East Central Oklahoma Electric Cooperative is governed by our member-owners through our member-elected Board of Trustees. However, as a member of the energy industry, we also comply with federal and state policies and guidelines regarding the business of the cooperative. The purpose of this web page is to give our member-owners an understanding of East Central Electric Cooperative’s relationship to our industry partners and to federal and state agencies.
East Central is a distribution cooperative, meaning that we are responsible for delivering power from the substation to the individual homes and businesses of our members. East Central purchases power from two Generation and Transmission Cooperatives (G&Ts). Our G&Ts are KAMO Power, headquartered in Vinita, and Western Farmers, headquartered in Anadarko. East Central is a member-owner of both entities. A member of our Board of Trustees is appointed to the boards of both G&Ts to serve as our voice in the decision-making at that level.
Our G&Ts:
- Determine the power plants and resources that will be used to produce electricity in any given moment.
- Transmit thousands of megawatts of power across thousands of miles of high-voltage power line each day.
- Respond to federal regulations regarding the generation and transmission of electricity.
- Set the Power Cost Adjustment found on your electric bill based on the fluctuating cost of fuel used to produce electricity.
- Lead energy efficiency initiatives like our rebate program to reduce demand on our power grid.
Learn More:
- Visit kamopower.com
- Visit wfec.com
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is a regional transmission organization mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure and competitive wholesale electricity prices on behalf of its members. SPP acts as a balancing authority for a 14-state region, meaning they balance electricity production and use for the entire area they are mandated to oversee. SPP ensures there is sufficient generation to meet the demand for electricity. Our G&T Western Farmers is a member of the SPP. SPP communicates requirements to Western Farmers, who in turn supply power and emergency response communications to East central Electric Cooperative.
SPP has a three-level energy emergency alert plan.
Level 1: Declared when all available resources have been committed and SPP is at risk of not meeting required operating reserves.
Level 2: Declared when SPP can no longer provide the expected energy requirements. At this point, East Central will communicate with members, encouraging voluntary conservation.
Level 3: Declared when SPP is operating below the required minimum and may have to ask member utilities to curtail energy use through controlled service interruptions.
East Central will communicate with members in the event service interruptions are necessary.
East Central Oklahoma Electric Cooperative is not regulated by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC). However, our member-elected Board of Trustees has voted to follow the guidelines set out by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission regarding day-to-day operations and business practices. While East Central Electric Cooperative is not price regulated by the OCC, we continue to follow OCC guidelines for service reliability and for our Medical Necessity Program.
The Oklahoma Association of Electric Cooperatives (OAEC) is a trade association representing the 30 electric cooperatives that serve the state of Oklahoma. East Central members benefit from OAEC membership through legislative advocacy efforts, employee education, safety training and community involvement. OAEC oversees several programs that are popular with East Central members including Youth Tour, Energy Camp, and Energy Trails.
The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is a trade association that represents the interests of over 900 electric cooperatives in the United States. NRECA’s mission is to promote, support and protect the community and business interests of electric cooperatives. To power communities and empower members to improve the quality of their lives. The NRECA Board of Directors is comprised of representatives from every state; the board member currently representing Oklahoma’s electric cooperatives on this national level is East Central’s General Manager. This representation ensures electric co-ops in Oklahoma gain perspective on federal issues and policies related to infrastructure, broadband, environment, power supply, reliability, taxes, and financing. East Central’s membership in NRECA also ensures our employees have access to professional development opportunities and other employment benefits.
Touchstone Energy Cooperative is a membership organization representing a network of locally owned cooperatives across 45 states. Touchstone Energy provides resources and leverages partnership to help member cooperatives and their employees better engage and serve their member-owners. East Central members can see the benefits of our Touchstone Energy membership through use of the Co-op Connections Card, by participating in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey, or in some of East Central’s member communications resources, like this website.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) provides much-needed infrastructure and improvements to rural communities. These include water and waste treatment, electric power, and telecommunications services. Since the founding of East Central Electric Cooperative in 1938, we have relied on RUS loans to build, expand, maintain, upgrade, and modernize our electric grid to ensure the needs of our rural members are met. As a recipient of federal funds through this loan program, East Central Electric Cooperative is subject to several federal policies including, but not limited to, our Nondiscrimination Policy and our Competitive Bidding Policy.