Electric Cooperatives Award $3.2M in Scholarships

It pays to read your electric bill closely. After Jenny Nguyen’s father noticed a scholarship opportunity in their United Cooperative Services bill, he urged his daughter to apply. The valedictorian of Venus High School’s class of 2025 nearly missed the deadline.

“I procrastinate a lot, but it does get done,” she told United.

And thank God. Now Nguyen has an extra $10,000 to put toward her education thanks to her family’s electric cooperative. She plans to study civil engineering at the University of Texas, with an eye toward law school and patent work.

Nguyen is among more than 1,400 students statewide who earned scholarships from electric cooperatives for the 2025–26 school year, according to data collected by TEC. The awards total nearly $3.2 million—a likely record for Texas’ electric co-ops. Those numbers include scholarships awarded by distribution and generation and transmission cooperatives, as well as TEC’s Loss Control program.

“We’re deeply committed to the communities we serve,” said Cameron Smallwood, CEO and general manager of United, which supported 16 students this year. “Our scholarship program is one of the most impactful ways we can invest in the future. We’re proud to support these exceptional students as they take the next step toward achieving their dreams.”

A 1997 law first allowed electric co-ops to use unclaimed capital credits for scholarships and economic development. TEC’s Loss Control scholarships are funded solely by fundraisers at the TEC Loss Control Conference, and G&Ts fund awards through various means. For example, South Texas Electric Cooperative’s 10 scholarships for this year were funded by employee donations.

“Capital credits belong to our members, past and present, and are one of the biggest advantages to belonging to an electric cooperative,” said Ken Turner, director of finance with CoServ, which helped seven students this year.

Since TEC began collecting scholarship data four years ago, total scholarship funding has nearly doubled, thanks in large part to House Bill 4246, passed in 2023, which raised the amount of unclaimed capital credits that co-ops could retain and use for scholarships, to 50%.

Nueces Electric Cooperative and Central Texas Electric Cooperative were among several co-ops that took advantage of the new law, upping their student awards, with CTEC awarding four times more and NEC awarding three times more this year—a record for the co-op.

“This milestone represents more than just a financial contribution, it reflects our heart,” NEC wrote in a release. “We believe in taking care of our members and uplifting the next generation. We are youth-centered, community-driven and fully invested in empowering tomorrow’s changemakers.”