NRECA Cooperative Principles & Facts
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is the
national service organization dedicated to representing the national
interests of consumer-owned cooperative electric utilities and the
consumers they serve. The association provides national leadership
and member assistance through legislative representation before the
U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch and representation in legal
and regulatory proceedings affecting electric service and the environment.
NRECA also offers education and training programs for cooperative
directors, managers and employees; collaborative research to enhance
cooperatives’ use of technology and insurance, employee benefits
and financial services and technical advice and electrification assistance
in developing countries around the world.
Two major publications inform and educate members, decision makers
and the interested public: Rural Electric Magazine, published monthly,
and Electric Co-op Today, a weekly newspaper that reports on activities
and views about electric cooperatives and NRECA.
On the state level our cooperatives publishes Alabama
Living Magazine. You'll find a section on this Website specifically
detailing articles and items of interest from this free publication.
NRECA's electric cooperative and public power district members
serve 34 million people in 46 states. Approximately 900 NRECA members
are electric distribution systems.
Cooperative Principles
Cooperative businesses are special because they are owned by the
consumers they serve and because they are guided by a set of seven
principles that reflect the best interests of those consumers. More
than 100 million people are members of 47,000 U.S. cooperatives,
enabling consumers to secure a wide array of goods and services
such as health care, insurance, housing, food, heating fuel, hardware,
credit unions, child care or utility service.
Cooperative businesses adhere to seven guiding principles:
1. Voluntary and Open Membership -- Cooperatives are voluntary
organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and
willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender,
social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.
2. Democratic Member Control -- Cooperatives are democratic
organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate
in setting policies and making decisions. The elected representatives
are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members
have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives
at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.
3. Members’ Economic Participation -- Members contribute
equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative.
At least part of that capital is usually the common property of
the cooperative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if
any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership.
Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes:
developing the cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part
of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion
to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other
activities approved by the membership.
4. Autonomy and Independence -- Cooperatives are autonomous,
self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter
into agreements with other organizations, including governments,
or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that
ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative
autonomy.
5. Education, Training, and Information -- Cooperatives
provide education and training for their members, elected representatives,
managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the
development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public,
particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature
and benefits of cooperation.
6. Cooperation Among Cooperatives -- Cooperatives serve
their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement
by working together through local, national, regional, and international
structures.
7. Concern for Community -- While focusing
on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development
of their communities through policies accepted by their members.
Facts At A Glance - 865 distribution and 60 G&T cooperatives
serve:
- 35 million people in 46 states.
- 13 million businesses, homes, schools, churches, farms, irrigation systems, and other establishments in 2,500 of 3,128 counties in the U.S.
- 11 percent of the nation's population.
To perform their mission, electric cooperatives:
- own assets worth $70 billion,
- own and maintain 2.3 million miles, or 44%, of the nation’s electric distribution lines, covering three quarters of the nation's landmass,
- deliver 7.9 percent of the total kilowatt-hours sold in the U.S. each year,
- generate 4 percent of the total electricity produced in the U.S. each year,
- employ nearly 60,000 people in the United States.
- During 1997, electric cooperatives paid more than $707 million in state and local taxes.
Compared with other electric utilities:
- Co-op sales grew twice as fast as the total electric industry
average in 1998.
- Co-ops serve an average of 6 consumers per mile of line and
collect annual revenue of approximately $7,900 per mile of line,
- Investor-owned utilities average 33 customers per mile of line
and
- collect $61,000 per mile of line,
- Publicly owned utilities, or municipals, average 43 consumers
and
- collect $71,000 per mile of line.
|
Thank you for being a member of the Cooperative Family
NRECA Cooperative Principles & Facts
About TEC
Meet Our Staff
Company Information & History
Annual Meeting
What's New
Support |
