If you have additional questions or comments, please contact us using the form below.
What's Changing
Ozarks Electric and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation (AECC) have reached agreements to establish a new structure for our longstanding relationship. Ozarks will transition from purchasing all of our wholesale power in Arkansas from AECC to purchasing approximately 60 percent from AECC and the rest from providers in the energy market.
Why It Matters
The communities we serve are growing, energy needs are evolving, and Ozarks Electric must have the flexibility to plan specifically for our members. By developing and implementing our own long-term power supply strategy, we will be better positioned to make decisions tailored to the needs of this growing region while providing competitive pricing in the long term.
What It Means For Our Members
FAQs
This transition will give Ozarks the ability to shape our long-term power supply strategy to meet the needs of our members amid a changing energy environment. Taking control of our power supply will allow us greater flexibility to take full advantage of competitive wholesale power markets, major expansion of the transmission system, the emergence of renewable energy, battery storage and other innovations on how electricity is generated, delivered and managed.
Because the communities we serve are growing, energy needs are evolving, and Ozarks Electric must have the flexibility to plan specifically for our members. By developing and implementing our own long-term power supply strategy, we will be better positioned to make decisions tailored to the needs of this growing region while providing competitive pricing in the long term. Greater flexibility will allow us to pursue new technologies, expand energy efficiency programs, explore renewable energy strategies and evaluate the right options for our cooperative. It strengthens our ability to plan, respond to change and keep member interests at the center of every power supply decision.
Our members will remain part of a member-owned cooperative and should notice no change in their day-to-day service. Our mission remains the same, and we will continue providing reliable, competitively priced power, along with related services.
We cannot promise what future rates will be because wholesale markets, fuel costs, transmission costs and many other factors affect the cost of electricity. What we can say is that our analysis indicates this structure creates opportunities to manage our wholesale power costs more effectively over the long term. It also gives us greater flexibility to develop innovative rate designs and programs that can help members better manage their energy costs.
Through November 2030, Ozarks Electric will continue receiving all our wholesale power and related services from AECC. After this date, Ozarks Electric will transition from a contract to purchase all of our wholesale power in Arkansas from AECC to purchasing approximately 60% of our power from AECC and the rest from providers on the power market.
Ozarks will secure a portion of the power needed to serve members through the electric power market. This will give us the flexibility to purchase power from different sources based on availability, demand and cost, helping us build a diverse and reliable power supply.
No. This is simply a change in how we procure our wholesale power and will have no impact on the reliability you count on.