About UsThe CooperativeA cooperative is organized as a not-for-profit utility. It does not sell stock and is not under pressure to earn profits for absentee stockholders. If a cooperative collects more money than it needs to operate, it reinvests those margins into the system-keeping its need to borrow high-interest capital to a minimum. The board of directors determines when those margins are refunded-in the form of patronage dividends-to the people who paid for the electricity in the year the margin occurred. Electric cooperatives serve many rural, less-densely populated areas compared to other utilities. Providing electric service in these areas tends to be more difficult and costly than in urban areas. |