Fairfield Electric Cooperative

What Fairfield Electric Cooperative does

Fairfield Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric distribution cooperative founded in 1938 and headquartered at 701 Blythewood Road, Blythewood, South Carolina, with a secondary office in Winnsboro. It distributes electricity under an exclusive state-granted franchise to approximately 30,000 residential and business members across Chester, Kershaw, Richland, and Fairfield counties, governing itself through a member-elected Board of Trustees and annual member meetings. The cooperative employs between 51 and 100 people and operates the full physical distribution stack — poles, lines, transformers, smart grid assets for demand response, and an outage management system — alongside a self-service online billing portal at billing.fairelec.com.

Revenue is generated through a regulated two-part tariff: a fixed basic facilities charge of $19.00 per month and a volumetric energy charge of $0.13225 per kWh, both subject to monthly wholesale power cost adjustments. An approximately 7% rate increase took effect September 2025 in response to a doubling of utility pole, transformer, and wholesale power costs over the prior five years. Beyond commodity electricity, Fairfield Electric monetizes its member base through demand-response programs (Smart Thermostat Program launched January 2026, Beat the Peak alerts), distributed generation (Community Solar, Residential Solar Calculator), home services (Surge Guard, Security Services, H2O Select, Outdoor Lighting, Water Heater Maintenance), transportation electrification (EV Program), and member-benefit/community programs (Capital Credits, Operation Round Up, Co-op Connections Card, Touchstone Energy Scholarships, Washington Youth Tour, Cooperative Youth Summit, TREEMendUs).

The cooperative is a member of Touchstone Energy Cooperatives and affiliated with the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina, which together provide national branding, advocacy, and youth-program coordination. Distribution is direct-to-member through owned infrastructure, with self-service digital and in-person channels, and the cooperative experienced its largest outage event since Hurricane Hugo (1989) when Hurricane Helene in September 2024 disrupted service to more than 16,000 members.

Name

Fairfield Electric Cooperative

Legal name

Fairfield Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Website

https://fairfield.coop

Company type

Private

Founded year

1938

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Fairfield Electric Cooperative is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric distribution cooperative founded in 1938 that delivers electricity to roughly 30,000 residential and business members across four South Carolina counties from offices in Blythewood and Winnsboro.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electric Utility Distribution

NAICS

Electric Power Distribution (221122)

SIC

Electric Services (4911)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Electric utility distribution
• Demand response programs
• Community solar energy
• Cooperative member services
• Energy efficiency programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Blythewood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Electricity Distribution: The cooperative generates revenue through electricity distribution to residential and business members. Revenue comes from a combination of fixed basic facilities charges and variable energy charges based on kilowatt-hours consumed.
2. Basic Facilities Charge: Monthly fixed charge of $19.00 per month covering the fixed costs associated with providing electricity to a member's meter including equipment, materials, insurance, property tax, and other operating costs.
3. Energy Charges: Variable charges at $0.13225 per kWh for all electricity consumed by members. Additional wholesale power cost adjustments may apply monthly.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Fairfield Electric Cooperative distributes electricity to roughly 30,000 residential and business members across Chester, Kershaw, Richland, and Fairfield counties in South Carolina through owned poles, wires, transformers, and smart grid infrastructure. It supplements delivery with member programs such as Smart Thermostat demand response, Beat the Peak, Community Solar, Surge Guard, Outdoor Lighting, Security Services, Water Heater Maintenance, H2O Select, and an Electric Vehicles program, all operated on a not-for-profit cooperative basis.

Product overview

Fairfield Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit electric utility cooperative providing electricity distribution to members in South Carolina. The cooperative offers a portfolio of energy management programs and member services including demand response programs (Smart Thermostat Program, Beat the Peak), renewable energy options (Community Solar, Residential Solar Calculator), home protection services (Surge Guard, Security Services, Water Heater Maintenance, Outdoor Lighting, H2O Select), and community programs (Operation Round Up, TREEMendUs, scholarships, and youth programs). The cooperative also provides online account management, billing options, and energy efficiency tools including the Residential Energy Advisor.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Residential Electric Service Standard residential electricity distribution service for members in Chester, Kershaw, Richland, and Fairfield counties in South Carolina, billed via a $19.00 monthly basic facilities charge plus $0.13225 per kWh energy charge.
• Smart Thermostat Program Demand response program that syncs enrolled members' compatible smart thermostats (Amazon, Copeland, Ecobee, Emerson, Honeywell) to make automatic set-point adjustments during peak times, pre-conditioning homes to reduce peak demand and lower power costs; participants receive a $50 bill credit on enrollment and $50 annually thereafter.
• Beat the Peak Voluntary program that sends alerts to members during peak-use times, encouraging reduction of energy use through tips like adjusting thermostats by three degrees, turning off lights, delaying major appliance use, and postponing hot water use.
• Community Solar Shared solar generation program that lets members participate in solar energy without installing rooftop panels on their own property.
• Surge Guard Surge protection service for member homes to guard electrical equipment and appliances against power surges.
• Outdoor Lighting Outdoor lighting service providing exterior lighting equipment and energy to members for residential or commercial properties.
• Fairfield Electric Security Services Security services offered to cooperative members for residential or commercial properties.
• Water Heater Maintenance Maintenance service for member water heaters to support reliability and efficiency of electric water heating equipment.
• H2O Select Water-related efficiency program for members intended to optimize hot water usage and reduce energy waste.
• Electric Vehicles (EV) Program Programs and resources for members with electric vehicles, including EV-related information and tools operated through a third-party platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,862 member-participants in 2026 Annual Meeting
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Touchstone Energy CooperativescoreOthersFairfield Electric is a member of Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, a national network of electric cooperatives. The partnership provides access to resources, branding, scholarship programs (Touchstone Energy Scholarships), and cooperative networking. The cooperative participates in Touchstone Energy initiatives and uses the Touchstone Energy brand identity.
• Electric Cooperatives of South CarolinacoreOthersState-level association of electric cooperatives in South Carolina. Co-sponsors Children's Book Challenge and youth programs with member cooperatives. Provides coordination among the state's electric cooperatives for advocacy, education, and community programs.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Touchstone Energy Cooperatives: National alliance of electric cooperatives of which Fairfield Electric is a core member. Comparable as the umbrella organization that provides branding, scholarship programs, and shared resources to Fairfield Electric and similar cooperatives nationwide.
• Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina: State-level trade association of electric cooperatives in South Carolina. Fairfield Electric is a member and co-sponsors youth programs and community initiatives with the association. Comparable as the state-level ecosystem that supports Fairfield Electric's advocacy and program coordination.

Direct peers

• Santee Electric Cooperative: Electric distribution cooperative serving members in the Santee region of South Carolina. Operates with the same cooperative model, state regulatory framework, and member-owned structure, providing a directly comparable peer for benchmarking operations and rates.
• Aiken Electric Cooperative: South Carolina electric distribution cooperative serving Aiken County and surrounding areas. Directly comparable as a member-owned rural electric cooperative with similar service territory characteristics, member engagement programs, and demand response initiatives.
• Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative: Member-owned electric distribution cooperative serving the Midlands region of South Carolina. Directly comparable to Fairfield Electric in business model, member-owned structure, regulatory environment, and product/service portfolio including demand response and community solar programs.
• Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative: Electric distribution cooperative serving the Upstate region of South Carolina. Touchstone Energy-affiliated cooperative with member-owned structure and similar demand response and community solar programs, making it directly comparable to Fairfield Electric.
• Palmetto Electric Cooperative: Electric distribution cooperative serving the Lowcountry of South Carolina including Hilton Head area. Operates with the same Touchstone Energy affiliation and member-owned cooperative model, providing a directly comparable peer in operations scale, rate structure, and community program offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Duke Energy: Major investor-owned electric utility serving the broader South Carolina market, including adjacent territories to Fairfield Electric. Comparable in that it provides electric distribution service in the same state, but operates at vastly greater scale with full vertical integration from generation to distribution.
• Dominion Energy South Carolina: Investor-owned electric and gas utility serving parts of South Carolina, with overlapping electric distribution operations. Comparable in product category and regulatory environment but operates at much larger scale as a vertically integrated utility with significant generation assets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FairfieldCoopSC

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Fairfield Electric Cooperative