Top prize winners in the 39th Annual Youth Engineering and Science (YES) Fair were also winners at the Regeneron International Engineering, Science, and Technology Fair in Dallas, Texas, on May 14-15. The winners were pictured on awards night at the local fair, held March 2 at the Rothery Educational Service Center in Sierra Vista. Pictured are (from the left) Amy Martinez, teacher at Buena High School, the Buena High YES Fair Team of Emery Denham, Kevin Tran and Dylan Rubstello, Veritas student Manuel Castillo, Veritas teacher Melissa Bravenec and SSVEC Chief Executive Officer Jason Bowling.
MBC sponsor Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC) serves more than 53,000 member accounts located in a four-county service area in southeast Arizona. SSVEC is an industry leader in providing safe, reliable, and affordable service.
The Cooperative is guided by principles that emphasize voluntary and open membership, concern for the community, democratic member control, and support for education.
It is this support for education that has garnered SSVEC support for MBC’s The Universe Within STEAM program each year. SSVEC youth programs include scholarships, the Washington Youth Tour, and the Youth Engineering and Science (YES) Fair.
As a cooperative, SSVEC members are the owners of the company. Members are entitled to vote and/or serve on the elected Board of Directors. Members also benefit from the financial success of the not-for-profit cooperative. Each year, the SSVEC Board of Directors reviews the financial status of the Cooperative and decides on the capital credits that are returned to the members.
During the past 86 years, SSVEC has paid out more than $33 million in capital credits to its members.
Winners of the 2023 Washington Youth Tour all-expenses-paid trip to the nation’s capital were announced Nov. 16 at a family-student banquet held in Benson and hosted by SSVEC. Those pictured include (standing from the left) SSVEC Chief Executive Officer Jason Bowling, Benjamin Squires and Heart Monger, both of Buena High School; Juliannah Gavin and Brianna Vandeweg, both of Veritas Christian Community School; Kevin Tran of Buena High School, and Dan Barrera, Secretary of the SSVEC Board of Directors. Those seated, from the left, include Sammy Judd, St. David High School; Nathan Miles, Benson High School, Kyle Asato, Tombstone High School, and Ryan Wilde, Buena High School.
SSVEC is also a founding member of the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO), which generates electricity for local members and other cooperatives in Arizona, New Mexico, and California. AEPCO’s Apache Generating Station in the town of Cochise, AZ, is the primary source of electric power for SSVEC and AEPCO’s other members.
Innovation and investment continue to be priorities for SSVEC. In 2023 the Cooperative added another 20-megawatt solar farm, with a battery system, that will provide power to some 3,000 local members. In 2024, SSVEC anticipates increasing its energy portfolio with the addition of more solar power, increasing its overall energy mix to more than 35 percent from renewable resources.