Rural Electricity Resource Council

What Rural Electricity Resource Council does

The Rural Electricity Resource Council (RERC) was a 501(c)(6) nonprofit trade association founded in 1952 and incorporated in Kentucky in 1957 as the Inter-Industry Farm Electric Utilization Council. It underwent several name changes — to Farm Electrification Council (1962), Food and Energy Council (1976), National Food and Energy Council (1981), and finally Rural Electricity Resource Council (April 2008) — before ceasing operations on December 31, 2016. The organization delivered information and technical assistance on efficient energy use in rural applications, serving electric power suppliers including rural electric cooperatives, investor-owned utilities, public power districts, and smart grids.

RERC's product portfolio consisted of reference publications (Agricultural Wiring Handbook, Sizing and Selecting Your Standby Generator, Practical Irrigation Wiring), a magazine (Electricity on the Farm, launched 1962), training courses (notably a one-day Motor Basics and Efficiency course), and newsletter-ready articles for member utilities to use in customer education. There was no proprietary technology platform; offerings were delivered through the rerc.org website, direct member engagement, and password-protected member resources.

The business model was membership-based, with annual dues from electric power suppliers supplemented by non-dues revenue from training course fees and publication sales. The organization operated with 1-10 staff from its Wilmington, Ohio headquarters, was governed by a board of utility CEOs and program managers, and worked jointly with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and Edison Electric Institute. RERC dissolved in December 2016 due to financial constraints, tightened budgets at member utilities, and the retirement of long-time Executive Manager Richard Hiatt, with remaining materials and services transferred to a successor consulting entity (Electric Learning / ElecLearning.org).

Name

Rural Electricity Resource Council

Legal name

Rural Electricity Resource Council

Website

https://rerc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1957

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Rural Electricity Resource Council was a 501(c)(6) nonprofit trade association that provided publications, training, and technical assistance on efficient rural energy use to electric power suppliers including rural cooperatives, investor-owned utilities, and public power districts until its dissolution in December 2016.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Energy Utility Trade Association Services

NAICS

Utilities (22)

SIC

Electric, Gas & Sanitary Services (4900)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Rural energy assistance
• Electric utility training
• Agricultural wiring publications
• Energy efficiency education
• Cooperative utility services

Headquarters

HQ city

Wilmington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Training Courses: Training courses including motor basics and efficiency, offered as value-added services to attract memberships and generate non-dues revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Rural Electricity Resource Council (RERC) was a nonprofit trade association that provided information and technical assistance on the efficient use of energy in rural applications. The organization offered technical publications (such as the Agricultural Wiring Handbook, Sizing and Selecting Your Standby Generator, and Practical Irrigation Wiring), training courses (including the Motor Basics and Efficiency course), and newsletter-ready articles on energy efficiency and safety, serving primarily electric power suppliers including investor-owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives, and public power districts.

Product overview

The Rural Electricity Resource Council (RERC) was a nonprofit association that delivered information and technical assistance on the efficient use of energy, with an emphasis on rural applications. The organization offered a portfolio of publications (including the Agricultural Wiring Handbook, Sizing and Selecting Your Standby Generator, and Practical Irrigation Wiring), training courses (such as the Motor Basics and Efficiency course), and newsletter-ready articles on energy efficiency, safety, and other topics. These products served primarily electric power suppliers including investor-owned utilities, rural electric cooperatives, and public power districts. RERC also provided resources for teachers and consumers. The organization was dissolved on December 31, 2016, and its materials were subsequently made available through Electric Learning (www.ElecLearning.org) operated by former Executive Manager Richard Hiatt.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Agricultural Wiring Handbook Technical reference publication providing guidance on wiring standards and practices for agricultural electrical installations, sold to electric utilities, agricultural customers, and technicians.
• Sizing and Selecting Your Standby Generator Consumer and technician guide covering how to properly size and select standby generators for rural and small-business applications.
• Practical Irrigation Wiring Reference publication covering electrical wiring practices specific to irrigation systems, used by farmers, irrigation technicians, and utility key-account staff.
• Standby Generator Sizing and Distributed Generation Resources Resources covering standby generator sizing and distributed generation sources for rural electricity applications, for use by utilities and their customers.
• Motor Basics and Efficiency Training Course One-day training course on electric motor fundamentals and efficiency, used by electric utilities to assist key account customers and educate their own staff.
• Electricity on the Farm Magazine Magazine published by the Farm Electrification Council (RERC's predecessor) to educate customers about electrical safety, productivity, and new technology on farms.
• RERC Annual Membership Annual membership program giving electric power suppliers access to publications, training courses, a password-protected member web section with updates on hot topics and customer-question answers, and newsletter-ready articles for customer education.

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• National Rural Electric Cooperative AssociationminorOthersNRECA had a representative position on RERC's Board of Directors. This was an organizational representative seat that was listed as currently vacant. The two organizations worked jointly on topics involving electricity use in rural areas.
• Edison Electric InstituteminorOthersEdison Electric Institute had a representative (Steve Kiesner, Director of Customer Markets) on RERC's Board of Directors. The organizations continued to work jointly on topics involving electricity use in rural areas.
• National Rural Electric Cooperative AssociationminorOthersRERC worked jointly with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) following its founding. The organization was granted IRS tax exemption under Section 501(C)(6) and continued joint work with NRECA on rural electricity topics.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights1 record

Direct peers

• Electric Learning (ElecLearning.org): Electric Learning is the consulting and content entity launched by RERC's former Executive Manager Richard Hiatt immediately after RERC's dissolution. It offers the most popular RERC publications and training directly to rural power suppliers — making it the most direct functional successor and the closest operating peer.
• Cooperative Research Network (NRECA subsidiary): The Cooperative Research Network is NRECA's applied research arm for electric cooperatives, conducting technology, energy efficiency, and distributed generation research for co-op members. It directly addresses the technical-assistance and information-sharing role that RERC filled, but is embedded within the larger NRECA organization.
• Touchstone Energy Cooperatives: Touchstone Energy is a cooperative branding and member-services network operated by NRECA serving rural electric cooperatives. It functions as a peer platform for cooperative consumer education and energy efficiency messaging, directly overlapping with RERC's value proposition of helping co-ops communicate with their members.

Broad incumbents

• Association of Energy Engineers: AEE is a professional society for energy engineers offering training, certification, and conferences across energy efficiency, power quality, and motor systems — many topics RERC addressed for utility key-account programs. Both organizations serve the energy-efficiency training market with practitioner-focused content.
• Edison Electric Institute: EEI is the trade association for U.S. investor-owned utilities, with representation on RERC's board (Director of Customer Markets Steve Kiesner). Like RERC, EEI provides industry information and customer-market support to utilities, but operates at a much larger scale and broader scope across all IOU segments.
• National Rural Electric Cooperative Association: NRECA is the primary trade association for America's rural electric cooperatives — the same core customer base RERC served. NRECA had a board seat at RERC, and the two organizations worked jointly on rural electricity topics. NRECA is a much broader, larger organization covering advocacy, training, and operational support for over 900 co-ops.
• American Public Power Association: APPA is the trade association for community-owned public power utilities in the U.S., serving a customer segment (public power districts) that RERC explicitly included in its membership base. APPA provides training, advocacy, and technical resources — overlapping with RERC's role but at much greater scale.

Regional players

• Bonneville Power Administration (Energy Efficiency programs): BPA operates energy efficiency and utility training programs in the Pacific Northwest serving rural electric cooperatives and public utilities. It is a regional peer to RERC's Midwest focus, addressing similar customer needs (irrigation efficiency, motor loads, irrigation pumping) through utility partnership programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rural-electricity-resource-council

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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