The Cooperative Difference

The Cooperative Business Model

Cooperatives are businesses owned by the people they serve.

They come in many forms, including electric cooperatives, credit unions, food cooperatives and housing cooperatives. While the services they provide may be different, they share the same basic principle: the people who use the cooperative are also its owners.

That means a cooperative operates to serve the needs of its members, rather than outside investors. Members have a voice in how the cooperative is governed and share in the benefits of the business they collectively own.

DEMCO: A Local, Member-Owned Cooperative 

Our story began in 1938 when local communities came together to bring light and power where there was none. They didn’t have access to electricity like in big cities, but they had the tenacity to build something different - a member-owned cooperative to power local homes, schools, and businesses. 

As a not-for-profit electric distribution cooperative, we deliver electricity to homes and businesses across our service area, and we’re owned by the people we serve. 

Our cooperative is governed by a board of directors elected by—and from within—our membership. These board members are your neighbors. They help make decisions that prioritize reliability, affordability, and service, ensuring DEMCO stays rooted in the best interests of its members.

A Different Approach to Rates

As a not-for-profit cooperative, DEMCO does not set rates to generate profits for outside investors or shareholders.

Our rates are designed to recover the cost of providing electric service, including purchasing power, maintaining and improving the electric system, responding to outages and operating the cooperative.

When DEMCO collects more revenue than is needed to cover the cost of providing service, those margins are allocated back to members as capital credits. Capital credits represent each member’s share of the cooperative’s margins and may be returned to members over time as the cooperative’s financial condition allows.

It is another important difference of the cooperative business model: the financial benefits of the cooperative stay with the people who own it.

Local Decisions. Local Investment.

Because DEMCO is locally owned, the communities we serve are more than places on a service map. They are our communities, too.

We invest in local students, teachers, families and organizations through scholarships, educational programs, community partnerships and the DEMCO Foundation. Our employees live and work throughout the same communities we serve, and our decisions are made with the needs of our members and the long-term strength of our local communities in mind.

Built by Members. Still Serving Members.

Much has changed since DEMCO was formed in 1938, but the cooperative model has not.

We are still locally owned. Our members still elect their representatives to the Board. We still operate as a not-for-profit cooperative. And the people who receive electricity from DEMCO are still the people we are here to serve.

That is the cooperative difference.

Seven Cooperative Principles

Around the world—and right here at DEMCO—cooperatives are guided by seven core principles:

1) Voluntary and Open Membership
2)  Democratic Member Control
3)  Member Economic Participation
4)  Autonomy and Independence
5)  Education, Training, and Information
6)  Cooperation Among Cooperatives
7)  Concern for Community

About DEMCO

  • About | DEMCO is a local, not-for-profit electric cooperative formed in 1938, owned by the people who receive our services—our members.
  • Mission | DEMCO’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for our members, employees, and communities by safely providing reliable and competitively priced energy services.
  • Location | DEMCO is headquartered at 16262 Wax Road, Greenwell Springs, LA 70739, in East Baton Rouge Parish. DEMCO has member service centers located throughout our seven-parish service area.
  • Electric Distribution System | DEMCO purchases wholesale power and distributes it to our co-op members. Our state-of-the-art distribution and transmission system consists of 9,460 miles of line, 44 substations, transmission switching facilities, served through 10 metering points. Best-in-class technology ensures that power is distributed reliably and efficiently. 
  • Meters | DEMCO powers 120,168 meters that serve about half a million people in seven parishes: Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, Tangipahoa, and West Feliciana.
  • Number of Employees | DEMCO has 270 trade and professional employees.
  • Governance | DEMCO is governed by a 13-member local Board of Directors elected by the membership to serve a three-year term.
  • Economic Impact | DEMCO contributed $353 million to the local economy, supported 1,103 jobs annually in our local communities, and generated $93 million in state/local tax revenues (as reported in an NRECA study 2014-2018).

  • Regulation | DEMCO is regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC), an independent agency that manages Louisiana's public utilities and motor carriers. The commission has five elected members, chosen in single-member districts, serving staggered six-year terms.

  1. The Seven Cooperative Principles

    Voluntary and Open Membership

    Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.
    Handshake

  2. Democratic Member Control

    Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.
    Elections

  3. Members’ Economic Participation

    Members contribute equitably to and democratically control the capital of their cooperative. 
    Coin

  4. Autonomy and Independence

    Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. Democratic control and cooperative autonomy must be maintained when entering into any agreements with external sources.
    Puzzle Piece

  5. Education, Training, and Information

    Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public, particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefits of cooperation.
    Training

  6. Cooperation Among Cooperatives

    Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.
    Crowd

  7. Concern for Community

    While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.
    Trust