First Electric Cooperative

Last updated
First Electric Cooperative
Company typeNon-profit rural electric
IndustryPower utility
Founded1937
Headquarters Jacksonville, Arkansas, U.S.
Website firstelectric.coop

First Electric Cooperative is a non-profit rural electric utility cooperative headquartered in Jacksonville, Arkansas. The cooperative was organized April 26, 1937, as the first electric cooperative in Arkansas [1] under the federal Rural Electrification Act of 1935. [2] The cooperative energized its first lines April 15, 1938, near Jacksonville with three employees and 150 members.

Contents

First Electric now serves portions of 18 counties in the state of Arkansas, in central and south-east Arkansas. As well as its Jacksonville headquarters and district office, it has district offices in Bryant, Heber Springs, Perryville and Stuttgart. The Bryant office serves portions of Garland, Grant, southern Pulaski and Saline counties. The Heber Springs office serves portions of Cleburne, Independence, Stone and White counties. The Jacksonville district office serves portions of Faulkner, Lonoke, Prairie, northern Pulaski, and White counties. The Perryville office serves portions of Conway, Perry, western Pulaski and Yell counties. The Stuttgart office serves portions of Arkansas, Jefferson, Lonoke, Monroe and Prairie counties. [3]

As of July 2023, the cooperative had 10,373 miles of distribution lines, 50 substations and services more than 103,440 member accounts. [4] It is Arkansas' second-largest rural electric cooperative, and one of the 30 largest of the United States' 900 electric cooperatives.

First Electric is a member of the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation, an electrical generation and distribution cooperative headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. AECC sells wholesale energy to First Electric and 16 other member cooperatives in Arkansas. [5] First Electric is one of more than 900 members of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. NRECA is the national service organization for more than 900 not-for-profit rural electric cooperatives and public power districts. [6]

First Electric states that it supports fuel diversity, including power generation through a mix of energy resources including renewable energy, nuclear power, natural gas and clean coal. The utility says a balanced approach to power generation will help ensure affordable, reliable sources of power. [7]

Community service

Its community projects include Operation Round-Up, Guatemala mission, college scholarships and an annual youth tour to Washington, D.C.

First Electric is among several Arkansas electric cooperatives participating in the Guatemala mission by donating materials, labor and funds. The project first provided electric service to more than 450 rural Guatemala residents in 2013. In 2018 linemen returned to Guatemala to further their volunteer service. Cooperative crews are helping build electric distribution line, infrastructure and helped train local line workers. [8]

In Operation Round-Up, members volunteer to have monthly bills rounded up to the next higher dollar figure. Operation Roundup's trust fund is overseen by a nine-member board chosen by the utility's board of directors. Since 1998, Operation Round-Up has awarded more than $1.07 million in donations to nonprofit organizations and more than $100,000 in college scholarships. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Ann Emerson</span> American politician (born 1950)

Jo Ann Emerson is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Missouri's 8th congressional district from 1996 to 2013. The district consists of Southeast and South Central Missouri and includes the Bootheel, the Lead Belt and the Ozarks. Emerson is a member of the Republican Party. On January 22, 2013, Emerson resigned her seat in Congress to become the president and chief executive officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. She served as CEO until August 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn English</span> American politician

Glenn Lee English Jr. is a U.S. Democratic politician who represented Oklahoma's 6th congressional district for 10 successive terms. English is formerly the chief executive officer of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

Carroll Electric Cooperative is a non-profit rural electric utility cooperative headquartered in Berryville, Arkansas, with district offices in Bentonville, Huntsville, and Jasper, Arkansas. The company also owns and publishes the Arkansas Living magazine which was started in 1942 and is sent out for free monthly to its customers.

Touchstone Energy Cooperatives is a cooperative federation composed of more than 750 local, consumer-owned utility cooperatives in 46 states in the United States. Touchstone Energy co-ops serve more than 30 million members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Rural Electric Cooperative Association</span> Umbrella organization representing electricity co-ops

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) represents the interests of over 900 electric cooperatives in the United States. Cooperatives are not-for-profit and are owned by their membership. Founded in 1942, NRECA unites the country's generation, transmission, and distribution cooperatives found in 47 states, serving over 40 million people. It is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, and its CEO is Jim Matheson.

Pulaski County Special School District No. 1 (PCSSD) is one of four public school districts in Pulaski County, Arkansas—along with the Little Rock School District, the North Little Rock School District, and the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District—accredited by the Arkansas Department of Education. PCSSD has its headquarters in Sweet Home, an unincorporated area near southeastern Little Rock; the headquarters has a Little Rock postal address.

Stephens Media LLC was a Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, diversified media investment company. It owned stakes in the California Newspapers Partnership and the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Richland Electric Cooperative is an electric distribution cooperative located in Richland Center, Wisconsin. Richland Electric Cooperative serves approximately 3500 members with electric service throughout Richland County, Wisconsin and parts of Sauk, Vernon, and Crawford counties as well.

Wiregrass Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit rural electric utility cooperative headquartered in Hartford, Alabama. It is a member of the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives (AREA) and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Arkansas Library System</span> Public library system in Central Arkansas

Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) is a public library system headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States.

West Florida Electric Cooperative, Inc. (WFEC) is a not-for-profit rural electric utility cooperative headquartered in Graceville, Florida. It is a member of the Florida Electric Cooperatives Association, the National Rural Electric Association, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative and the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives alliance.

The National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) is a member-owned nonprofit cooperative that provides financial products to America's rural electric cooperative network. CFC was established in 1969 to raise funds from the capital markets to supplement the loan programs for electric cooperatives offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS), previously Rural Electrification Administration (REA).

The White Creek Wind Farm is an electricity generating wind farm facility in Klickitat County, Washington, United States. It is owned by Last Mile Electric Cooperative and began operations in 2007. The facility has a generating capacity of 205 megawatts.

MultiSpeak is a specification that defines standardized interfaces among software applications commonly used by electric utilities, defining details of data that must be exchanged between software applications to support common utility processes. It is funded by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Electrification Administration</span>

The National Electrification Administration is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) attached to the Department of Energy of the Philippines tasked in the full implementation of the rural electrification program (REP) and reinforce the technical capability and financial viability of the 121 rural electric cooperatives (ECs).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie Wiredhand</span> Fictional character

Willie Wiredhand is the cartoon mascot of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, created in 1950 and still in use by co-op electricity companies. His head is a lightbulb socket, his body is a wire, and his hips and legs are a two-pronged power plug. Willie was created as a rival for the corporate Reddy Kilowatt, which led to a lawsuit in 1956 alleging trademark infringement; the case was resolved in Willie Wiredhand's favor and Willie was granted his own trademark in 1957.

Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative is a non-profit, member owned utility cooperative that provides electric power service and internet services to rural communities in western Middle Tennessee. It is a 501(c)(12) organization, and is headquartered in Centerville, Tennessee. It was established in 1939 under the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Act of 1939, and also holds a government-granted monopoly on electric power distribution within its service area, which includes Hickman, Houston, Humphreys, Lewis, and Perry counties. It is named after American explorer Meriwether Lewis, who is buried in its service area. MLEC is a part of the Touchstone Energy cooperative federation.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.firstelectric.coop/about/mission-statement-history/ Archived 2014-08-16 at the Wayback Machine First Electric Cooperative history
  2. ↑ http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rd/70th/rea-history.pdf Archived 2014-01-23 at the Wayback Machine USDA history of Rural Electrification Act of 1935
  3. ↑ http://www.firstelectric.coop/about/locations/ Archived 2014-08-16 at the Wayback Machine First Arkansas Electric locations
  4. ↑ "2023 Annual Report" (PDF). First Electric Cooperative. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  5. ↑ http://www.firstelectric.coop/ First Electric Cooperative
  6. ↑ http://www.nreca.coop/about-electric-cooperatives/member-directory/ NRECA
  7. ↑ http://www.firstelectric.coop/the-mix-matters/ Archived 2014-08-16 at the Wayback Machine Energy diversity
  8. ↑ http://www.firstelectric.coop/guatemala-mission Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine Guatemala mission
  9. ↑ http://www.firstelectric.coop/community/operation-round-up Operation Round-Up
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.