Recently, a community member asked me what makes electric co-ops different than other types of utilities. This month, I thought I’d tell you a few of the things I told her.

Because we’re a co-op, we operate a little differently than other utilities. Fulton County REMC’s (FCREMC) decisions are made locally, by directors who also live right here in our community. Everyone who pays to receive electricity from the co-op is a member. When you pay your electric bill each month, your money stays here — to pay for the electricity used, or to make improvements to our local system to strengthen service reliability. The money you pay the co-op doesn’t line the pockets of shareholders five states away. We’re a co-op, and we exist to provide a service to you, our local members.

You may notice that throughout the year, we schedule opportunities for you to attend co-op events — such as our annual meeting, EV ride and drive events, and fair booth — so we can hear from you. We also put a lot of information on our website and social media for those who can’t join us in person. We conduct surveys to gather your feedback on co-op programs and services so that we can plan and adjust for the future.

Our success lies in your satisfaction, which is why we offer these opportunities to engage and listen to what you have to say.

Because you are part of an electric cooperative, you can count on our team to maintain local jobs, safe, reliable and affordable electricity, and first-class service, no matter what the economy and supply chain issues throw at us.

Fulton County REMC is striving to keep our costs as low as possible so we can keep more money in your pocket. We want to help you maximize the value you can get from our services and offerings. For example, we can help you save on energy bills through our energy audit program and efficiency rebates.

If you want to keep up to date with FCREMC, please sign up for SmartHub and follow us on social media.

Please know that you, the members of FCREMC, are at the heart of everything we do. Co-ops adhere to seven guiding cooperative principles that reflect core values of honesty, transparency, integrity and service.

We exist to serve you and provide the quality, reliable, friendly service you expect and deserve. While we’ve grown over the years, we’re still driven by the same guiding principles to serve our community. We hope to see or hear from you soon. This co-op was created for you, the members. The power is in your hands.