Our cooperative family includes our generation partner, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC). The electricity we provide to you comes from ODEC, which provides power at wholesale cost for its 11 electric cooperative members, including ours. Just like A&N Electric Cooperative, ODEC is a not-for-profit member-owned generation and transmission cooperative formed by a community of cooperatives working together to provide energy for the region. With a focus on people instead of profits, A&N and ODEC operate based solely on the needs of the members they serve.
Let’s take a closer look at how A&N’s partnership with ODEC makes a valuable difference to you and the electricity you rely on.
The first part of how electric cooperatives work together is highly visible: providing the electricity we rely on every day to power our homes, businesses, and way of life.
Power is generated and travels through the electric grid, which links power plants and transmission and distribution lines across multiple states to reach you. A&N and ODEC work together to ensure that electricity is there whenever you flip a switch or your HVAC turns on.
The second part of how cooperatives work together may not always be top-of-mind when you go to warm your home or turn on the lights, but it’s equally as important to providing the reliable power our member-owners depend on every day. Think of it as everything that goes on behind the meter, with our member-owners at the heart of each decision. Understanding these details will help you appreciate the full value of being part of a cooperative:
OWNED GENERATION RESOURCES: ODEC owns a range of generation facilities to provide power to its member-cooperatives, including natural gas, nuclear and coal. ODEC benefits from exclusive power agreements for several wind and solar facilities. You own power generation resources through your cooperative’s ownership of ODEC. This balanced energy portfolio is a distinct advantage. The more generation ODEC owns, the less it has to purchase power from the market — at market prices. This protects every member-cooperative from increasingly volatile market conditions.
COOPERATIVE STABILITY: Owning generation resources leads to stability — stability that cooperatives without a generation partner don’t benefit from. ODEC also purchases power in advance on the wholesale market when it’s cheaper than ODEC can make it — for savings that benefit all 11 member-cooperatives. In fact, ODEC strategically purchases a small percentage of power well in advance to further protect against future market fluctuations.
COOPERATIVE STRENGTH: ODEC deeply understands the communities it serves, including their needs, resources, opportunities, and challenges. Community goals are ODEC’s goals, and ODEC is uniquely suited to advance them — by pooling resources and infrastructure to provide access, stabilize prices, and responsibly plan for the future.
COOPERATIVE EFFICIENCY: ODEC’s energy efficiency, demand response, and energy education programs help reduce overall energy consumption, shift peak demand, and meaningfully lower costs for all. If less electricity is consumed, less electricity is needed — the lowest-cost megawatt is the one that isn’t produced.
COOPERATIVE ADVOCACY: ODEC stands with its member-cooperatives and their communities — it’s truly “all for one, and one for all.” Every decision at ODEC is made through the lens of its impact on the communities it serves. At the federal and state level, ODEC advocates for innovative power solutions that serve the greatest good, consistently striving to ensure the best possible outcomes for all.
Ownership. Strength. Stability. Resources. Efficiency. Advocacy. ODEC and A&N Electric Cooperative partner to deliver benefits — benefits that show up as competitive rates even during times of market fluctuations. Because cooperatives focus on people, not profits, cooperative power goes to work for you every minute of every day.