Energy Sense

Managing Costs Across the Grid

Electric co-ops have an important advantage serving members with affordable, reliable power

August 2026

Your electric cooperative has a unique and important advantage in serving its members with affordable, reliable electricity: the strength of a statewide network. By working closely together—leveraging their collective strength and sharing innovative ideas—North Carolina’s 26 electric cooperatives are able to manage costs across the grid.

Meeting Growing Demand

Demand for power is growing nationally. Co-ops work to negotiate the best possible contracts on large power purchases and manage peak demand every day. Decades ago, electric co-ops formed the North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation (NCEMC) to help manage generation and transmission needs. Today, NCEMC owns power generation plants, purchases power through contracts, identifies innovative energy projects and coordinates transmission resources for its members.

Collective Buying Power

The state’s electric cooperatives pool their buying power through the Tarheel Electric Membership Association (TEMA). By working together, co-ops reduce the impact of rising material costs on everything from poles and wires to energy storage projects.

Advocating for Affordability

NC electric co-ops advocate at the General Assembly and in Washington, D.C., in coordination with their trade association, the North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives (NCAEC). Together they form a powerful voice on issues that affect rural communities and power affordability.

Innovative Resource Management

North Carolina’s electric co-ops are national leaders in collective management of 600 megawatts of distributed energy resources, including battery storage sites, microgrids, solar projects and member-owned generation.

Over the course of their history, NC co-ops have formed organizations to support the work they do, each with its own governing board of directors made up of representatives from each member co-op. Today, this family of organizations—NCEMC, NCAEC and TEMA—is collectively known as North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives.