Key takeaways
- Pedernales Electric Cooperative in Texas is the largest US electric co-op by retail customers, with 457,598 in 2024, followed by Middle Tennessee EMC (344,295) and CoServ in Texas (323,783).
- Texas has 11 co-ops on the list and Georgia 9, many of them in fast-growing suburbs.
- We compiled the ranking from EIA's 2024 utility retail sales table, because EIA doesn't publish a ranked list of co-ops.
- Co-ops are private, not-for-profit utilities governed by member-elected boards, and they make buying decisions faster than most public agencies.
The 50 largest electric cooperatives
Ranked by bundled retail customers in 2024, with 2024 retail sales in megawatt-hours. Names are as EIA abbreviates them; for example, "Denton County Elec Coop" is CoServ, "Sumter Electric Coop" is SECO Energy and "Jackson Electric Member Corp" is Jackson EMC. Filter by state or search.
Showing all 50 cooperatives
| # | Cooperative | State | Retail customers (2024) | Retail sales, MWh (2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pedernales Electric Coop, Inc | TX | 457,598 | 7,928,484 |
| 2 | Middle Tennessee E M C | TN | 344,295 | 8,672,705 |
| 3 | Denton County Elec Coop, Inc | TX | 323,783 | 6,526,655 |
| 4 | Jackson Electric Member Corp - (GA) | GA | 262,629 | 5,963,696 |
| 5 | Withlacoochee River Elec Coop | FL | 259,639 | 4,762,342 |
| 6 | Lee County Electric Coop, Inc - (FL) | FL | 257,631 | 4,558,782 |
| 7 | Sumter Electric Coop, Inc | FL | 252,367 | 4,145,223 |
| 8 | Cobb Electric Membership Corp | GA | 224,124 | 4,105,486 |
| 9 | Sawnee Electric Membership Corporation | GA | 202,144 | 3,790,212 |
| 10 | Clay Electric Cooperative, Inc - (FL) | FL | 193,986 | 3,648,010 |
| 11 | Northern Virginia Elec Coop | VA | 182,074 | 12,231,081 |
| 12 | Rappahannock Electric Coop | VA | 180,962 | 4,069,232 |
| 13 | CORE Electric Cooperative | CO | 180,823 | 2,631,678 |
| 14 | Southern Maryland Elec Coop Inc | MD | 174,303 | 3,383,453 |
| 15 | GreyStone Power Corporation | GA | 152,146 | 3,093,770 |
| 16 | Connexus Energy | MN | 146,640 | 2,051,230 |
| 17 | Magic Valley Electric Coop Inc | TX | 145,755 | 2,859,667 |
| 18 | Walton Electric Member Corp | GA | 142,923 | 4,014,607 |
| 19 | EnergyUnited Elec Member Corp | NC | 142,201 | 2,793,594 |
| 20 | Tri-County Electric Coop, Inc (TX) | TX | 139,316 | 3,271,958 |
| 21 | Berkeley Electric Coop Inc | SC | 133,248 | 5,003,182 |
| 22 | Bluebonnet Electric Coop, Inc | TX | 133,219 | 4,093,075 |
| 23 | Great Lakes Energy Coop | MI | 132,252 | 1,597,512 |
| 24 | Volunteer Electric Coop | TN | 128,502 | 2,566,400 |
| 25 | South Central Power Company | OH | 127,851 | 2,682,570 |
| 26 | Dixie Electric Membership Corp - (LA) | LA | 119,120 | 2,264,271 |
| 27 | Delaware Electric Cooperative | DE | 118,644 | 1,606,853 |
| 28 | Southwest Louisiana E M C | LA | 117,346 | 2,526,261 |
| 29 | Brunswick Electric Member Corp | NC | 117,339 | 1,616,433 |
| 30 | Dakota Electric Association | MN | 116,814 | 1,821,145 |
| 31 | United Power, Inc | CO | 114,378 | 3,454,494 |
| 32 | Chugach Electric Assn Inc | AK | 113,378 | 1,886,055 |
| 33 | Cumberland Elec Member Corp | TN | 112,512 | 2,879,963 |
| 34 | Snapping Shoals El Member Corp | GA | 109,742 | 2,118,165 |
| 35 | Carroll Electric Coop Corp - (AR) | AR | 108,120 | 2,127,661 |
| 36 | North Georgia Elec Member Corp | GA | 106,316 | 2,455,073 |
| 37 | United Electric Coop Service Inc - (TX) | TX | 105,631 | 2,759,009 |
| 38 | First Electric Coop Corp | AR | 103,960 | 2,063,218 |
| 39 | Guadalupe Valley Elec Coop Inc | TX | 103,781 | 2,910,197 |
| 40 | Shenandoah Valley Elec Coop | VA | 100,827 | 2,397,259 |
| 41 | Farmers Electric Coop, Inc - (TX) | TX | 100,359 | 1,698,287 |
| 42 | Horry Electric Coop Inc | SC | 99,014 | 1,379,582 |
| 43 | Flint Electric Membership Corp | GA | 96,707 | 1,976,779 |
| 44 | Grayson-Collin Elec Coop, Inc | TX | 95,519 | 1,530,631 |
| 45 | Sam Houston Electric Coop Inc | TX | 93,486 | 1,850,194 |
| 46 | Baldwin County El Member Corp | AL | 91,368 | 1,658,539 |
| 47 | Coast Electric Power Assn - (MS) | MS | 90,247 | 1,916,564 |
| 48 | Coweta-Fayette El Member Corp | GA | 89,694 | 1,729,188 |
| 49 | Trinity Valley Elec Coop Inc | TX | 88,305 | 1,535,799 |
| 50 | Union Electric Membership Corp - (NC) | NC | 87,751 | 1,614,663 |
What is an electric cooperative?
An electric cooperative is a private, not-for-profit utility owned by the members it serves. Members elect a board of directors, and margins are typically returned to members as capital credits. Most co-ops are distribution utilities that deliver power to homes and businesses; many buy their power from a generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative they own together with other co-ops. Compare with the largest public power utilities.
About this data
EIA publishes retail sales data for every US utility but doesn't rank cooperatives, so we sorted the co-ops in EIA's table "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" by customer count and kept the top 50.
- Bundled customers only. The table counts customers who buy both energy and delivery from the co-op. In states with retail choice, customers who buy energy from another supplier aren't counted, which understates some co-ops in Maryland, Delaware, New Hampshire, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia.
- Names are EIA's. We kept EIA's abbreviated names so you can match them to EIA data.
- Check the source for exact figures. The values come from EIA's published table; confirm current figures with EIA or the co-op before relying on them.
Selling to electric cooperatives
Co-ops are utilities first and member organizations second, so they care about reliability, cost and member service. Because they're private, most aren't bound by public procurement laws, although co-ops that finance projects through USDA's Rural Utilities Service follow its requirements for those projects.
- Reach the operations leaders. Managers of engineering, operations, metering, member services and IT usually define needs; the CEO and board approve large purchases.
- Use the co-op network. Statewide associations, G&T cooperatives and national co-op organizations shape purchasing and share vendor experiences.
- Expect peer references to matter. Co-op leaders talk to each other, and a reference from a similar co-op carries weight.
- Read our guide to how co-ops and other utilities buy.
How KSG helps utility vendors
Kensington Sales Group's SDRs research co-ops and other utilities, call the managers who own the problem you solve and book meetings for your sales team. For Siemens, our team contacted more than 2,500 utilities and booked 70 meetings. See our utility work.
Sources
- US Energy Information Administration, 2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total (Table 10): eia.gov