How many electric cooperatives are in Alabama?

24 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail electricity sales to customers in Alabama in 2024, according to EIA. The largest is Baldwin County El Member Corp, with 91,368 customers.

How many municipal and public power utilities are in Alabama?

36 — 36 municipal utilities — reported bundled retail sales in Alabama in 2024. The largest is City of Huntsville, with 220,576 customers.

How do public power utilities and co-ops in Alabama buy?

Municipal utilities and public utility districts are local government entities, so they generally follow Alabama's public procurement laws, with purchases approved by a city council or utility board. Electric co-ops are private, member-owned nonprofits that set their own purchasing policies, though projects financed through USDA's Rural Utilities Service follow its rules. See how utilities buy.

Where does this data come from?

From the U.S. Energy Information Administration's table "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), based on forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. It counts customers who buy both electricity and delivery from the utility.

Alabama Public Power & Electric Co-ops: Full List

Key takeaways

60 community-owned utilities: 36 municipal utilities and 24 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail sales in Alabama in 2024.
Together they served 1,248,847 of the state's 2,795,342 bundled retail customers (45%); 1 investor-owned utility served most of the rest.
The largest public power utility is City of Huntsville, with 220,576 customers.
The largest electric co-op is Baldwin County El Member Corp, with 91,368 customers.

Every public power utility and co-op in Alabama

Ranked by bundled retail customers in 2024, with retail sales in megawatt-hours and average price in cents per kilowatt-hour. Names are as EIA abbreviates them. Filter by type or search.

Showing all 60 utilities

#	Utility	Type	Customers	Sales, MWh	Avg. price
1	City of Huntsville	Municipal	220,576	5,414,760	10.93¢
2	Baldwin County El Member Corp	Cooperative	91,368	1,658,539	12.95¢
3	City of Athens	Municipal	59,121	1,566,998	10.52¢
4	Foley Board of Utilities	Municipal	58,270	1,262,216	12.72¢
5	City of Florence	Municipal	52,289	1,185,047	11.32¢
6	Cullman Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	48,412	1,110,501	12.15¢
7	Central Alabama Electric Coop	Cooperative	47,420	738,146	16.20¢
8	Joe Wheeler Elec Member Corp	Cooperative	46,135	1,795,384	10.32¢
9	Sand Mountain Electric Coop	Cooperative	33,601	632,197	12.41¢
10	City of Dothan	Municipal	32,175	947,689	10.13¢
11	Tallapoosa River Elec Coop Inc	Cooperative	30,542	604,721	13.39¢
12	Wiregrass Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	27,098	409,035	15.33¢
13	Decatur Utilities	Municipal	26,935	1,158,032	8.69¢
14	Dixie Electric Coop	Cooperative	26,785	600,464	14.20¢
15	Black Warrior Elec Member Corp	Cooperative	26,648	371,400	12.92¢
16	Cherokee Electric Coop	Cooperative	26,566	400,674	15.45¢
17	Covington Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	24,683	406,009	15.72¢
18	Southern Pine Elec Coop, Inc	Cooperative	22,667	477,814	12.66¢
19	Marshall-De Kalb Electric Coop	Cooperative	21,377	465,829	12.36¢
20	Clarke-Washington E M C	Cooperative	20,562	280,175	15.37¢
21	Pea River Electric Coop	Cooperative	19,759	322,993	16.35¢
22	Sheffield Utilities	Municipal	19,566	696,610	9.59¢
23	North Alabama Electric Coop	Cooperative	19,512	457,563	10.83¢
24	Coosa Valley Electric Coop Inc	Cooperative	18,429	325,134	15.47¢
25	South Alabama Elec Coop, Inc	Cooperative	17,707	408,957	13.66¢
26	Arab Electric Coop Inc	Cooperative	16,925	313,685	12.03¢
27	City of Opelika	Municipal	15,933	411,071	12.08¢
28	Pioneer Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	12,873	171,408	20.36¢
29	City of Bessemer Utilities	Municipal	11,143	280,320	12.33¢
30	Albertville Municipal Utilities Board	Municipal	10,726	652,533	8.60¢
31	Tombigbee Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	9,576	116,241	17.07¢
32	City of Troy	Municipal	9,501	456,962	7.29¢
33	Cullman Power Board	Municipal	9,078	274,967	12.19¢
34	City of Muscle Shoals	Municipal	9,000	317,861	10.67¢
35	Fort Payne Improvement Authority	Municipal	8,985	311,180	11.03¢
36	City of Scottsboro	Municipal	8,737	317,058	10.68¢
37	Franklin Electric Coop	Cooperative	7,994	312,980	10.56¢
38	City of Fairhope	Municipal	7,017	176,367	9.64¢
39	Guntersville Electric Board	Municipal	6,922	246,154	11.24¢
40	City of Tuskegee	Municipal	6,688	154,134	12.26¢
41	Sylacauga Utilities Board	Municipal	6,061	201,514	8.49¢
42	City of Hartselle	Municipal	5,755	151,846	10.88¢
43	City of Alexander City	Municipal	5,657	130,090	10.43¢
44	City of Russellville	Municipal	5,096	138,427	12.17¢
45	City of Tuscumbia	Municipal	4,984	94,728	12.28¢
46	City of Andalusia	Municipal	4,675	320,618	9.37¢
47	City of Robertsdale	Municipal	3,510	86,451	11.20¢
48	City of Lanett	Municipal	3,370	58,733	18.11¢
49	City of Opp	Municipal	3,206	64,201	8.83¢
50	City of Elba	Municipal	3,004	38,723	11.99¢
51	City of Tarrant	Municipal	2,692	64,279	13.10¢
52	City of Piedmont	Municipal	2,112	37,661	12.70¢
53	City of Luverne	Municipal	1,830	44,074	6.73¢
54	City of Evergreen	Municipal	1,801	49,336	13.83¢
55	City of Hartford	Municipal	1,416	26,914	16.03¢
56	City of Lafayette	Municipal	1,337	26,579	11.61¢
57	City of Brundidge	Municipal	1,239	47,785	12.94¢
58	City of Courtland	Municipal	763	28,780	10.75¢
59	Diverse Power Incorporated	Cooperative	686	9,138	17.76¢
60	Singing River Elec Cooperative	Cooperative	352	5,537	13.22¢

Public power vs. co-ops in Alabama

Public power utilities — municipal utilities, public utility districts and state-owned utilities — are owned by the communities they serve and governed by a city council or elected board. They buy much like local governments: through public bids, board approvals and published budgets.
Electric cooperatives are private, not-for-profit utilities owned by their members, who elect the board. Most buy power from a generation and transmission (G&T) co-op and make purchasing decisions through their own policies, often faster than public agencies.

Both publish their plans: watch board and council agendas, budgets, capital improvement plans and rate filings. Our utility funding tracker and rate case & IRP tracker show where the money is coming from.

Selling to Alabama utilities

Start with the right person. Line, engineering, metering, IT and member-services managers usually define the need; the general manager or CEO and the board approve large purchases.
Use the networks. State public power and cooperative associations, joint action agencies and G&T co-ops shape purchasing and share vendor experiences.
Expect small teams. Many of the utilities on this list have only a handful of staff, so phone outreach and a clear reason to talk matter.

Read our guide to how public power, co-ops and water utilities buy, or see the largest public power utilities and largest electric co-ops nationally.

About this data

Source. EIA's "2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total" (Table 10), from forms EIA-861 and EIA-861S. Average price is EIA's revenue divided by sales.
Bundled customers only. The table counts customers who buy both energy and delivery from the utility, so it excludes distribution-only utilities and customers who buy energy from another supplier in retail-choice areas.
Community-owned utilities only. This page lists municipal, public utility district, state-owned and cooperative utilities. Investor-owned and federal utilities are left out.

Sources

U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2024 Utility Bundled Retail Sales – Total (Table 10): eia.gov

Public power utilities and electric co-ops in Alabama.