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2/1/2010

Membership Has Its Privileges

I’m often asked why we call those who purchase electricity from East Mississippi Electric Power Association “members” and not “customers.” The answer is simple.

Many of you are members of service organization such as Rotary and Kiwanis. Together these people can accomplish more than an individual could alone.

Membership at EMEPA offers many of the same benefits as service organizations, but with a big extra. You and the rest of our more than 36,000 members own the co-op! That means we answer to you, not investors who’ve never walked our streets or spent time in our schools. This structure began with our origin.

EMEPA was organized by farmers and rural residents from this area in 1938, with support from the Rural Electrification Administration (REA). At that time, investor-owned utilities said there wasn’t enough profit to be made to support the expense of building power lines into the countryside.

REA offered low interest loans for bringing electricity to unserved homes and farms. So folks began forming electric cooperatives to help themselves. A membership fee of $5 was collected from each family—making them co-op members and owners—to generate capital for borrowing. The rest is history.

You should be proud of what EMEPA has accomplished. We are an economic driver in the communities we serve. A 2009 study funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found electric co-ops across the U.S. employ 130,000 Americans, both directly and indirectly, with revenues in excess of $45 billion.

Electric co-op membership remains as important today as it was in the late 1930s. And all of the nation’s 900-plus electric co-ops in 47 states share a common mission: to keep energy safe, affordable and reliable.

Working together, we’re keeping our needs at the top of Congress’s agenda. We’re part of something special—a nationwide network owned and controlled by people like you and me. That’s why membership matters.

Wayne Henson

EMEPA General Manager

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