Brazos River Transmission Electric Cooperative

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Back in February of 1941, eleven small electric cooperatives got together and decided to do something that had never been done before in the state of Texas. They organized what would become the first generation and transmission electric cooperative in Texas history.

Eleven cooperatives, all of them established under the rural electrification administration, sitting down together and saying, we can do better than this. Better for our members. More affordable wholesale power costs, improved service, the whole picture.

Now that's a bold thing to build from scratch, and they built it. They called it the Brazos River Transmission Electric Cooperative, and they set up their first offices in Fort Worth. Fort Worth was home for a while, but by 1945 the headquarters had moved to Waco, right here in McLennan County.

And from Waco, the reach of this cooperative grew, stretching out across a large area of central and North Texas, bringing power to places that needed it. Eleven cooperatives with a common cause, and what they started in February of 1941 ended up lighting up a whole lot of Texas.

What the marker says

The first generation and transmission electric cooperative in Texas, this corporation was organized in February 1941 by eleven small electric cooperatives which had been established under the rural electrification administration. With a goal of providing affordable wholesale power costs and improved service to its members, the cooperative first established offices in Fort Worth. In 1945 the headquarters were moved to Waco, and service eventually was extended to a large area of central and North Texas.