Ozark Border Electric Cooperative

What Ozark Border Electric Cooperative does

Ozark Border Electric Cooperative is a member-owned rural electric distribution cooperative founded in 1938 and headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. It distributes electricity to residential, farm, commercial, industrial, irrigation, and public-service members across an eleven-county franchise territory in southeastern Missouri (Butler, Carter, Oregon, Shannon, Reynolds, Wayne, Ripley, Bollinger, Stoddard, New Madrid, Dunklin). Operations are governed by a 12-member board elected from four districts under bylaws updated August 11, 2023, and delivered through five physical offices (Poplar Bluff HQ, Malden, Puxico, Van Buren, Doniphan) plus digital channels. The cooperative positions itself under the slogan "Owned By Those Served," with surplus revenues returned to members as capital credits rather than distributed as profit.

The core product is regulated electric distribution through owned substations, distribution lines, and metering assets. Member-facing technology centers on SmartHub (web and iOS/Android) for bill payment, usage monitoring, and outage reporting — adopted by 10,000+ members — supplemented by a real-time Outage Map and an automated 32-line, 24/7/365 outage reporting telephone system. The product portfolio extends to an Energy Efficiency Rebate Program (heat pumps, water heaters, smart thermostats, mini-splits), Net-Metering and Cogeneration programs supporting member-owned renewables, multiple billing options (levelized, budget, prepaid), and generator safety guidance. No AI/ML, proprietary model, or external API platform is disclosed.

Revenue is generated through usage-based tariff schedules across six classes — Residential/Farm (Schedule 1 & 61), Commercial (Schedule 2 & 62), Industrial/Large Power (Schedule 31 & 63), Irrigation (Schedule 4, 40, 45), Street and Security Lighting (Schedule 5), and Public Services (Schedule 6 & 66) — combining daily availability charges with per-kWh energy charges and a cost-of-power adjustment triggered when wholesale power costs exceed 6.07 cents per kWh. As a cooperative, Ozark Border is not publicly traded, has no parent company, no external investors, no disclosed revenue, and no M&A or funding history in the input data; its addressable market is structurally capped by its exclusive territorial franchise.

Name

Ozark Border Electric Cooperative

Legal name

Ozark Border Electric Cooperative

Website

https://ozarkborder.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1938

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ozark Border Electric Cooperative is a member-owned rural electric distribution cooperative founded in 1938 in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, delivering regulated power and digital member services to residential, agricultural, commercial, industrial, and irrigation members across eleven southeastern Missouri counties.

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

• Rural electric distribution
• Electric utility services
• Member-owned cooperative
• Energy efficiency rebates
• Outage management services

Headquarters

HQ city

Poplar Bluff

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Electric Energy Sales: Primary revenue from sale of electricity to residential, farm, commercial, industrial, and irrigation customers. Revenue is generated through availability charges (daily fees) plus per kilowatt-hour (kWh) consumption charges. The cooperative also applies cost of power adjustments when wholesale power costs exceed 6.07 cents per kWh.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ozark Border Electric Cooperative is a member-owned rural electric cooperative that distributes electricity to residential, farm, commercial, industrial, irrigation, and public-service customers across southeastern Missouri through its owned substations, distribution lines, and metering infrastructure. It supplements core distribution with a SmartHub digital member portal (web and mobile app), a real-time outage map, 24/7 automated outage reporting, energy-efficiency rebate programs, net-metering and cogeneration programs, multiple billing options, and dedicated local offices across its service territory.

Product overview

Ozark Border Electric Cooperative is a member-owned rural electric utility serving southeastern Missouri. The cooperative provides electricity distribution across multiple rate schedules (residential, commercial, industrial, irrigation, and lighting) through its core service network. Members interact with the cooperative primarily through SmartHub, a customer portal enabling bill payment, usage monitoring, and outage reporting. The cooperative also offers energy efficiency rebates for qualifying equipment (heat pumps, smart thermostats, mini-split systems), net-metering for renewable energy producers, and outage management tools including a real-time outage map. The service portfolio is completed by various billing options (bank drafts, levelized billing, prepaid metering) and safety programs including generator safety guidance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Electric Distribution Service Core electric power distribution service delivering electricity through cooperative-owned substations, distribution lines, and metering systems to residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural members throughout the service territory.
• SmartHub Member Portal Customer-facing web portal and mobile app that lets members pay bills, view usage information, report outages, and manage their electric accounts. Adopted by more than 10,000 members.
• Real-time Outage Map Public web-based outage mapping system that displays areas affected by power outages and the number of member accounts impacted in real time.
• Energy Efficiency Rebate Program

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 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 minor and core.

• Missouri One CallminorOthersMissouri One Call is a free service that notifies utilities of planned excavation to help prevent damages from digging. Ozark Border participates in this system to locate underground lines before excavation projects, protecting infrastructure and preventing service interruptions.
• Members FirstminorOthersMembers First is referenced as a cooperative-affiliated organization, potentially offering additional member benefits or services to Ozark Border members.
• Take Control & SaveminorOthersEnergy efficiency program partner offering resources and programs to help members manage energy consumption and reduce costs.
• Rural Missouri MagazineminorOthersStatewide publication of Missouri's electric cooperatives featuring people and places of rural Missouri, helping connect members to cooperative news and community stories.
• SmartHub Platform ProvidercoreTechnology or IntegrationSmartHub is a digital member services platform enabling bill payment, usage monitoring, outage reporting, and account management. The cooperative reports over 10,000 members actively using the app.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Boone Electric Cooperative: A Missouri rural electric distribution cooperative serving central Missouri with similar member-owned governance, diversified rate classes, and SmartHub digital member platform.
• Co-Mo Electric Cooperative: A Missouri-based rural electric distribution cooperative offering fiber broadband alongside electric service. Comparable in cooperative structure and digital member engagement, with a notable diversification into communications infrastructure.
• Three Rivers Electric Cooperative: A Missouri rural electric distribution cooperative serving members in central Missouri with similar member-owned structure, residential/agricultural service mix, and SmartHub adoption.
• SEMO Electric Cooperative: A fellow Missouri rural electric distribution cooperative serving members in southeastern Missouri with residential, commercial, and irrigation services. Operates under the same USDA/RUS cooperative framework as Ozark Border and is the closest geographic and structural direct peer.
• Intercounty Electric Cooperative: A Missouri rural electric cooperative providing distribution services in nearby counties with similar member-owned structure, residential/commercial/irrigation rate classes, and energy efficiency rebate programs.
• Black River Electric Cooperative: A Missouri-based rural electric distribution cooperative serving nearby southeastern Missouri counties with comparable member-owned governance, rate schedules, and SmartHub-style digital services.
• Citizens Electric Corporation: A member-owned electric distribution cooperative in southeast Missouri with comparable rural service territory, residential/commercial/irrigation rate classes, and cooperative governance model.
• M&A Electric Power Cooperative: A generation and transmission cooperative supplying wholesale power to distribution co-ops in southeastern Missouri, directly comparable in cooperative structure and service territory overlap with Ozark Border.

Broad incumbents

• Ameren Missouri: The largest investor-owned electric utility in Missouri, providing regulated electric distribution and transmission across much of the state. Overlaps geographically with Ozark Border's service area and is the dominant non-cooperative incumbent competing for Missouri utility customers.

Regional players

• Sho-Me Power Electric Cooperative: A Missouri generation and transmission cooperative providing wholesale power and transmission services to member distribution co-ops including several in the same region as Ozark Border. Comparable in cooperative structure and serves as an upstream power supplier to similar utilities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ozarkborder?s=11
• Facebookfacebook.com/ozarkborderelectric
• Instagraminstagram.com/ozarkborderelectriccooperative?igsh=MW83YXR6b3BpemtlbQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ozark-border-electric-cooperative-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Ozark Border Electric Cooperative