A Touchstone Energy Cooperative

Key Statistics

  • Number of employees at Albemarle EMC - 38
  • Total assets as of 2008 - $56.2 million
  • Electricity sales in 2008 - $23.4 million
  • Average retail price of KWH - 11.2 cents
  • Miles of Energized Line - 1,351
  • Number of consumers - 12,324
  • Number of electric cooperatives in US - more than 900
  • Number of members served by electric cooperatives - 42 million

Total amount of capital credits refunded by Albemarle EMC by year:
Year Total Refund
2004 $182,520.47
2005 $178,355.83
2006 $146,269.23
2007 $171,171.47
2008 $176,234.60


864 distribution and 66 G&T cooperatives serve:
  • 42 million people in 47 states
  • 18 million businesses, homes, schools, churches, farms, irrigation systems, and other establishments in 2,500 of 3,141 counties in the U.S.
  • 12 percent of the nation's population

To perform their mission, electric cooperatives:
  • own assets worth $112 billion (distribution and G&T co-ops combined)
  • own and maintain 2.5 million miles, or 42%, of the nation’s electric distribution lines, covering three quarters of the nation's landmass
  • deliver 10 percent of the total kilowatt hours sold in the U.S. each year
  • generate nearly 5 percent of the total electricity produced in the U.S. each year
  • employ 70,000 people in the U.S.
  • retire $545 million in capital credits annually
  • pay $1.4 billion in state and local taxes


Electric Utility Comparisons Nationwide
Investor-Owned Publicly Owned Cooperatives Total
Number of Organizations 220 2,000 930 3,150
Number of Total Customers 102m 20m 17m 140m
Size (median number of customers) 400,000 2,000 12,500 --
Customers, % of total 73% 15% 12% --
Revenue, % of total 76% 14% 10% --
kWh sales, % of total 74% 16% 10% --


Sales(billions of kilowatt hours) Investor-Owned Publicly Owned Cooperatives Total
Residential 937 202 213 1,360
Commercial 1,017 207 75 1,285
Industrial 725 153 83 954
Other 4 3 0 7
Total 2,683 564 372 3,619
kWh sales, % of total 74% 16% 10% --


Investor-Owned Publicly Owned Cooperatives Total
Miles of Distribution Line 50% 7% 43% --
Customers per mile of line (density) 35 47 7.0 34
Revenue per mile of line $62,665 $86,302 $10,565 $60,827
Distribution plant per Customer $2,229 $2,309 $2,845 $2,362
Assets (billions) $700 $200 $100 $1,000
Equity (billions) $220 $55 $31 $306

Note: "Investor-Owned" includes data for IOU affiliates engaged in competitive retail markets where appropriate.

Source: 2005 EIA, RUS Data, CFC
NRECA Strategic Analysis ▪ Last Updated: February 2008