About Cooperatives

 

Cooperative Solar: Driven by Cooperative Principles

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Member-owned electric cooperatives have nearly 240 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity online or on the drawing board across the country.

Not-for-profit electric co-ops develop solar for one reason only: to serve their members. Cooperative solar IS consumer-owned solar.

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Cooperatives Promote Efficiency 

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As consumer-owned, not-for-profit utilities accountable to their members, cooperatives have traditionally promoted energy efficiency and demand-side management (DSM) as a means to keep members’ bills low. Now, many cooperatives also see increasing efficiencies on both sides of the meter as key to addressing the challenge of growing demand and rising costs.

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Electric Cooperatives Serving Persistent Poverty Counties

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Electric cooperatives serve in 364 of the nation’s 395 “persistent poverty counties” (92%).

More than 250 distribution cooperatives and NRECA-member public power districts serve an estimated 4.2 million people in these counties, with poverty rates ranging from 20% to over 60%.

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Cooperative Growth Over Time Visualization

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As late as the mid-1930s, 9 out of 10 rural homes were without electric service. Most rural electrification is the product of locally owned rural electric cooperatives that got their start by borrowing funds from the REA to build lines and provide service on a not-for-profit basis.

This visualization shows the growth of NRECA electric cooperatives in the United States over time.

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Cooperative Facts & Figures

Explore how cooperatives play a vital role in the electric sector and in their communities with our data-driven Co-ops Facts and Figures infographic (PDF).

 

Arizona Electric Cooperatives Territories Map

Take a look at the electric co-op territories in Arizona with our Arizona Co-ops map (PDF).