Today, people consider electricity not only a convenience, but a necessity for everyday life - something we just cannot do without. In 1940, most homes in this area and rural America had no electricity while most U.S. cities did have power. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order creating the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) and later passed the Rural Electrification Act to provide credit for rural electrification in America.
In 1940, a group of farmers organized Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc., and obtained a 100% loan from the REA. The first memberships were issued to those paying $5 and lines were built to members with borrowed funds. In October of 1940, the lines were energized for the first time and suddenly lights started dotting the countryside. Members then used an average of only 22 kilowatt hours per month. Today, the average use is more than 750 kilowatt hours.
Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc., now has more than 10,500 meters with a system that consists of more than 1,700 miles of line, eight substations and three metering points. The co-op serves portions of six counties in southeastern Ohio: Athens, Guernsey, Morgan, Monroe, Noble and Washington. The co-op is part of a nationwide network of electric cooperatives, with 24 in Ohio and more than 700 in the United States. Washington Electric also participates in a statewide association, Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives, Inc., located in Columbus, Ohio, and a national association, National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association, headquartered in Arlington, Va.
The 24 Ohio electric cooperatives, including Washington Electric, jointly own two coal-fired generating plants near Brilliant, Ohio, along the Ohio River. The Cardinal Generating Station is operated by Buckeye Power, Inc., the generation and transmission cooperative owned by all the Ohio electric cooperatives.
Because Washington Electric is a not-for-profit cooperative, our customers are more than consumers; they are member-owners. As members, they have the right to elect representatives to the cooperative's Board of Trustees. As owners, they share in annual profit margins. The margins, referred to as patronage capital, are allocated annually to member patronage accounts. Return of margins to members is just one of the advantages of being a member-owner of Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc.
