How many electric cooperatives are in Kentucky?

24 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail electricity sales to customers in Kentucky in 2024, according to EIA. The largest is Warren Rural Elec Coop Corp, with 76,434 customers.

How many municipal and public power utilities are in Kentucky?

30 — 30 municipal utilities — reported bundled retail sales in Kentucky in 2024. The largest is City of Bowling Green, with 32,517 customers.

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

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

Kentucky Public Power & Electric Co-ops: Full List

Key takeaways

54 community-owned utilities: 30 municipal utilities and 24 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail sales in Kentucky in 2024.
Together they served 1,108,574 of the state's 2,409,506 bundled retail customers (46%); 4 investor-owned utilities served most of the rest.
The largest public power utility is City of Bowling Green, with 32,517 customers.
The largest electric co-op is Warren Rural Elec Coop Corp, with 76,434 customers.

Every public power utility and co-op in Kentucky

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 54 utilities

#	Utility	Type	Customers	Sales, MWh	Avg. price
1	Warren Rural Elec Coop Corp	Cooperative	76,434	2,293,575	10.21¢
2	South Kentucky Rural E C C	Cooperative	71,383	1,236,388	12.11¢
3	Owen Electric Coop Inc	Cooperative	66,763	2,894,675	8.32¢
4	Blue Grass Energy Coop Corp	Cooperative	63,856	1,401,983	10.99¢
5	Kenergy Corp	Cooperative	59,702	5,448,676	6.70¢
6	Salt River Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	57,242	1,293,215	10.35¢
7	Jackson Energy Coop Corp	Cooperative	53,295	993,785	12.40¢
8	Pennyrile Rural Electric Coop	Cooperative	47,560	1,271,752	11.42¢
9	West Kentucky Rural E C C	Cooperative	39,101	886,505	10.98¢
10	Nolin Rural Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	38,741	741,963	11.72¢
11	City of Bowling Green	Municipal	32,517	864,213	10.44¢
12	Meade County Rural E C C	Cooperative	31,485	972,020	8.72¢
13	Jackson Purchase Energy Corporation	Cooperative	30,708	853,492	11.23¢
14	Clark Energy Coop Inc	Cooperative	28,347	434,733	12.98¢
15	Taylor County Rural E C C	Cooperative	28,281	552,403	11.12¢
16	Inter County Energy Coop Corp	Cooperative	28,017	583,481	11.75¢
17	Farmers Rural Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	26,901	483,594	12.33¢
18	City of Owensboro	Municipal	26,556	752,981	10.88¢
19	Tri-County Elec Member Corp (TN)	Cooperative	26,417	678,289	10.86¢
20	Fleming-Mason Energy Coop Inc	Cooperative	25,975	989,059	8.94¢
21	Cumberland Valley Electric, Inc.	Cooperative	24,182	518,662	10.97¢
22	City of Paducah	Municipal	22,762	524,909	14.66¢
23	City of Frankfort	Municipal	21,968	662,189	9.85¢
24	Shelby Energy Coop, Inc	Cooperative	18,076	471,317	11.33¢
25	Licking Valley Rural E C C	Cooperative	17,892	333,636	11.29¢
26	Grayson Rural Electric Coop Corp	Cooperative	15,597	285,603	13.31¢
27	City of Hopkinsville	Municipal	12,865	389,472	10.19¢
28	Big Sandy Rural Elec Coop Corp	Cooperative	12,611	200,207	13.15¢
29	Henderson City Utility Comm	Municipal	11,969	507,698	9.02¢
30	Madisonville Municipal Utils	Municipal	8,444	252,205	10.67¢
31	City of Murray	Municipal	7,938	253,778	10.68¢
32	City of Glasgow	Municipal	7,618	213,775	12.11¢
33	City of Nicholasville	Municipal	6,784	158,492	8.90¢
34	City of Franklin	Municipal	5,864	224,632	9.05¢
35	City of Berea Municipal Utility	Municipal	5,359	122,478	8.29¢
36	City of Mayfield Plant Board	Municipal	5,216	123,017	12.51¢
37	City of Bardstown	Municipal	4,840	180,521	8.08¢
38	Barbourville Utility Comm	Municipal	4,237	84,555	10.16¢
39	Corbin City Utilities Comm	Municipal	4,224	68,264	11.09¢
40	City of Russellville	Municipal	4,174	116,579	11.32¢
41	City of Princeton	Municipal	3,798	111,370	11.91¢
42	City of Paris	Municipal	3,433	52,416	9.45¢
43	Gibson Electric Members Corp	Cooperative	3,413	81,133	11.72¢
44	City of Vanceburg	Municipal	2,590	48,684	14.46¢
45	City of Benton	Municipal	2,570	69,834	12.39¢
46	City of Jellico	Municipal	2,121	28,051	13.46¢
47	Williamstown Utility Comm	Municipal	1,682	40,334	12.23¢
48	City of Fulton	Municipal	1,613	51,222	11.68¢
49	City of Providence	Municipal	1,324	24,077	13.61¢
50	City of Olive Hill	Municipal	1,257	20,952	15.08¢
51	City of Falmouth	Municipal	1,054	16,930	12.73¢
52	City of Hickman	Municipal	1,053	15,989	15.10¢
53	City of Bardwell	Municipal	494	7,417	12.05¢
54	City of Benham	Municipal	271	5,161	13.09¢

Public power vs. co-ops in Kentucky

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 Kentucky 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 Kentucky.