Clay Electric Co-operative, Inc. was established July 16, 1940 in Louisville, Illinois and first delivered electricity on September 9, 1944. From the original 39 miles of line, Clay has grown to 953 miles of line to serve member-owners in Clay, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Marion, Richland and Wayne counties in southeastern Illinois. Membership has grown from those first 41 services to 3,178 in 2006.
Early kilowatt-hour consumption by cooperative members averaged less than 202 kwh per month. By 2002, the average monthly usage has risen to approximately 900 kwh.
A dedicated and hard working group of determined farm people from Clay County laid the early groundwork for their cooperative. That same determination persists today at the cooperative, which provides employment for 12 local area residents. Clay Electric also pays nearly $325,000 a year in taxes, which provides funding for local schools, builds roads and bridges, and provides other valuable governmental services.
But Clay Electric Co-operative powers the region in other ways. In an increasingly competitive market, employees recognize the cooperative’s prosperity depends on the community’s prosperity. They know their work requires social and economic development. Experienced cooperative personnel are available to work with local citizens and organizations on projects or programs designed to benefit the families and businesses in the service area, members and non-members alike. An example of this is the Clay County Water project.
Members of Clay Electric Co-operative maintain control of their own electric business by operating on the principle of one member, one vote. Each year, members elect directors at their annual business meeting. A nine member Board of Directors meets monthly to carry out their responsibilities of setting policies and guiding the operations of the cooperative. The daily operations is managed by the Executive Vice-President/General Manager selected by the Board of Directors.
Clay Electric Co-operative is a member of the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives (AIEC), the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative NRTC.
