As seen in the artist rendition, South Texas Electric Cooperative,STEC, is proposing to build a new district office in Pearsall, Texas. This new office will be located adjacent to the existing power plantand house transmission and technical employees. Construction on this new facility may begin late 2008 or early 2009.

STEC serves whole sale electric power to 8 distribution cooperatives: Karnes, Jackson, Medina, Magic Valley, Nueces, San Patricio, Victoria,& Wharton County Electric Cooperatives. STEC’s headquarters are located in Nursery Texas at the Sam Rayburn generating plant. STEC currently has over 180 employees with 22 of these based at the Pearsall generation facility.permitting, and construction management activities.

The Pearsall district office will house the STEC western line crew, communications technicians and relay Technicians. Fourteen new jobs will be created to provide support to the STEC service area. Several light trucks and a bucket truck will be housed at the Pearsall location.

The administration building will be approximately 12,000 sq ft. An environmentally sensitive design will incorporate the following features. A community room may be available to non-profit community organizations. The building design features include:

• Design textures, shapes and colors similar to those used in the existing Pearsall Power Plant building.
• Northern light will be captured making it available for harvesting for use inside the offices. Light will also travel from the exterior walls through the offices into the corridors.
• The shortest side of the building will face the west sun. There are no windows on the west side.
• Southern breezes will be used to cool the long side of the building.
• The prevailing winds will cool the truck bays as they travel through open doors on each side of the building.
• The color of the roof and wall surfaces to reflect heat away from the building.
• The use of an external rain screen siding is made from 85% rapidly renewable products.
• Tinted windows will absorb just the right quality of light, making for a more productive office environment.
• The use of insulated windows that restrict heat gain.
• Concrete will be made from a high percent of fly ash, a by-product of coal combustion.
• Studs will use recycled metal studs.
• Recycled rubber flooring and recycled throughout the building.
• A bamboo wall finish, a rapidly renewable (ten years or less) product.
• Paper composite countertops.
• The use of low-VOC paints.
• The use of (natural) rubber base.
• The use of suspended ceiling panels, which are made from new growth forests (25-30 years) and binders made from seawater elements and silica.
• High efficiency Energy Star appliances.
• A geothermal heat pump system will use deep bore holes in the earth to dispense mechanical system heat.
• Dual switches for room light fixtures will control high-efficiency lights and automatically turn them off when not in use.
• Low light-level exterior fixtures that will not contribute to light pollution.
• Curb and gutter systems will be eliminated to allow for areas adjacent to the parking lots to accept water runoff more efficiently.
• The abundance of pervious cover surrounding to the building that will minimize the impact of parking lot runoff.
• Natural landscaping (primarily grasses) will be used that will not rely on artificial watering.
• Space for recycling office paper, plastic, glass and aluminum cans will be provided.