Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative, Inc.

What Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative, Inc. does

Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric distribution cooperative headquartered in Fairfield, Illinois, that has provided retail electric service since November 16, 1937. It distributes electricity across approximately 3,200 miles of line to roughly 9,600 member-owners across 11 counties in southeastern Illinois, employing around 50 staff and operating from offices in Fairfield and Enfield. The cooperative operates within a territory protected by the Illinois Electric Suppliers Act of 1965, serving both residential and small commercial/agricultural loads including farms, country markets, and City of Fairfield municipal billing customers.

Its core products center on regulated electric distribution, supplemented by a portfolio of energy-management offerings: SmartHub web/mobile bill pay and outage notifications, an Outage Management System, a SCADA-based monitoring system, energy-efficiency rebates (HVAC, water heaters, smart thermostats, audits), a Generator Load Control Program, and information programs for solar, geothermal, and electric vehicles. Wholesale power is procured from Hoosier Energy, a generation-and-transmission cooperative in Bloomington, Indiana, since 2010. Distribution assets include a substantial system-hardening program completed in 2022 (1,800 poles replaced, 130 miles of wire upgraded), and a proposed Ameren-led transmission line from Fairfield to Mt. Vernon to add reliability headroom.

Wayne-White's business model is a subscription, monthly-billed cooperative utility. Revenue consists of Service Availability charges (raised $9/month for residential members in April 2023, the first increase in a decade) and kWh-based energy charges, with a new Power Cost Adjustment line item added in July 2025 to flow through power-supply cost fluctuations. As a cooperative, all margins are retained for system investment or allocated back to members as Capital Credits (over $2 million approved for retirement in 2023). Pricing is not publicly disclosed in full. Distribution is direct-to-member through a regulated physical network, with member engagement via SmartHub, monthly newsletter, website, Facebook, and an annual June meeting. The cooperative has zero external equity, zero VC/PE ownership, and operates autonomously under the seven cooperative principles.

Name

Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Legal name

Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative

Website

https://waynewhitecoop.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1937

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative is a member-owned, not-for-profit electric distribution utility serving roughly 9,600 members across 11 counties in southeastern Illinois through 3,200 miles of distribution line, supplementing electric service with energy-efficiency, generator, and smart-thermostat programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electric Distribution Utilities

NAICS

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

SIC

Electric Services (4911)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Electric Distribution System Owners (Wires-Only Companies) (EUADABAI), DER Aggregation & Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) (EUAMAJAC)

Keywords

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

Headquarters

HQ city

Fairfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Electric Distribution Service: Monthly billing for electricity distribution services to residential and commercial members. Revenue comes from Service Availability charges and energy charges based on kWh consumption. Residential customers received a $9 per month Service Availability charge increase in April 2023.
2. Power Supply: Wholesale power purchased from Hoosier Energy Cooperative (generation and transmission cooperative in Bloomington, Indiana)
3. Capital Credits: Not-for-profit cooperative model where margins are allocated back to members as capital credits and periodically retired. In 2023, over $2 million in capital credits were approved for retirement covering late 2001 through part of 2004.
4. Energy Efficiency Programs: Rebate programs for HVAC systems, water heaters, heat pumps, smart thermostats, and energy audits funded through Hoosier Energy programs
5. Generator Load Control Program: Voluntary load control program providing bill discounts to homeowners with standby generators during peak demand times. Members must have approved automatic switch and DRU unit installed.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative distributes electricity to approximately 9,600 member-owners across 11 counties in southern Illinois through 3,200 miles of distribution lines. As a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative, it bills members monthly for electric service, returns excess margins as capital credits, and offers supplementary programs including SmartHub account management, energy efficiency rebates, generator load control, smart thermostat incentives, and renewable energy/electrification resources.

Product overview

Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative is a member-owned electric utility providing electricity distribution services to approximately 9,600 members across 11 counties in Southern Illinois. The cooperative operates over 3,200 miles of power lines and has been serving members since 1937. The product portfolio centers on reliable electricity delivery supplemented by energy management programs including Smart Thermostat Program, Generator Program, Energy Efficiency Rebates, Solar Power, Electric Vehicles Support, and Geothermal Technology. Members access services through the SmartHub portal for bill payment, usage monitoring, and notifications. Additional member benefits include Capital Credits returns, AirMedCare Network membership, WORKS charitable grants, and Youth Programs including scholarships and Youth Tour to Washington D.C.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Electric Distribution Service Core electricity distribution service providing monthly billed power to residential and commercial member-owners across 11 counties in southern Illinois through a regulated distribution network.
• SmartHub Member Portal

Quantifiable outcome

• System reliability maintained through infrastructure investments including 1,800 poles replaced and 130 miles of wire upgraded in 2022

Named customers4 records

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

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Hoosier EnergycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010Hoosier Energy is a generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative based in Bloomington, Indiana that provides wholesale power supply to Wayne-White Counties Electric. Wayne-White became a full purchasing member of Hoosier Energy in 2010 after the contract with Constellation Energy ended. The G&T cooperative also provides rebate programs for energy efficiency initiatives.
• City of FairfieldcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWayne-White Electric handles billing and system maintenance for the City of Fairfield's municipal electric system. The cooperative provides operational services while the City retains ownership of that system. Members of the City of Fairfield are not cooperative members.
• Frontier Community CollegeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Frontier Community College Foundation to provide lineman scholarships. Three $1,000 scholarships were awarded in 2024 to lineman program students (Virgil Jansen, Lane Brummer, Caleb Stevens) funded through a golf scramble fundraiser.
• Coles-Moultrie Electric CooperativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMutual aid partnership following cooperative principle #6 (Cooperation Among Cooperatives). Wayne-White sent a crew to assist Coles-Moultrie with storm damage cleanup and restoration following the June 2023 derecho.
• Illinois Southern Central Power CooperativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOriginal power supply cooperative formed in 1963 with Clay, Tri-County, Clinton County and Southwestern cooperatives to build a power plant near Carlyle Lake (project never completed). Wayne-White later became a member of Soyland Power Cooperative in 1975 before transitioning to current suppliers.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative: Neighboring Illinois distribution cooperative directly comparable to Wayne-White in business model (rural electric co-op), member-owned structure, and service territory profile. Wayne-White provided mutual-aid crew support after the 2023 derecho, making them operational peers.
• Clinton County Electric Cooperative (Illinois): One of the four cooperatives that co-founded the 1963 Illinois Southern Central Power Cooperative alongside Wayne-White. Identical structure and Southern Illinois rural distribution profile.
• Hoosier Energy Cooperative: Generation-and-transmission cooperative that supplies Wayne-White's wholesale power under a 2010 full-purchasing-member agreement. Closest peer in the cooperative ecosystem — same cooperative-ownership model, same NRECA network, but one tier upstream in the value chain.
• Clay Electric Co-operative (Illinois): Southern Illinois electric distribution cooperative with the same founding-era lineage (joint Illinois Southern Central Power Cooperative formation in 1963). Identical member-owned cooperative model and similar service scale.
• Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association: Member-owned distribution electric cooperative operating in adjacent Southern Illinois counties. Directly comparable scale, service profile, and product/program mix (SmartHub, capital credits, energy-efficiency rebates).
• Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative: Southern Illinois rural electric distribution cooperative serving a similar number of members with comparable infrastructure. Same NRECA/Touchstone Energy cooperative framework and member-owned economics.
• Southwestern Electric Cooperative (Illinois): Illinois distribution electric co-op co-founded with Wayne-White in 1963 for the Carlyle Lake generation project. Comparable rural southern Illinois footprint, member-owned structure, and cooperative supply chain.
• Tri-County Electric Cooperative (Illinois): Illinois electric distribution cooperative formed alongside Wayne-White under the original Illinois Southern Central Power Cooperative umbrella in 1963. Same legal structure, similar rural Southern Illinois service territory, and same G&T supply arrangements.

Others

• NRECA / Touchstone Energy Cooperatives: National trade association and co-branded network that Wayne-White participates in through Illinois Electric Cooperatives. Provides shared safety/recognition programs (the 2023–2026 Safety and Energy Conference awards), policy representation, and operational benchmarking that frame Wayne-White's cooperative peers.

Broad incumbents

• Ameren Illinois: Investor-owned regulated electric utility that operates the transmission grid delivering power into Wayne-White's substations and serves most of Illinois outside co-op territories. Comparable distribution/metering operations at much larger scale, and a direct wholesale-transmission counterparty for Wayne-White.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WayneWhiteElectric

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative, Inc.