Park Electric Cooperative. Established as a member owned utility in 1939, Park Electric provides electric distribution service to rural residents in most of Park and portions of Sweet Grass, Gallatin and Meagher Counties. Cooperatives like Park Electric are local, active members of their communities dedicated to serving commercial, industrial, agricultural and residential customers with integrity, accountability, innovation and commitment to community.Park Electric operates to provide at-cost electric service to consumer-owners. On the other hand, investor-owned utilities are operated to maximize profit for the shareholders. A co-op's net margin above expenses and reserves does not belong to the utility; it belongs to the individual consumer-owners of the co-op. The margins must either be used to improve or maintain operations or be distributed to the co-op's consumer-owners.Cooperatives like Park Electric set high customer-focused standards to ensure their customers are getting the reliable, world-class service that only consumer-owned utilities can provide.