Empowering Ownership: Why Being a Member-Owner
Matters for You and Your Community

Did you know that when you belong to a Touchstone Energy® Cooperative, you’re not just a customer, you’re a member-owner of a not-for-profit cooperative that serves you, not shareholders. And, as a member-owner, you have real power.

Take a moment to explore the power of ownership as a member of a not-for-profit electric co-op, and how being a member-owner means having a voice, a stake, and a stronger community.

Co-op member-owners participate in decision-making

Democratic member control is one of the seven principles that define the cooperative model, reflecting your co-op’s accountability to its members. As a member-owner, you are invited to attend your cooperative’s annual meeting and learn about important policies and decisions that impact you, your household and your local community. You also have a voice in selecting board members to represent your interests within the co-op leadership struc­ture — or you can serve as a board member yourself. That means your co-op is run by and for the people it serves.

As a member-owner, you share in the cooperative’s success

Because your Touchstone Energy® Cooperative is not-for-profit and member-owned, financial surpluses aren’t distributed to shareholders the way they would in a for-profit utility. Instead, margins are used to return maximum value to member-owners like you:

  • A portion of margins can be reinvested in the cooperative, helping to pay for equipment, infrastructure and other projects designed to maintain and improve reli­able service for all member-owners.

  • They can also be returned directly to member-owners as capital credits — your share of the co-op’s margins based on usage.

In summary, when your nonprofit Touchstone Energy® Cooperative does well, the benefits go back to you and your fellow member-owners, not outside investors.

Additional benefits of being a member-owner

There are countless other noteworthy ways your co-op supports you and your community. For one, your cooperative supports education for local students through access to scholarship opportunities and internships with the co-op. It also provides educational information and resources — including classroom education, work­shops, digital content and printed publications — that are designed to help you stay safe, save energy, understand your co-op better, and support the community at large.

Your active participation also helps shape the co-op’s priorities and its commitment to improving the lives of its member-owners, ensuring the co-op focuses on goals that matter most to its members, promoting a brighter, more affordable, reliable, sustainable future for the place you call home.

Experience the true power of ownership

Are you ready to maximize all of the benefits of being a member-owner? Connect with your local Touchstone Energy® Cooperative today to find out ways you can get involved and experience the power of ownership.