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Withlacoochee Cooperative Moves Office

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By CARL ORTH, The Suncoast News

Published: November 2, 2007

SHADY HILLS - Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative has completed its move to its Bayonet Point District Office near the Suncoast Parkway.

The Dade City-based, member-owned cooperative had an office at 6840 State Road 52 in Hudson, just west of U.S. 19, since 1969.

The new district office at 12013 Hays Road still bears the Bayonet Point name but now has a Shady Hills address. The new location is just north of S.R. 52, west of the parkway and east of Moon Lake Road.

The new office officially opened Oct. 15, said David Lambert, a co-op spokesman, and member feedback has been "very good."

One member-consumer, however, complained he was left in the dark about the relocation because it was poorly publicized.

Jack Seitz said he informally polled about 50 neighbors and other cooperative members who almost uniformly thought the relatively remote new office is inconvenient.

No signs were posted about the utility moving its payment center and drop-off box, Seitz said.

"I like to get a stamped copy" as a receipt for payment, he explained. That's why he drives to the office to pay in person.

He doesn't like to mail his payment because he has been stuck with late fees in the past, Seitz said.

He lives within five minutes of the Hudson location and now has an 18-mile round trip to the Hays Road office.
Seitz suggested a payment station at a drugstore at S.R. 52 and U.S. 19 near the old office.

Withlacoochee, however, does not set up a network of payment stations in stores like Progress Energy does, Lambert said.

"Local pay stations, they charge a fee," he said. "That's why we don't use pay stations."

Other options include paying online with a charge card or having the money automatically deducted from a checking account each month, Lambert said.

Withlacoochee decided to move the district office because the cooperative had outgrown the old site, he said.

The Hays Road site offers 30,000 square feet for offices, a warehouse and mechanics shop. In comparison, the S.R. 52 site had about 19,500 square feet of space.

Traffic problems and the proximity to the coast during tropical weather were other factors for pulling up stakes.

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