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Tracy Warren
Phone: 703-907-5746
Mobile: 703-517-3411

D. Vernon Dalton receives Clyde T. Ellis award from NRECA president F.E. “Wally” Wolski. Photo Credit: Michael Lynch

Atlanta, Georgia, February 16, 2010 -- The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association today awards the prestigious Clyde T. Ellis Award to D. Vernon Dalton, president of Wells Rural Electric Company (WREC) in Nevada, for a lifetime of service and dedication.

D. Vernon Dalton, a rancher in Clover Valley, NV, has served Wells Rural Electric Company since 1957, when he was a driving force behind the effort to bring central station power to Wells and the surrounding area. The co-op has grown from a half a megawatt to a peak of over 100 MW with 92.9 percent of the load serving commercial and industrial members.

“Vernon Dalton’s accomplishments offer a lesson in how dedication to the cooperative approach can bring tremendous, far-reaching benefits to a community,” said F.E. “Wally” Wolski, president of the NRECA Board of Directors. “The cooperative community is grateful for his faithful service.”

Dalton fostered the growth of not only WREC but of the cooperative program in Nevada, pushing for the necessary change in state law to allow cooperatives and spearheading the creation of the Nevada statewide association. He faithfully represented Nevada on NRECA’s Board of Directors for 23 years.

Working for legislative change in Nevada taught Dalton the importance of political support to the well-being of the cooperative program, and in 1992 Dalton was instrumental in the formation of Rural Electric Advocates of Nevada, the political action committee that distributes ACRE funds to candidates in Nevada.

Dalton understands the importance of the cooperative program to economic development and the community’s well-being. In 1993, Dalton helped form the Nevada Cooperative Credit Union, securing the necessary large deposits and serving as its first president. He also created the Next Dollar Foundation, which provides scholarship funds and money for capital projects.

In addition to serving as a director and president of Wells REC, Dalton served on the boards of the following organizations: NRECA, the Consumer Federation of America, Ruralite, the Nevada Rural Electric Association, the Greater Nevada Credit Union, the Nevada Cooperative Credit Union (president), the Next Dollar Foundation (president) and the Nevada State Cattle Association (president).

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the national service organization that represents the nation’s more than 900 private, not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide service to 42 million people in 47 states.

More than 9,000 representatives from cooperative electric utilities across the nation are attending the NRECA Annual Meeting, February 15-18, at the Atlanta Convention Center, during which they will set NRECA’s legislative and organizational agenda for 2009. In addition to considering and acting upon policy resolutions, delegates receive reports from NRECA officials, hear addresses by key public figures and business experts, and attend panel sessions on major issues affecting electric cooperatives and their consumer owners.

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