Expanded Alliance With TEC Includes Total Supply Chain Management Services
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Electric Cooperatives (TEC) leadership has announced an expanded sole source alliance with Rio Grande Electric Cooperative (RGEC). RGEC has the largest service territory of any electric cooperative in the contiguous United States, serving 20 total counties in Texas and New Mexico. This massive area, serviced by TEC, is over 35,000 square miles and almost as large as the state of Indiana.
RGEC's sole source alliance with TEC has expanded to include total supply chain management. TEC has set up full warehouse operations in each RGEC owned facility and will handle all supply chain functions including aggregated procurement, material management, order pulling and staging, kitting jobs, job-site delivery, and 24/7 emergency support. In addition, RGEC warehouse inventory will be replenished from TEC's Master Distribution Hub in Georgetown, Texas.
"This expanded alliance will greatly reduce RGEC's operational cost associated with managing inventory and logistics," said Johnny Andrews, chief operating officer of TEC Manufacturing & Distribution Services.
In this expanded alliance, RGEC will benefit from TEC's aggregation of the electric cooperatives members in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. TEC members buy an estimated $800 million worth of utility products every year, giving TEC a unique negotiating ability.
"Rio Grande Electric Co-op has always welcomed the challenges of delivering power to our members in some of the most remote and sparsely populated areas with the roughest of terrain," said CEO Theresa Quiroz. "Through mitigating some of the risks associated with today's supply chain uncertainties, our partnership with TEC helps us further strengthen our service to those who depend on us."
TEC's aggregated buying power lets co-ops benefit by purchasing from a single point of contact, which streamlines their procurement process and saves them time and money. "Offering total supply chain services gives TEC the ability to help cooperatives plan and manage their inventory," said Johnny Andrews, "and also the uncertainty associated with long lead times and inventory challenges in today's world."
About Texas Electric Cooperatives, Inc.: Serving members since 1941, Texas Electric Cooperatives represents the interests of the electric cooperatives serving more than three million people throughout the state. TEC provides products and services that help sustain public power businesses in the 21st century, and offers a full line of utility supplies and services through its Manufacturing & Distribution Services facility headquartered in Georgetown. For more information, visit www.texas-ec.org/about.
About Rio Grande Electric Cooperative: Organized in 1945, RGEC delivers power to residents of the Western Texas-Mexico border region and beyond. Today, it serves the counties of Brewster, Crockett, Culberson, Dimmit, Edwards, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Kinney, Maverick, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, Terrell, Uvalde, Val Verde, Webb and Zavala in Texas, and Eddy and Otero Counties in New Mexico, covering a total of about 35,000 square miles. It delivers power to 14,309 meters over 10,022 miles of energized line. RGEC also maintains the electrical distribution systems for Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, and Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, Texas. For more information, visit: www.riogrande.coop.
SOURCE Texas Electric Cooperatives
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