Bentke, Kelton, Smallwood Join TEC Board

The 55 voting delegates in attendance at the 84th TEC Annual Meeting, held in San Antonio in August, elected Matt Bentke, general manager and CEO of Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, representing Group 6; Kerry Kelton, general manager of MidSouth Electric Cooperative, Group 2; and Cameron Smallwood, general manager and CEO of United Cooperative Services, Group 3, to three-year terms on the statewide association’s board of directors.

The new board confirmed Avan Irani, CEO of Nueces Electric Cooperative, as its new chair. He replaces Neil Hesse, general manager of PenTex Energy, whose term ended at the meeting.

2024–25 TEC Board of Directors
Chair: Avan Irani, Nueces EC, Group 7
Vice chair: Bryan Wood, Deep East Texas EC, Group 1
Secretary-treasurer: Cameron Smallwood, United Cooperative Services, Group 3
Dale Ancell, South Plains EC, Group 5
Matt Bentke, Bluebonnet EC, Group 6
Kerry Kelton, MidSouth EC, Group 2
Mark McClain, Big Country EC, Group 4

In his report to the membership, Hesse thanked his wife and co-op colleagues as well as TEC and the association’s staff.

“The cordialness, the hospitality that you all provided these last three years was second to none,” he said. “I’m proud to have served as chair for the past year. I have learned a great deal on the ins and outs of TEC, and it has been a great thing for me these last three years.”

He shared updates about the association, its growth and changes during his tenure.

“TEC is always looking for ways to improve every aspect of its business,” he said.

Hesse encouraged co-op leaders to lean into their role as trusted energy advisers in light of the profusion of solar power installers and solar misinformation.

“How can our cooperatives build up trust with our members when there is so much distrust in the world? We must be strong on the facts,” he said. “One particular way that we have helped our members is by analyzing the potential solar installs to determine if it is a benefit to the member or not.”

Finally, he spurred his colleagues to remain engaged with their local political leaders to ensure personal connections and trust in their local co-ops—and an open door.

“I know that for all of you in this room, that’s an important part of our work,” he said. “We have to get to know them personally and visit them often. Because we do have the best story to tell.”