Created more than half a century ago with the purpose to provide reliable power at a reasonable cost, electric cooperatives energized rural areas throughout the United States where for-profit utility providers would not serve.
In Ohio and throughout the country, electric co-ops continue to provide at-cost electric service and are owned by the customers they serve.
"An electric cooperative is a not-for-profit business that's locally owned and controlled," says Dennis Mingyar, director of economic development for Buckeye Power, a generation and transmission cooperative established by Ohio's rural electric cooperatives to produce and transmit electric power for the member systems throughout the state.
"With a cooperative, while you are a consumer of energy, you are also an owner of the cooperative and you have a say in its operation. It's a one-member, one-vote system, and the members elect trustees to oversee the cooperative's operations," Mingyar explains.
The 25 electric cooperatives operating in Ohio reach more than 380,000 consumers and do so in service territories created by the state.
"[Co-ops] serve nearly 40 percent of Ohio's land area and we provide service in parts of 77 of Ohio's 88 counties, primarily rural and outlying suburbs," he says.
Each cooperative is independently owned and managed by its members so rates may vary, but they are competitive with any electric utility in the state. And while most members are rural, electric co-ops serve a wide variety of businesses and homes.
"We serve from the smallest house you can imagine to the Honda plant in Marysville. The capabilities of a cooperative are no different than any other utility company," Mingyar says.
Being a member of an electric co-op also directly impacts your wallet. Revenue surpluses are invested in the co-op to ensure more reliable service before being returned to members in the form of capital credits — similar to a dividend paid to a shareholder in a for-profit scenario.
Depending on a member's electric consumption, those capital credits can range from a few dollars to thousands of dollars, Mingyar says.
"What I think makes cooperatives really stand out is that they are locally owned, locally managed by local consumers," he says. "They serve their members with integrity, innovation, and a long-standing commitment to their community."