Welcome to the West Central Electric Cooperative website. West Central Electric is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative formed in 1939 to bring electricity to the rural areas of Lafayette, Johnson, eastern Jackson and a small portion of Cass and Pettis counties in west central Missouri.
Our catch-phrase, “Serving our members since 1939,” is not just a slogan that appears along with our logo and contact information. It is a daily way of life. West Central Electric exists to serve its members by providing the safest, most reliable electricity at the lowest possible cost. But we do more than that. We serve our local members by:
·supporting our local communities
·providing opportunities for our area youth
·educating our members on ways to save money on their energy bills
·providing safety and energy-efficiency programs to members and the general public, young and old.
We also look out for the best interests of our members by keeping up with current issues that affect electric consumers and joining our fellow cooperatives through Grassroots efforts to make sure our members have a voice.
So you see, being an electric cooperative means much more than just providing electricity. It means striving every day to make life for our members better, and to make a difference in the world in which they live.
A member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative, West Central Electric Cooperative was formed in 1939 to bring electricity to rural areas. Rural Missourians began the co-op when existing utilities believed that energizing the countryside wasn't a profitable venture.
There are 40 rural electric cooperatives in the state of Missouri. WCE now provides power to more than 13,600 meters through 2,600 miles of line in five counties, including Lafayette, Johnson, Eastern Jackson and a small part of Cass and Pettis counties.
Added in 2005, West Central Services LLC(link is external). offers Exede high-speed satellite internet service.
The company's headquarters is located in Higginsville, Missouri, with a branch office in Oak Grove, Missouri.
Our Mission
Electric cooperatives are locally-owned and operated businesses committed to putting their consumers first, and being responsive to local needs.
With the help of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who established the Rural Electrification Administration in 1935, friends and neighbors banded together to create a new kind of electric utility, where the voice of every person made a difference. Electric cooperatives brought electric power to the rural areas when no one else would.
Today, America’s electric cooperatives continue to answer that call. With the same focus on customer needs, today’s electric cooperatives provide much more than competitively-priced, reliable energy. They are committed to improving the quality of life in their communities and for the member-owners who live there.
3-Tier System
Where Your Electricity Comes From...
West Central Electric Cooperative purchases its power from NW Electric Power Cooperative. In turn, NW purchases its power from the cooperative-owned Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc., a generation cooperative. AECI headquarters in Springfield, Mo., was formed in 1962 with the idea of generating and coordinating the power supply of Missouri’s rural electric cooperatives.
AECI has a diversified mix of resources to serve its member systems, including 2,619 megawatts of coal-based generation that provides round-the-clock energy; 1,603 MW of efficient, low-emissions combined-cycle gas generation to meet load on higher use days; 655 MW of peaking oil and gas units for highest-use periods; 157 MW of renewable wind energy; 478 MW of renewable hydropower; and an integrated high-voltage transmission network.
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