Cooperatives are:

• private independent electric utility businesses,
• incorporated under the laws of the states in which they operate,
  
• established to provide at-cost electric service,
  
• owned by the members they serve,
  
• governed by a board of trustees elected from the membership, which sets policies and procedures that are implemented by the cooperatives’ professional staff.
  
• Distribution cooperatives deliver electricity to the member.
• Generation and transmission cooperatives (G&Ts) generate and transmit electricity to distribution co-ops.
• In addition to electric service, many electric co-ops are involved in community development and revitalization projects, e.g., small business development and job creation, improvement of water and sewer systems, and assistance in delivery of health care and educational services

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 assests 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 members 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