Cooperatives are not a new way of doing business. Modern co-ops got their start when the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society founded a highly successful consumer co-op in 1844.Walton EMC was formed in 1936 when seven community leaders each gave $1 toward the organizational expenses of the co-op, which would provide electricity to residents in rural...
Cooperatives are not a new way of doing business. Modern co-ops got their start when the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society founded a highly successful consumer co-op in 1844.
Walton EMC was formed in 1936 when seven community leaders each gave $1 toward the organizational expenses of the co-op, which would provide electricity to residents in rural northeast Georgia. Investor-owned utilities figured it wasn’t profitable enough to run lines through these areas because the customer base was sparse. That meant local residents had to do it themselves.
That sparse country grew into the suburbs of today. But the idea of a customer-owned electric company is as viable now as it was then.