How many electric cooperatives are in Illinois?

26 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail electricity sales to customers in Illinois in 2024, according to EIA. The largest is Corn Belt Energy Corporation, with 37,183 customers.

How many municipal and public power utilities are in Illinois?

42 — 41 municipal utilities, 1 state-owned utility — reported bundled retail sales in Illinois in 2024. The largest is City of Springfield, with 71,179 customers.

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

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

Illinois Public Power & Electric Co-ops: Full List

Key takeaways

68 community-owned utilities: 41 municipal utilities, 1 state-owned utility and 26 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail sales in Illinois in 2024.
Together they served 590,922 of the state's 4,425,971 bundled retail customers (13%); 4 investor-owned utilities served most of the rest.
The largest public power utility is City of Springfield, with 71,179 customers.
The largest electric co-op is Corn Belt Energy Corporation, with 37,183 customers.

Every public power utility and co-op in Illinois

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 68 utilities

#	Utility	Type	Customers	Sales, MWh	Avg. price
1	City of Springfield	Municipal	71,179	1,468,493	12.73¢
2	City of Naperville	Municipal	62,990	1,212,099	11.73¢
3	Corn Belt Energy Corporation	Cooperative	37,183	630,620	14.11¢
4	Southwestern Electric Coop Inc	Cooperative	25,284	483,576	13.30¢
5	Southeastern IL Elec Coop, Inc	Cooperative	25,188	734,016	12.61¢
6	Norris Electric Coop	Cooperative	20,300	361,223	14.68¢
7	Jo-Carroll Energy, Inc	Cooperative	20,188	309,982	16.85¢
8	Tri-County Electric Coop, Inc (IL)	Cooperative	16,604	376,447	13.90¢
9	City of St Charles	Municipal	16,461	473,681	12.72¢
10	Egyptian Electric Coop Assn	Cooperative	15,465	317,463	14.42¢
11	Wayne-White Counties Elec Coop	Cooperative	13,654	393,807	12.53¢
12	Eastern Illinois Elec Coop	Cooperative	13,499	236,027	16.37¢
13	City of Batavia	Municipal	11,398	402,521	11.24¢
14	Southern Illinois Elec Coop	Cooperative	11,235	174,162	16.34¢
15	Menard Electric Coop	Cooperative	10,972	179,672	17.92¢
16	Rock Energy Cooperative	Cooperative	10,379	217,686	12.80¢
17	Illinois Rural Electric Coop	Cooperative	10,294	195,642	19.52¢
18	City of Geneva	Municipal	10,287	361,964	9.08¢
19	Shelby Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	10,054	234,864	15.23¢
20	Coles-Moultrie Electric Coop	Cooperative	9,576	199,620	15.60¢
21	M J M Electric Cooperative Inc	Cooperative	9,573	132,563	16.51¢
22	Adams Electric Coop	Cooperative	9,135	168,213	16.09¢
23	Monroe County Elec Coop, Inc	Cooperative	7,567	111,372	17.02¢
24	Rochelle Municipal Utilities	Municipal	7,009	402,663	10.97¢
25	City of Highland	Municipal	6,912	104,751	15.06¢
26	Village of Chatham	Municipal	6,470	80,429	10.77¢
27	Clinton County Elec Coop, Inc	Cooperative	6,249	137,174	13.40¢
28	City of Peru	Municipal	6,161	236,004	11.06¢
29	Village of Rantoul	Municipal	6,127	159,301	10.87¢
30	Rural Electric Conven Coop	Cooperative	5,994	111,504	15.02¢
31	City of Rock Falls	Municipal	5,314	65,250	17.66¢
32	Enerstar Power Corp	Cooperative	5,293	89,995	16.18¢
33	City of Waterloo	Municipal	5,187	83,853	13.90¢
34	Village of Winnetka	Municipal	5,044	116,446	13.76¢
35	McDonough Power Coop	Cooperative	5,004	69,622	17.61¢
36	Spoon River Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	4,893	60,396	19.72¢
37	City of Princeton	Municipal	4,564	91,166	12.74¢
38	City of Mascoutah	Municipal	4,146	63,395	19.62¢
39	City of Geneseo	Municipal	3,795	62,841	11.69¢
40	City of Metropolis	Municipal	3,726	70,385	14.21¢
41	Western Illinois Elec Coop	Cooperative	3,580	69,741	15.36¢
42	Clay Electric Coop Inc	Cooperative	3,267	51,105	15.76¢
43	City of Fairfield	Municipal	3,259	58,098	15.69¢
44	City of Sullivan	Municipal	3,077	58,926	13.10¢
45	City of Carmi	Municipal	3,068	46,027	19.01¢
46	City of Flora	Municipal	2,753	103,800	12.62¢
47	City of Breese	Municipal	2,570	50,454	12.67¢
48	City of Marshall	Municipal	2,558	56,928	12.75¢
49	City of McLeansboro	Municipal	2,513	22,935	15.10¢
50	City of Oglesby	Municipal	2,497	57,840	9.94¢
51	City of Red Bud	Municipal	2,344	44,914	12.91¢
52	Village of Freeburg	Municipal	2,297	37,457	14.42¢
53	City of Carlyle	Municipal	2,080	30,831	12.70¢
54	City of Casey	Municipal	1,842	25,530	10.91¢
55	Village of Riverton	Municipal	1,726	20,179	19.60¢
56	City of Newton	Municipal	1,657	23,783	14.34¢
57	City of Bushnell	Municipal	1,575	27,858	11.70¢
58	City of Altamont	Municipal	1,511	22,578	10.47¢
59	City of Farmer City	Municipal	1,270	15,579	14.31¢
60	Cairo Public Utility Company	Municipal	1,142	51,573	12.43¢
61	City of Roodhouse	Municipal	948	10,332	13.53¢
62	Village of Greenup	Municipal	914	17,473	12.97¢
63	Village of Bethany	Municipal	685	7,600	16.18¢
64	Village of Ladd	Municipal	677	9,722	14.71¢
65	City of Albany	Municipal	483	4,143	15.22¢
66	City of Allendale	Municipal	263	2,656	16.57¢
67	Scenic Rivers Energy Coop	Cooperative	12	139	13.31¢
68	University of Illinois	State-owned	1	5,492	11.25¢

Public power vs. co-ops in Illinois

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 Illinois 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 Illinois.