South Carolina power co-op gets new board after revolt

ST. MATTHEWS, S.C. (AP) – A rural South Carolina electric company which threw out its entire board because of high salaries and other problems now has nine new members.

The new Tri-County Electric Cooperative board was sworn in at a 6 p.m. Thursday meeting in St. Matthews. That was also a change. The old board held meetings at 12:30 p.m. on Thursdays.

Customers of the co-op voted out the old board in August after a series of articles in The State newspaper showed part-time board members making $52,000 a year, giving them health insurance and rigging elections.

New board chairwoman Barbara Weston told the newspaper she plans to give everything back to the customers who demanded change.

Tri-County serves almost 14,000 customers in Calhoun, Orangeburg, Richland, Lexington, Kershaw and Sumter counties.