What Does It Mean To Be A Cooperative?

Simply put, a cooperative is owned and operated by the members it serves.

Members of the cooperative work together for a common goal, and share in the excess margins of the cooperative based on their patronage.

Cooperatives are businesses that

• are owned and democratically controlled by their members — the people who use the co-op’s services or buy its goods — not by investors.
• return surplus revenues (income over expenses and investment) to members proportionate to their use of the cooperative, not proportionate to their ownership share.
• are motivated by service to their members, not by profit.

As a Touchstone Energy Cooperative, Great River Energy is part of a nationwide alliance made of more than 750 local, consumer-owned electric cooperatives in 46 states. Touchstone Energy co-ops collectively deliver power and energy solutions to more than 40 million members every day. Electric cooperatives distribute power for 75 percent of the U.S. land mass over 2.4 million miles of power lines.

Electric cooperatives were established to provide electricity to rural America, and now make up the largest electric utility network in the nation.