The building of a cooperative legacy

There are nearly 30,000 cooperatives in the United States, providing products and services ranging from food to electricity.

The birthplace of the modern cooperative was England. A group of weavers and artisans from Rochdale banded together in the early 1800s to start a store that followed principles now known as the Rochdale Principles. The principles basically stated that the store was open to all to join and patronize, independently governed by those it served. Each member had one vote and equal shares in the success of the business. These principles became the foundation of the cooperatives we know today, including ECE, your local electric cooperative.

Electric cooperatives are present in 47 states and deliver power to 42 million Americans. Because of the rural nature of electric cooperative service areas, the percentage of American consumers served is 12 percent, but the power lines needed to deliver the electricity cover about 75 percent of the United States. The reach of the local electric cooperative goes beyond U.S. borders to countries throughout the world. In the last 50 years, electric cooperatives have delivered light and hope to 100 million people in more than 40 countries.

ECE is proud of its 75-year heritage. Electricity that we rely on today started with a desire to improve lives. Rural Americans had been living in the dark, while urbanites were enjoying the light. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt saw the need for all Americans to reap the benefits of electricity. In 1935, he signed Executive Order 7037, which made funding and resources available to rural communities to build an electric system. That was just the beginning of the enlightenment of rural America. Your local electric cooperative began when a 1935 letter to Pine County's newspaper editors planted the seed, and local farmers rose to the challenge. Combining brainpower and brawn, they built themselves an electric system and started the legacy that delivers power to over 57,000 homes, farms and businesses.

International Year of the Cooperative begins in 2012 to celebrate the vital roles cooperatives play in communities they serve. Join the celebration by learning more about the co-ops you are a part of. It may surprise you.

USA International Year of Cooperatives website