Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative is consumer-owned and not-for-profit. That means any revenue above expenses is eventually returned to the member in the form of capital credit payments.

Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative is committed to providing the best possible service at the lowest possible cost. We take pride in our cooperative -- a grassroots system of service started by pioneers like those who settled this area. Keeping the cost of electricity affordable helps keep local businesses competitive, while preserving our rural heritage and standard of living.
 

As a member of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative, the consumer has a direct voice in the operation of the cooperative. He/She elects the board of directors and votes on business matters at the annual meeting.

The directors and management of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative have a genuine interest in the membership. After all, directors receive their electricity from the cooperative, too.
 

Cooperatives were the first to serve rural areas. They were formed when IOUs refused to serve sparsely populated areas. Because IOUs were/are profit motivated, they didn't see the value of serving rural and suburban areas.

Cooperatives are involved in their communities. We live here, too, and we take an active interest in bettering our communities through involvement in local schools, civic clubs and business organizations.

Electric cooperatives help each other. Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative is one of hundreds of co-ops across the country providing electricity and other services to rural and urban America. When a major storm or other disaster forces an outage, neighboring cooperatives often come to the rescue, providing their equipment and personnel to get the power back on fast.
 

We have to provide electricity at a price competitive with IOUs while constructing and maintaining thousands more miles of distribution lines. Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative has an average of six consumers per mile, compared to an average of 34 per mile for an IOU and 50 for a municipal.

We have fewer large industrial and commercial consumers than IOUs. Our revenue comes from serving many small accounts, like homes, farms and communities.

Our consumers are mainly residential, creating a low load factor. Our power demand can skyrocket depending on the time of year. That's why Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative works hard to level out its load factor.

Innovation and creativity have always been a part of the cooperative system. Despite our low population density and higher cost of bringing electricity to rural America, we continue to work to maintain stable rates. That's our commitment to our member-owners.

There is something different about receiving your electricity from Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative. We think it's a difference our membership can be proud of.