Meet Henry Prescott

Candidate for Board of Directors, West Florida Electric Co-Op Country Grocery Store Owner, active in community affairs, rancher and farmer, church member, Mason, Gideon International member, and WFEC Board Member since 1980.

"I appreciate you stopping by. Come back to see me any time". That is the warm greeting and cordial farewell that you will get from long time northern Holmes County resident and West Florida Electric board trustee Henry Prescott. "Mr. Henry" as he is affectionately called by the locals of the Pine Log community on Highway 81, has lived in this rural area for over 80 years and is now running for re-election to the cooperatives’ board for another term.
Prescott and his late wife Rochelle reared five children including Joan, Becky, Scotty, Christine, and Jerry who is deceased. Mr. Henry has five grandchildren to boast about, especially when it comes to ball games. In addition to fishing, which he truly loves to do, Prescott likes to attend his grandchildren’s baseball games and brag on their performances just as much as he brags about his fishing. That is a true grandparent in every sense of the word.
Prescott has had a long and varied work history. He owned and operated a large grocery store in the Pine Log community for over 50 years. During this same time he also owned and managed a cattle ranch and timber farming operation in the same area. Prescott has and continues to be very active in county and community affairs. He is a former member of the Holmes County Planning Commission and FHA Board. He is an active member of the New Hope Masonic Lodge, Shriners, Gideons International, and the Pine Log Volunteer Fire Department.
Mr. Henry continues to serve on the cooperatives board of trustees, having worked on it since 1980. During his tenure on the cooperatives’ board Prescott has played a key role in major accomplishments of this body which have benefited and continue to benefit the member owners. Some of these accomplishments include the passage of the mail ballot proposal, approval to install and implement the prepaid metering system, approval and implementation of the automated meter reading upgrade, approval of the gas to energy electricity production process in partnership with Waste Management Corporation and approval of the Graceville Industrial Park land sale for the construction of the Graceville Prison and Work Camp.
Prescott currently serves on the boards’ Member Services and Finance and Administration committees. He has over 29 years of experience and dedicated service to the cooperatives’ member owners in Calhoun, Holmes, Jackson, and Washington Counties. As for the future of the electric utility industry and specifically West Florida Electric, Prescott sees it as a huge challenge ahead. He explained that the rising cost of fossil type fuels such as coal and crude oil is putting a strain on an already cost sensitive industry due in part to the national and global financial crisis. The rising cost of these fuels along with natural gas must be passed along from the generation and transmission facilities that use these fuels to help produce electricity to the distribution utilities like West Florida Electric.
However, Prescott is optimistic that through hard work, dedication, team spirit, and education of the consumer, that this and other challenges that loom ahead, can be met and overcome. It is ironic that the characteristics that exemplify Henry Prescott and define his life are the very same traits that will help West Florida Electric and the rural electric utility industry as a whole meet the challenges that lie ahead. Mr. Prescott concluded by saying that, "I hope that the member owners will see fit to allow me the honor and privilege of serving them for three more years."