The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is the national service organization dedicated to representing the national interests of cooperative electric utilities and the consumers they serve. The NRECA Board of Directors oversees the association’s activities and consists of 47 members, one from each state in which there is an electric distribution cooperative. The chief spokesman for the nation’s electric cooperatives is NRECA Chief Executive Officer Glenn English.

Founded in 1942, NRECA was organized specifically to overcome World War II shortages of electric construction materials, to obtain insurance coverage for newly constructed rural electric cooperatives, and to mitigate wholesale power problems. Since those early days, NRECA has been an advocate for consumer-owned cooperatives on energy and operational issues as well as rural community and economic development.

NRECA’s more than 900 member cooperatives serve 40 million people in 47 states. Most of the 864 distribution systems are consumer-owned cooperatives; some are public power districts. NRECA membership includes other organizations formed by these local utilities: generation and transmission cooperatives for power supply, statewide and regional trade and service associations, supply and manufacturing cooperatives, data processing cooperatives and employee credit unions. Associate membership is open to equipment manufacturers and distributors, wholesalers, consultants and other entities that do business with members of the electric cooperative network.