Southeastern Electric Cooperative, Inc.

What Southeastern Electric Cooperative, Inc. does

Southeastern Electric Cooperative, Inc. (SEC) is a member-owned, not-for-profit rural electric distribution cooperative serving residential, commercial, and agricultural members across southeastern South Dakota. Founded in 1939-1940 and headquartered at 47077 276th Street in Lennox, SD, with additional operations in Marion and Alcester, SEC acquired and distributes wholesale electricity from Basin Electric Power Cooperative and East River Electric Power Cooperative to its member-owners under an exclusive USDA rural electrification franchise territory.

The cooperative's core product is electric distribution service, delivered through its owned distribution infrastructure. Member-facing technology consists of the Smart Hub online portal (account management, billing, and service requests), a real-time outage map, and load control programs for demand management. Beyond core distribution, SEC offers levelized billing and prepay billing programs, plus a portfolio of rebates and incentives targeting commercial lighting, heat pumps (air-source, geothermal, mini-split), solar generation with renewable energy credits, electric vehicles, and water heaters. Community-facing programs include the Youth Tour to Washington D.C., Youth Excursion, scholarships, and the Who Powers You regional recognition contest.

SEC's business model is the classic electric cooperative framework: members receive electric service as owners, governance is democratic through annual meetings and an elected board of directors, and any revenues exceeding expenses are returned to members as capital credits. Billing is monthly, rates are not publicly disclosed, and growth is funded through long-term USDA loans (notably $59.1M in August 2023 and $45.3M in December 2024) alongside capital credit retentions. Marketing and member engagement are community-focused via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, the cooperative newsletter "Your Co-op Power," and media partnerships with Dakota News Now and Keloland Living, with operational scale measured at 51-100 employees.

Name

Southeastern Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Legal name

Southeastern Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Website

https://southeasternelectric.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1940

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Southeastern Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a member-owned, not-for-profit rural electric distribution cooperative founded in 1939-1940 that delivers electricity to residential, commercial, and agricultural members across southeastern South Dakota, operating from Lennox, SD.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electric Utility Distribution

NAICS

Electric Power Transmission, Control, and Distribution (22112), Electric Power Distribution (221122)

SIC

Electric Services (4911)

akta.pro primary industry

Electric Cooperatives (Rural/Member-Owned Utilities) (EUADABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Electric Distribution System Owners (Wires-Only Companies) (EUADABAI)

Keywords

• Electric distribution services
• Rural electric cooperative
• Electric power distribution
• Member-owned utility
• Energy efficiency programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Marion

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Electric Utility Service: Sale of electricity to residential, commercial, and agricultural member-owners. Operates as a not-for-profit cooperative where revenues exceed expenses are returned to members as capital credits.
2. Member Services and Programs: Various member programs including prepay billing, levelized billing, and energy efficiency rebates

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Southeastern Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a member-owned electric distribution cooperative that delivers electricity to residential, commercial, and agricultural member-owners across southeastern South Dakota through cooperative-owned distribution infrastructure. The cooperative supplements core power delivery with member-facing digital tools (Smart Hub portal, outage map), billing flexibility (levelized billing, prepay), and energy efficiency rebate programs, while returning surplus revenues to members as capital credits.

Product overview

Southeastern Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a member-owned electric utility providing electricity distribution services to residential, commercial, and agricultural customers. The cooperative offers a unified service platform centered on reliable power delivery, supplemented by member-facing digital tools including the Smart Hub online portal. Additional offerings include load management programs, flexible billing options (Levelized Billing and Prepay Program), energy efficiency rebates for commercial lighting and heat pumps, solar energy programs, electric vehicle incentives, and community programs such as scholarship awards, youth leadership tours, and the Who Powers You community recognition contest.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Electric Distribution Service Core electricity distribution service delivered to member-owners across southeastern South Dakota, providing reliable power to residential, commercial, and agricultural customers through cooperative-owned distribution infrastructure. Members become owners of the cooperative upon receiving service.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Basin Electric Power CooperativecoreOthersPrimary wholesale power supplier to Southeastern Electric Cooperative. Provides the bulk of electricity that SEC distributes to its members.
• East River Electric Power CooperativecoreOthersPrimary wholesale power supplier to Southeastern Electric Cooperative. Part of the power supply arrangement for member service.
• Touchstone Energy CooperativescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional partnership of Touchstone Energy Cooperatives including SEC. Jointly hosts community programs like Who Powers You contest, Youth Tour to Washington D.C., Scholar of the Week program, and other cooperative initiatives.
• Dakota News Now TelevisionminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMedia partnership for the Touchstone Energy Scholar of the Week program featuring high school students in the region.
• Keloland LivingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTelevision partnership featuring Who Powers You contest nominees and winners, and SEC community initiatives.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• East River Electric Power Cooperative: Generation-and-transmission cooperative and direct wholesale power supplier to SEC; member co-ops in eastern South Dakota serve overlapping rural distribution territories with the same cooperative model and Touchstone Energy affiliation.
• Basin Electric Power Cooperative: Wholesale power supplier to SEC and a large generation-and-transmission cooperative serving rural distribution co-ops across the Northern Plains under the same cooperative/regional power framework.
• Northern Electric Cooperative: South Dakota-based rural electric distribution cooperative serving member-owners under the USDA cooperative framework; directly comparable in scale, geography, and member-owned model.
• Central Electric Cooperative (SD): South Dakota distribution cooperative serving rural members in adjacent territory with the same member-owned, not-for-profit electric service model and USDA-backed infrastructure financing.
• Oahe Electric Cooperative: South Dakota-based rural electric distribution cooperative operating under the same USDA rural electrification framework with a comparable agricultural / residential member profile.
• Codington-Clarke Electric Cooperative: Northeastern South Dakota distribution cooperative; directly comparable member-owned rural utility with similar scale, agricultural load, and Touchstone Energy branding.
• Whetstone Valley Electric Cooperative: South Dakota distribution cooperative that delivers electricity to rural members in a comparable geography under the same federal cooperative framework.
• Heartland Energy: Generation-and-transmission cooperative serving distribution co-ops in the Northern Plains; comparable in scale and supply-chain role as a peer G&T to SEC's distribution operation.

Others

• Touchstone Energy Cooperatives: National alliance/brand cooperative of which SEC is a member; provides marketing, branding, Youth Tour, and Scholar of the Week programs that SEC leverages, serving as an enabling network for member co-ops of similar profile.

Regional players

• Sioux Valley Energy: Minnesota-based cooperative serving a nearby territory with the same rural member-owned distribution model; useful regional benchmark for SEC's operating practices though operating across a state border.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/southeasternelectric/?fref=ts
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/southeastern-electric-cooperative-inc
• Instagraminstagram.com/southeasternelectric
• Xx.com/SE_Electric

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Southeastern Electric Cooperative, Inc.