billy and Patsy’s son, Gregory Scott, stopped by the UCEMC district office to receive the resolution in honor of his late father.

Billy R. Scott was elected to the UCEMC Board of Directors on September 8, 2007 and served as Chairman of the Insurance Committee until his death on December 16, 2012. Mr. Scott was born in Jackson County and was a lifelong fan of all Blue Devil sports, especially basketball.

He served as Jackson County Trustee from 1974 to 1986. He was known as a “people person” and was always ready to welcome new friends. He was married to Patsy Smith Scott, who passed away November 11, 2017.

Record Crowd At 2018 UCEMC Annual Meeting

Carthage, TN. Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation (UCEMC) held its 80th annual membership meeting at the Smith County Agricultural Center in South Carthage on Saturday, September 8, with 400 registered members in the crowd of more than 550 in attendance. Registered members voted and approved four amendments to the cooperative by laws:

80th Annual General Meeting at UCEMC - Amendment to Article I, Membership, Section 1.09 Easements - adds language to include fiber and telecommunications into existing electric easements.

- Amendment to Article IV, Directors, Section 4.02 Qualifications – adds language to include a three year separation required before any person previously employed with the Cooperative could qualify to become a Director.

- Amendment to Article IV, Directors, Section 4.21 “Close Relative” defined – adds language to clearly define “Close Relative” relative to “immediate family” and “immediate in laws” and would match the language contained in the cooperative’s Board Policy on nepotism.

- Amendment to Article IV, Directors, Section 4.17 Compensation, Expenses, and Temporary Services – adds language to include a three year separation required before any Director could qualify to become an applicant for an Employee position at the Cooperative.

80th Annual General Meeting - UCEMC Two unopposed incumbent directors were re-elected to three-year terms: Mike Scudder was re-elected to represent District 1 (DeKalb, Macon, Smith, and Wilson counties),Glenn Honeycutt was re-elected to represent District 3 (Clay, Fentress, Overton, and Pickett counties). Rony Myers, who was opposed in the election by Tony Kennedy, was elected to represent District 2 (Putnam and White counties). Joe Mullins, who represented District 2 for 18 years, chose not to seek re-election. Board officers were named in a reorganizational session following the meeting. Morris Tyree was re-elected President of the UCEMC Board of Directors. Other officers include Glenn Honeycutt, Vice President; Alan Pippin, Secretary/Treasurer; and Jim Brown, Assistant Secretary/Treasurer.

UCEMC General Manager Jimmy Gregory shared that due to fewer significant storms and other weather-related outages during fiscal year 2018, outage time per co-op member dropped to less than 93 minutes per consumer; below the national average of 96 minutes. Gregory explained that UCEMC is currently 70% complete with the second Fiber Optic Project, installing approximately 12 miles of Fiber Optic Cable between the North Carthage Substation and the Dixon Springs area where plans are to connect to Tri-County Electric Membership Cooperative. This project is part of an extensive plan to interconnect with LPCs in the Middle Tennessee area.

80th Annual General Meeting - UCEMC The fiber will be used for system improvements, internal communications, and security measures. The Fiber Network will eventually allow UCEMC to deploy “Smart Grid” devices throughout essential areas of our system which will greatly enhance service reliability in all areas. “The employees, Board of Directors and management of UCEMC are working hard to improve the quality of electric service we provide by upgrading our external and internal operating systems to meet the challenges facing our industry,” Gregory said. Gregory presented the UCEMC financial report for the members, citing that Operating and Maintenance Costs continue to outpace revenues.