A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity or telecommunications to its members. Profits are either reinvested for infrastructure or distributed to members in the form of "capital credits", essentially dividends paid on a member's investment into the cooperative. A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) is an association of persons who join together to carry on an economic activity of mutual benefit. ... A public utility is a company that maintains the infrastructure for a public service. ... Electricity is a general term applied to phenomena involving a fundamental property of matter called an electric charge // Related concepts Lightning strikes during a night-time thunderstorm. ... Telecommunication is the extension of communication over a distance. ... Profit is a positive return made on an investment by an individual or by business operations. ... A dividend is the distribution or sharing of parts of profits to a companys shareholders. ... Investment or investing is a term with several closely-related meanings in finance and economics. ...

Each customer is a shareholder with equal say as every other member of the cooperative, unlike investor-owned utilities where the amount of say is governed by the number of shares held. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or company (including a corporation) that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a joint stock company. ...

Many such cooperatives exist in the rural United States, and were created by the New Deal to bring electric power and telephone service to rural areas. These include the electric membership corporations (EMCs), which may in turn belong to wholesale co-ops of their own. The New Deal is the name given to the series of programs used by Franklin Delano Roosevelt with the goal of stabilizing, reforming and stimulating the United States economy in the Great Depression. ... The telephone or phone (Greek: tele = far away and phone = voice) is a telecommunications device which is used to transmit and receive sound (most commonly voice and speech) across distance. ... Rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Sheep eating grass in rural Australia Rural areas are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. ... Wholesale is the commercial sale and distribution of commodities (often in large quantities) by a wholesaler to retailers or to businesses and other organizations in the industrial, commercial, and institutional sectors (possibly including other wholesalers). ...

Many strive to bring the best service at the lowest possible cost, but often the high cost of maintaining the infrastructure needed to cover large, rural areas without the support of large cities as a rich customer base causes prices to be high. However, a few such co-ops have managed to tap into urban markets and have proven to be very cost-effective.

See also

• Rural Utilities Service
• Vector Limited a 75% utility coop in New Zealand

The Rural Utilities Service, formerly the Rural Electrification Administration is charged with providing utilities (electricity, telephone, water, sewer, etc. ... Vector Limited is a company in New Zealand. ...

External links

• Touchstone Energy, an association of U.S. energy utility co-ops.
• Georgia Electric Membership Corp., a statewide support and trade association for the 42 EMCs in Georgia
• Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, a group of 17 electric cooperatives serving areas of Arkansas
• GEMC GEORGIA Magazine, (formerly RURAL GEORGIA magazine) the official publication of the Electric Membership Cooperatives (EMCs) in Georgia