Electric Cooperatives on the Threshold of a New Era

The Rural Electrification Act of 1936 significantly changed the American landscape. Responsible for bringing electricity to the homes and farms of millions of rural residents, the Rural Electrification Administration helped raise standard of living, increase agricultural productivity and develop the outlying suburbs of many cities. That landscape is undergoing yet another significant change as the forces of deregulation and competition begin to transform America's electric utilities. Electric Cooperatives: On the Threshold of a New Era takes a close look at the roots and evolution of rural electric cooperatives and peers into the future of these unique organizations. A significant link in the delivery of electric power, almost 900 distribution cooperatives directly serve 12.9 million consumer/members, or 11 percent of total utility industry customers. Generation and transmission co-ops and federal power agencies supply most of the power delivered by those distribution cooperatives. Electric Cooperatives identifies the federal agencies and special cooperative organizations that support these producers and distributors and explores the changing nature of their relationships with one another. Electric cooperative financing practices have placed them in a distinctive position within the utility industry. This text examines the foundations of cooperative finance and explains some of the supplemental financing techniques being adopted by cooperatives today. In addition, the regulation of cooperative rates and practices is discussed.