Pedernales Electric Cooperative. The name used to be synonymous with closed-door meetings and conjured up images of a good ol’ boys club and the smoke-filled room, where the public was shut out of the decision-making process.

Today Pedernales Electric Co-op (PEC) board members voted for a proposed strategic meeting in October to be open. They had originally proposed the meeting be closed, as electric cooperatives, like some other public utilities and agencies, have an exception co-under the Public Information Act,exempting “personnel, real estate, legal and competitive matters.”

Enter Ross Fischer, District 5′s newly-elected representative on the PEC board, who raised concerns about holding closed meetings, saying “The outcome is going to be meaningless because the stakeholders aren’t going to be a part of it”.