Members of electric cooperatives express higher than average levels of customer satisfaction. It’s no wonder. Electric cooperatives are different than other forms of business, and member-owners of cooperatives notice this difference. For one thing, co-ops put consumers first because the consumers are the owners. In addition, co-ops are locally owned and operated. When members call the co-op, they are talking with their neighbors. And both of these aspects combine to make co-ops more responsive since members are the owners and they are accountable to their own neighbors and communities.

This section contains stories about electric cooperatives out there in rural America who are carrying through on the cooperative promise every day and show just why electric cooperatives are so unique.

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• Maine Cooperative Votes "Yes" for Wind
  Wind turbines could cut monthly rates by about 25 percent.
• New York Co-op Eyes New Hydroelectric Development
  Proposed project would involve building siphons and penstocks on existing dams to channel water to turbine-generators.
• New Hampshire Electric Cooperative Partnering on Regional Energy Forums
  Cooperative partners with municipal energy committees to network and collaborate on reducing energy usage.
• Converting an Aging Coal Plant to Biomass
  The 56-year old plant is being modified to use biomass—primarily wood waste—and Dairyland Power, which originally built the plant, will buy all the power it produces.
• Pennsylvania co-op’s linemen learn all about their new plug-in hybrid bucket truck
  Linemen discover peripheral benefits to using a PHEV bucket truck.
• North Carolina Co-ops Unite to Push Efficiency, Renewables
  New cooperative aims to develop market for green energy products and services.
• Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO) Invests in SMARTT Car and SMARTTER Students
  Corporate sponsorship of high school electric vehicle club nets “Rookie of the Year” award and a street-legal, battery-operated Pontiac Fiero.
• Georgia’s Governor Perdue Spotlights Flint Energies
  Flint Energies’ SunPower for Schools program serves as backdrop – and model – for Governor Perdue’s energy challenge announcement.
• South Carolina Electric Energy Efficiency Study
  South Carolina Cooperatives aim to replace 7 million incandescent bulbs with CFLs in ten years.
• Lincoln Electric Cooperative Saves Eureka School System Millions in Energy Costs
  A $300,000 zero-interest loan from the Montana co-op to under the U.S.D.A. Rural Economic Development Loans and Grants program helps make the numbers add up for a local school system.
• Basin Electric Power Cooperative Selects New Technology for Carbon Capture Demonstration Project
  The North Dakota-based project will capture approximately one million tons of CO₂ annually, making it one of the largest such demonstrations in the world.
• Great River Energy Aims High to Lower Members’ Energy Usage
  “A Brighter Idea” campaign seeks to persuade every member of the 28 electric co-ops belonging to GRE to replace five incandescent lightbulbs with CFLs over the next three to four years.
• Preserving Habitat and Maintaining Right-of-Way Are One and the Same for Some Co-ops
  Peregrine falcons, ospreys, Karner butterflies, tortoises and native grasses benefiting from co-ops new approaches to right-of-way maintenance.
• Co-op Linemen Pike Poles in Sudan
  Working the old-fashioned way, co-op linemen from two states help to bring light to a crowded African community.
• Adams Electric Blazing a Clean Trail with Nation’s First Plug-in Hybrid Bucket Truck
  Adams Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, will be the first utility in the United States to own and operate a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) bucket truck.
• Run-of-the-River Hydropower in Arkansas Easing Burden of Rising Fuel Costs
  Cooperative investment in small-scale hydropower reaps renewable dividends decades later.
• Co-op Engineer Takes Plug-in Hybrid Ford Escape for a 1000-Mile Test Drive
  Salem Electric in Oregon joins Cooperative Research Network’s Study of Plug-in Hybrids.
• Jo-Carroll Energy to get a Boost from Biomass
  Illinois cooperative hopes to begin construction on an 80-MW biomass plant that will burn wood waste, switchgrass and corn stover to make electricity.
• Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative Awarded $43 Million
  A 2007 Clean Renewable Energy Bond allocation, awarded by the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), will allow the cooperative to develop and own the power from up to 14 wind turbines.
• Arizona Electric Power Cooperative Exploring 250-MW Solar Plant
  Arizona’s electric utilities are seeking a developer for a solar plant that could become a major source of renewable base-load power capacity.
• White Creek Wind Project in Washington Could End Up One of Nation’s Largest
  Tanner Electric Co-op and Lakeview Light and Power partner with two municipal utilities to develop 205-MW wind farm in the Columbia River Gorge.