Lately there's been a lot of discord on important issues discussed at Socorro Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees meetings that affect people locally. But at their regular meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 27, all 11 trustees came together and threw their unanimous support to a critical need for people who live far from the SEC's service area.

SEC General Manager Polo Pineda informed the board that Richard Lopez, the co-op's engineering and operations manager, has been asked to travel to Haiti to help rebuild a substation damaged during a devastating earthquake earlier this month.

Pineda said the invitation came from the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's International Program, which works to provide access to electricity to people in developing countries.

When Pineda told the board Lopez planned to use vacation time to help in the effort, the board moved swiftly not only to allow him to go, but to let him take the trip on company time.

"I'm excited to go. It's good to contribute," Lopez said in an interview the next day. "I'm grateful to the board for letting me do it."

This won't be the first time Lopez has traveled to that part of the world to lend a hand. He's been to the Dominican Republic, on the same island as Haiti, as part of the international program.

Lopez also went to Honduras and Nicaragua to help restore power after Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Lopez said he's likely be a part of the third group the NRECA is sending to Haiti, which was struck by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12.

The quake is estimated to have killed nearly 200,000 people and there are about 3 million in need of assistance.

Lopez said he'll probably leave at the end of February.

"By the time I get there, the mission will be defined and we'll know where we're going to send the power to," he said.

The board of trustees was unified on several other issues at Wednesday's meeting.

It threw its support behind a New Energy Economic Petition that asks lobbyists to oppose proposed regulations on New Mexico power plants and other entities that produce emissions.

The New Mexico Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Tri-Sate Generation and Transmission Association, both of which the SEC is a part, are named as plaintiffs in litigation opposing the Environmental Improvement Board's rulemaking process.

Pineda said if the regulations would put restrictions on greenhouse gases that would result in "an economic disaster."

The board also approved a resolution to adopt the SEC's four-year plan, which relies on historical data to project future growth.

The Co-op has gone through a growth spurt, according to Pineda, who reported the SEC's assets at the end of 2009 were to $61.4 million — up from $53.9 million a year ago.

"We did grow quite a bit this year," said Pineda, who added the increase came mostly from the completion of the Burris substation in Veguita and an addition to the Socorro substation.

The board discussed possible dates for an information meeting designed to clarify resolutions up for adoption at the annual meeting and the date of the annual meeting.

Though nothing is official, the information meeting is tentatively planned for Saturday, March 27, at Macey Center, and the annual meeting is tentatively set for Saturday, April 17, at Finley Gym.

Trustee Donald Wolberg, who heads the information meeting committee, said he has set up an e-mail account co-op member-owners can use to offer input on what should be discussed at the information meeting. The address is: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The board also set a date for its next meeting, which was moved up one day from the regular schedule to Tuesday, Feb. 9, 7 p.m., at 310 Abeya St.