How many electric cooperatives are in Arkansas?

17 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail electricity sales to customers in Arkansas in 2024, according to EIA. The largest is Carroll Electric Coop Corp, with 108,120 customers.

How many municipal and public power utilities are in Arkansas?

15 — 15 municipal utilities — reported bundled retail sales in Arkansas in 2024. The largest is City Water and Light Plant, with 40,667 customers.

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

Municipal utilities and public utility districts are local government entities, so they generally follow Arkansas'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.

Arkansas Public Power & Electric Co-ops: Full List

Key takeaways

32 community-owned utilities: 15 municipal utilities and 17 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail sales in Arkansas in 2024.
Together they served 784,810 of the state's 1,720,738 bundled retail customers (46%); 4 investor-owned utilities served most of the rest.
The largest public power utility is City Water and Light Plant, with 40,667 customers.
The largest electric co-op is Carroll Electric Coop Corp, with 108,120 customers.

Every public power utility and co-op in Arkansas

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 32 utilities

#	Utility	Type	Customers	Sales, MWh	Avg. price
1	Carroll Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	108,120	2,127,661	11.05¢
2	First Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	103,960	2,063,218	11.55¢
3	Ozarks Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	77,346	1,357,014	12.59¢
4	Arkansas Valley Elec Coop Corp	Cooperative	58,567	1,187,785	11.39¢
5	City Water and Light Plant	Municipal	40,667	1,405,121	6.03¢
6	City of North Little Rock	Municipal	40,137	891,307	11.31¢
7	North Arkansas Elec Coop, Inc	Cooperative	38,978	625,048	11.80¢
8	Conway Corporation	Municipal	34,240	901,295	7.62¢
9	Craighead Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	32,805	579,403	12.41¢
10	City of Bentonville	Municipal	29,024	735,602	10.06¢
11	Southwest Arkansas E C C	Cooperative	27,895	690,283	11.13¢
12	C & L Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	22,261	366,646	13.00¢
13	Petit Jean Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	20,917	296,823	15.19¢
14	Woodruff Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	20,024	409,991	13.50¢
15	City of Benton	Municipal	14,756	283,555	9.54¢
16	Paragould Municipal Utilities	Municipal	14,443	577,692	8.32¢
17	Clay County Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	13,316	287,530	12.39¢
18	City of West Memphis	Municipal	11,900	364,515	9.75¢
19	South Central Ark El Coop, Inc	Cooperative	10,675	250,060	11.70¢
20	City of Siloam Springs	Municipal	9,787	306,374	9.48¢
21	Ouachita Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	9,281	238,003	11.03¢
22	Rich Mountain Elec Coop, Inc	Cooperative	8,973	181,062	10.70¢
23	City of Hope	Municipal	6,882	218,254	10.97¢
24	Ashley Chicot Elec Coop, Inc	Cooperative	5,103	79,210	14.31¢
25	Farmers Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	5,045	87,344	13.55¢
26	Mississippi County Electric Co	Cooperative	4,919	3,201,032	5.16¢
27	Clarksville Connected Utilities	Municipal	4,578	196,988	7.93¢
28	City of Osceola	Municipal	3,542	130,937	11.00¢
29	City of Piggott	Municipal	2,260	33,697	13.88¢
30	City of Paris	Municipal	1,887	39,284	10.97¢
31	City of Prescott	Municipal	1,625	69,650	13.22¢
32	City of Augusta	Municipal	897	11,204	20.04¢

Public power vs. co-ops in Arkansas

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 Arkansas 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 Arkansas.