Hours of Operation:

Monday-Friday

7:00 am to 3:30 pm

Last March, we started featuring each of the employees at            
NORA Electric Cooperative outlining and explaining what their
role is and how the duties and unique skill sets of each one
contributes to the success of the cooperative. This month, our
series comes to a close as we introduce you to the leader of this
cohesive team, Executive Vice President and General Manager
Anthony Mercure.
Nearly twenty-seven years ago, Anthony Mercure began his journey
at NORA working his way up from an entry level position to eventually
filling the role that oversees the operations of the entire cooperative.
In June 1998, Anthony was hired as a meter reader, a field position
he held for six years. The experience gained here allowed him to become
familiar with the needs of the vast service area. As is expected from all
meter readers, he also assisted the line crew responding to outages and
other projects. Then, he was promoted to Accounting Clerk in 2004,
working in the office reconciling various reports and transactions.
In 2008, Mercure was promoted to Director of Consumer Services. Again, gaining valuable
experience in operations where he supervised the meter reading crew, consumer billing, and the Time
of Use program among other duties.
In August 2019, Anthony stepped up to the task of filling in as the interim General Manager
when the position was unexpectedly vacated by his predecessor, Abran H. Romero. In the following
months, Mercure fulfilled a dual role as the interim GM and his expected duties as Director of
Consumer Services.

Then, on April 28, 2020, after an extensive search and careful consideration, NORA’s Board of
Trustees selected Anthony Mercure to permanently fill the role of Executive Vice President and
General Manager. Mercure’s ability to lead the cooperative during several months of uncertainty and
maintain normal daily operations along with his internal experience over several departments at NORA
played a key role in his selection. Board of Trustees President, Steve Rendon was grateful that they
were able to select someone from “in house” for the role.
Mercure takes his role seriously and is committed to “doing the best to keep the lights on and doing what’s best for the community and our members.” Starting at the
bottom and working his way up has given him insight on the needs of the
business. He also understands the importance of communicating with all levels
of employees and asks for input on a regular basis.
In addition to the supervision of various departments at NORA, some of
the challenges that the GM has to address are daily proactive maintenance
projects including hardware replacement, crossarm replacement, tree trimming
and vegetation clearing.
As a member owned, not for profit, rural cooperative, NORA must also
constantly employ practices to look out for the best interests of its members. It is imperative to find
ways to keep costs to a minimum to keep rates affordable unlike an investor-owned utility (IOU)
that can raise rates to offset increased costs and increase profits for shareholders.
Mercure will continue to aggressively pursue the application of state and federal grants in
order to assist with the funding needed to complete various projects such as the transmission
project from Coyote to Canjilon. There is also a growing need for wildfire mitigation particularly in
the Corkins/Brazos area in which there is only one way in and one way out.
Something else that Mercure wanted members to be aware of is with the growing popularity