Clark Energy Coop

Clark Energy Cooperative is a not-for-profit electric utility headquartered in Winchester, Kentucky. We provide electric service to more than 26,000 customers in 11 east central Kentucky counties. As a cooperative, we differ from investor-owned utilities in that we are owned by the members we serve and not by stockholders in another area. Clark Energy is governed by a board of nine directors that are elected from each district of the membership and are responsible for establishing our policies and procedures.

Mission

Corporate Existence: To operate the Cooperative as an enterprise on a continuing and progressive basis in accordance with its charter and other legal and contractual requirements.

Electric Service: To assure the availability of high quality electric service in adequate quantity, that meets environmental standards, to all persons within the cooperative service area at the lowest practical cost consistent with sound business practices.

Member Relations: To keep member-owners informed on the affairs of the Cooperative and strive to achieve and maintain widespread understanding, involvement, and participation of the member-owners in the affairs of their Cooperative, and provide them with a real sense of ownership through the demonstration of cooperative principles and democratic processes.

Area Development: To stimulate and support rural area development programs, especially those which will increase and stabilize the economic level of the Cooperative’s service area, including those programs which will provide the greatest opportunity for the development of the most important resource—people.

Organization: To attain maximum beneficial use of available manpower, physical, and financial resources through sound organizational structure, utilization of improved methods of operation, new equipment and techniques, coordination, federated services, and a continuous program of self-evaluation and improvement.

Capital: To seek to develop adequate sources of capital for the system to assure that the Cooperative can carry out its full utility responsibility and its obligations as a corporate citizen and provide a means whereby the member-owners can help to build and maintain their Cooperative by contributing a reasonable amount of essential capital.

Co-op Difference

Electric cooperatives, like all cooperative forms of business, are locally owned and operated. Clark Energy Cooperative is a local business, owned by the people we serve. That means conducting business through a locally elected board of directors and an annual meeting where policy is proposed and voted on by its member-owners. It’s the “people” part—the personal involvement, the grassroots activities—that characterizes what we and other electric cooperatives are all about.

It is because Clark Energy is a local, not-for-profit business, owned by its member-owners, and staffed by local professionals that we are in a good position to listen and respond to your needs and concerns. Helping our member-owners save energy, working to improve the local economy, and promoting education and safety among our student population are just a few of the things other than providing electricity that proves we are more than just an electric utility. We are concerned about the quality of life in the communities we serve and want to help friends, neighbors, and business colleagues—the people you see on a day-to-day basis—reach toward new horizons to make life better for everyone.

As a cooperative, Clark Energy operates by the seven cooperative principles:

•Voluntary and Open Membership

Cooperatives are voluntary organizations open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.

•Democratic Member Control

Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the general membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights—one member, one vote.

•Members’ Economic Participation

Members contribute to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

•Autonomy and Independence

Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.

•Education, Training, and Information

Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public—particularly young people and opinion leaders—about the nature and benefits of cooperation.

•Cooperation among Cooperatives

Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures.

•Concern for Community

While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.

History

The idea of electricity was slow to arrive to the nation’s rural areas, but when it did, it transformed rural society forever. Clark Energy Cooperative’s own history began when farmers from all across the country and their neighbors joined together to form electric cooperative to make certain they would not be deprived of the conveniences of electricity. For more than 70 years, Clark Energy Cooperative has provided light, heat, and many more comforts with just the flip of a switch to thousands of people in east central Kentucky.

Incorporating

On March 17, 1938, the Articles of Incorporation for Clark Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation were signed. In an office on Court Street in Winchester, Kentucky, the first meeting of the incorporation was called to order by J. Hughes Evans, who subsequently was chosen chairman. Other members present included E. Ward May, J. L. Skinner, Gerald W. Robinson, Alfa J. Ballard, Prewitt Davis, and Virgil Barnes.

Membership Meeting

The first membership meeting after incorporating was held August 20, 1938, with seven members present. The purpose of the meeting was to authorize construction and operation of electric transmission, distribution, and service facilities in Bourbon, Clark, Estill, Fayette, Madison, Montgomery, and Powell counties and to authorize borrowing $1.5 million from REA.

Clark’s first annual meeting was held January 5, 1939, and by March 2 of that year, the cooperative had 104 members.

Same Service . . . A New Name

The cooperative, which changed its name to Clark Energy Cooperative in 1998, now serves more than 26,000 meters in 11 counties. Its power supplier remains East Kentucky Power Cooperative, located in Winchester.

Also in 1998, Clark Energy became a part of the Touchstone Energy family of over 750 Touchstone Energy cooperatives in 46 states. This branding initiative enables us to offer more resources and bring added value to our members.