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Rural electric cooperatives in Ohio

• Factsheet

May 7, 2024

Rural electric cooperatives are non-profit electric utilities. Unlike the big investor-owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives (also called “electric co-ops”) are owned by member-owners, the customers whose electricity they provide.

Ohio’s rural electric co-ops

Ohio is home to 24 rural electric cooperatives. Electric cooperatives have been in Ohio since 1936 when the Farm Bureau and Rural Electrification Administration first established early cooperatives. Since 1959, the co-ops have received their power from Buckeye Power headquartered in Cassopolis, MI.

Today, more than 400,000 Ohio homes and businesses get their electricity from an electric cooperative.

Unfortunately, many cooperative members don’t know they are owners of their electric company or that they have a say in its governance. As a result, many rural electric cooperatives are controlled by insiders who favor the status quo. Too many rural electric cooperatives still heavily rely on centrally-generated coal-fired power and natural gas peaker plants. They see distributed renewable energy as a threat to their customer base, rather than an opportunity for their members.

This is changing. In 2016, Buckeye Power cooperative launched OurSolar, a solar leasing program. Consumers can subscribe to panels located at their local cooperative headquarters. The total solar installed and owned by the cooperatives will amount to over 5 megawatts (MW). Critics have argued that the subscription model in the OurSolar program will cost consumers more than if they had installed solar on their own property.

Ohio’s resources

• OurSolar initiative – Through this initiative of the Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative, customers “subscribe” to solar panels owned by a cooperative.
• Ohio Rural Electric Cooperatives (OREC) – Learn how to get involved in your rural electric cooperative and how to push for more solar in your co-op territory. OREC also tracks the amount of solar electricity generated through the GoSolar initiative.