Midwest Electric customers can serve on the Board of Trustees. The Board creates policies and the co-op’s strategic plan; oversees management; and sets electric rates. So the members of Midwest Electric, through the Board, set their own electric rates! All co-op members also have the opportunity to vote in the annual Board elections.

You have equity ownership in your electric cooperative, based on the amount of electricity you buy. Part of your electric payment is used by the cooperative to rebuild power lines, upgrade substations, replace transformers and do other electric infrastructure upgrades. After a number of years, that equity payment is returned to you and you receive a credit on your electric bill. Typically, the credit covers about an entire month’s electric cost!

We serve 11,000 homes, farms and businesses in seven west central Ohio counties, and our office is near St. Marys. We donate $50,000 every year to area charities, and our economic development revolving loan fund helps attract and keep companies and jobs in the area.

We’re easy to reach and eager to discuss your concerns and questions. We’re small enough to care, and department managers and the CEO are just a phone call away.

From keeping an eye on costs in order to maintain competitive electric rates; to adopting the latest technology to enhance your access to electric use data and technology to improve power reliability, our focus is clear and simple: We exist to serve our member-owners.

Here’s a quick video on Midwest Electric.

Since 1936, we have successfully upheld a tradition of service excellence. Our strength is our relationship with our customers – the Power of Human Connections.

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, electric cooperatives need to take advantage of the most important asset we have that distinguishes us from all other electric utilities: our ties to community and a promise that we are consumer-driven businesses.

As a Touchstone Energy™ Cooperative, we have joined hundreds of electric cooperatives nationwide in sharing resources and working to promote integrity, innovation, accountability and community that sets us apart from other service providers.

Working on a school project? Or just want to know more about the world’s most efficient, effective and productive tool? Click here to learn about electricity. And this other brief report explains how electricity is measured.

Back in the early 1930s, commercial power companies provided electricity to customers residing in cities and urban centers, but mostly ignored rural areas because they were not seen as profitable areas to serve. For rural residents, the cost of getting central station electrical service – even if they could obtain it – was prohibitive. The cost of the kilowatt hours for residents was much higher than for urban dwellers. Working together, local farmers and other rural residents created an electric cooperative to supply their power and bring the countryside out of the dark. Learn more about rural electrification in America at www.powerforparkinsons.com.

May 11, 1935: Establishing REA

On May 11, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 7037 establishing the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), part of his New Deal. The goal was to bring the benefits of electricity to rural America. The REA offered funds to private power companies and cooperatives for poles, wire and other materials to construct power lines. Only member-formed electric cooperatives responded.

March 17, 1936: Co-op Incorporated

Midwest Electric, Inc. was incorporated March 17, 1936. A group of rural people from western Ohio decided to take advantage of REA funding and formed an electric cooperative. They initially named the cooperative the Western Ohio Farm Bureau Electric Cooperative. The name was changed to Midwest Electric, Inc. in 1938.

To improve the quality of life for our members and communities by safely providing reliable electricity, superior customer service, and innovative energy solutions at competitive prices.

That Midwest Electric is a respected and innovative leader in providing our member-owners with superior quality electric and customer services at competitive prices while supporting our local communities.

• We believe in the importance of employee and public safety.
• We believe in the importance of always treating our member-owners, employees and others with dignity and respect.
• We believe in the 1st cooperative principle of voluntary and open membership.
• We believe in the 2nd cooperative principle of democratic member control.
• We believe in the 3rd cooperative principle of members’ economic participation.
• We believe in the 4th cooperative principle of autonomy and independence.
• We believe in the 5th cooperative principle of education, training and information.
• We believe in the 6th cooperative principle of cooperation among cooperatives.
• We believe in the 7th cooperative principle of concern for community.
• We believe in integrity – doing what is right for our members and community.
• We believe in accountability for our actions.
• We believe in innovation as being necessary to create new frontiers for the delivery of services.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs).

Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident. Person with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape , American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202)720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800)877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English. To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_ filing_cust.html and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1)mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov. This institution is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.