Beauregard Electric Co-op receives Statewide Safety Award

DeRidder— Beauregard Electric Cooperative (BECi) was recognized at the 54^th annual meeting of the Association of Louisiana Electric Cooperatives (ALEC) in Baton Rouge July 27-29 when it was presented the Electric Cooperative Statewide Safety Trophy for having the best overall safety record among electric Co-ops in Louisiana. BECi posted over 692,036 man-hours without a lost time accident since December 2005. In the past 10 years, BECi has received the statewide award seven times.

The safety trophy is presented annually for best year-to-year Co-op performance. The statewide award continues a strong safety tradition at BECi. In 2004, the electric cooperative achieved an unprecedented record for safety by logging two million consecutive employee-hours without a lost-time accident, something no other cooperative in the nation had achieved.

Safety is one of the most important avenues of service for the employees and the general public. BECi maintains a very comprehensive safety program through educational programs and has become a model for other utility companies statewide.

BECi General Manager William Schmidt and Job Training, Security and Safety Manager Eddie Ware were joined by cooperative directors Terry Backhaus, Donald Bush, J. R. Hickman, L. W. Peto Sellers and Teddy Welch to accept the award from ALEC Director of Loss Control Mike Bergeaux.

Also taking part in the award ceremony were BECi Vice President of Operations & Construction Services Kevin Turner, Vice President of Marketing & Member Services Kay Fox, IT Systems Administrator and Safety Committee Chairman Mike Luttrell, and Executive Assistant and Safety Committee Member Darlene Collins.

Schmidt praised the leadership of BECi board of directors and the efforts of all the Co-op employees in winning the statewide award. Also serving on the BECi consumer-elected board of directors but unable to attend the event were Dale Peterson, Ray A. Hauser, Alan Dane Slaydon and Douglas W. Sonnier.

BECi’s 121 employees operating out of offices in DeRidder, New Llano and Moss Bluff also reported driving 1,478,131 miles from June 2007 to May 2008 without a vehicle accident.

DeRidder-based BECi serves more than 38,000 members along 5,593 miles of power line in Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Evangeline, Jeff Davis, Rapides and Vernon parishes. It operates branch offices in New Llano and Moss Bluff.

Photo Identification: BECi Safety Committee members from left to right: Joey Keel, Terry Cheever, Kenny Boycher, Tim Burton, Darlene Collins, Phillip Clausen, Job Training, Security and Safety Manager Eddie Ware, Dean Jones, Frank Williams, Jeff Gill, Rhonda Power, Safety Chairman Mike Luttrell, Pam Sturgeon, Freddy Campbell and BECi General Manager William Schmidt.