Utility cooperative in the context of Dividend

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) represents the interests of over 900 electric cooperatives in the United States. Cooperatives are not-for-profit and are owned by their membership. Founded in 1942, NRECA unites the country's generation, transmission, and distribution cooperatives found in 47 states, serving over 40 million people. It is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, and since 2016 its CEO has been former U.S. Congressman Jim Matheson.

Electric cooperatives serve 12 percent of the nation's population, yet own 42 percent of America's distribution lines covering three-quarters of the country. Currently, over 90% of electric cooperatives include renewable generation in their portfolios, receiving 11 percent of their total power from renewable sources compared to 8 percent for the entire utility sector.

A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Many co-operatives, however, do have a degree of profit orientation. Just like other corporations, some co-operatives issue dividends to owners based on a share of total net profit or earnings (all owners typically receive the same amount); or based on a percentage of the total amount of purchases made by the owner. Regardless of whether they issue a dividend or not, most consumers' co-operatives will offer owners discounts and preferential access to goods and services.

Consumers' co-operatives often take the form of retail outlets owned and operated by their consumers, such as food co-ops. However, there are many types of consumers' co-operatives, operating in areas such as health care, insurance, housing, utilities and personal finance (including credit unions).