How many electric cooperatives are in Virginia?

13 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail electricity sales to customers in Virginia in 2024, according to EIA. The largest is Northern Virginia Elec Coop, with 182,074 customers.

How many municipal and public power utilities are in Virginia?

16 — 15 municipal utilities, 1 state-owned utility — reported bundled retail sales in Virginia in 2024. The largest is City of Danville, with 42,984 customers.

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

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

Virginia Public Power & Electric Co-ops: Full List

Key takeaways

29 community-owned utilities: 15 municipal utilities, 1 state-owned utility and 13 electric cooperatives reported bundled retail sales in Virginia in 2024.
Together they served 872,132 of the state's 4,103,720 bundled retail customers (21%); 3 investor-owned utilities served most of the rest.
The largest public power utility is City of Danville, with 42,984 customers.
The largest electric co-op is Northern Virginia Elec Coop, with 182,074 customers.

Every public power utility and co-op in Virginia

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 29 utilities

#	Utility	Type	Customers	Sales, MWh	Avg. price
1	Northern Virginia Elec Coop	Cooperative	182,074	12,231,081	7.22¢
2	Rappahannock Electric Coop	Cooperative	180,962	4,069,232	12.63¢
3	Shenandoah Valley Elec Coop	Cooperative	100,827	2,397,259	12.14¢
4	Southside Electric Coop, Inc	Cooperative	59,338	939,880	14.60¢
5	City of Danville	Municipal	42,984	970,181	11.89¢
6	Central Virginia Electric Coop	Cooperative	39,573	714,870	14.84¢
7	A & N Electric Coop	Cooperative	37,341	705,648	11.91¢
8	Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative	Cooperative	31,934	1,851,386	7.36¢
9	City of Harrisonburg	Municipal	21,705	688,739	10.07¢
10	Northern Neck Elec Coop, Inc	Cooperative	20,658	283,877	16.02¢
11	City of Manassas	Municipal	16,624	394,352	10.66¢
12	Bristol Virginia Utilities	Municipal	16,485	446,318	10.51¢
13	City of Salem	Municipal	13,519	342,911	14.29¢
14	BARC Electric Coop Inc	Cooperative	13,097	171,827	16.56¢
15	Prince George Electric Coop	Cooperative	12,489	362,124	11.76¢
16	Community Electric Coop	Cooperative	11,967	204,949	13.59¢
17	Powell Valley Electric Coop	Cooperative	8,407	135,133	11.23¢
18	Town of Front Royal	Municipal	7,837	171,970	10.21¢
19	City of Martinsville	Municipal	7,737	154,555	14.38¢
20	City of Radford	Municipal	7,564	168,139	14.34¢
21	Craig-Botetourt Electric Coop	Cooperative	6,954	79,878	19.69¢
22	Town of Bedford	Municipal	6,939	166,575	12.02¢
23	Virginia Tech Electric Service	State-owned	6,849	329,025	14.49¢
24	Town of Culpeper	Municipal	5,855	108,014	13.93¢
25	City of Franklin	Municipal	5,722	134,197	10.35¢
26	Town of Richlands	Municipal	2,985	53,729	11.86¢
27	Town of Blackstone	Municipal	2,035	37,685	13.83¢
28	Town of Elkton	Municipal	1,129	24,188	8.02¢
29	Town of Wakefield	Municipal	542	11,035	13.23¢

Public power vs. co-ops in Virginia

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 Virginia 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 Virginia.