Skip to main content
Doing Business with Us
Click here to learn more about doing business with Choptank Electric Cooperative Login to SmartHub
Click here to make a one-time payment Pay Now
Home

Login to SmartHub

Loading NISC SmartHub log in. Please wait...

'Loading NISC SmartHub log in. Please wait...'
Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
    • The Coop Difference
    • Governance
    • Board of Directors
    • Executive Staff
    • Financial Information
    • Employment
    • Contact Us
  • Your Service
    • Apply for Service
    • Payment Options & Your Bill
    • Complaints
    • Rates
    • Meter Sockets
    • Member Guide
    • Customer Choice
    • Business Members
      • Questline
      • Agri-Business
      • Load Control
  • Member Benefits
    • Annual Meeting
    • Co-op Connections
    • Capital Credits
    • E-News
    • Commitment to Community
      • Operation Round Up
      • Donations and Sponsorship
      • Scholarships
      • Youth Tour
      • Legislative News
      • Presentations and Demonstrations
  • Resources
    • Safety
      • Storm Center
      • Miss Utility
      • Vegetation Management
        • Invasive Species
    • Energy Solutions
      • Energy Assistance
      • Renewable Energy Credits
      • Beat The Peak
      • Green Energy
      • High Efficiency Water Heater Program
      • Energy Efficiency
  • Broadband

The Coop Difference

About Choptank Electric Cooperative

By the Numbers

54,394 Metered Accounts served
54394
Metered Accounts Served
99 percent average system reliability

99

Percent average system reliability

160 Full time employees

160

Full-time employees

Choptank Electric Cooperative

About Choptank Electric Cooperative

Choptank Electric, a Touchstone Energy Cooperative, is a not-for-profit, member-owned, electric distribution Co-op serving approximately 54,000 residential, commercial, and industrial metered accounts in all nine counties on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

The Cooperative was incorporated as Choptank Cooperative, Inc. on Sept. 15, 1938, following the passage of the Rural Electrification Act. Its first 78 miles of line were energized in Caroline County on Dec. 15, 1939, serving 184 members. The cooperative’s name was changed to Choptank Electric Cooperative in 1942. Then in 1976, Choptank Electric Cooperative joined Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) to obtain lower wholesale power costs.

Choptank Electric has 10 board seats. One seat represents each county for which is served by Choptank Electric along with one additional seat which represents the Ocean Pines District. The Board of Directors is elected on a three-year term basis at the Annual Meeting.

 

Partners

About ODEC

Old Dominion Electric Cooperative

Incorporated in 1948, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) provides reliable, cost-effective, environmentally balanced, wholesale electric services to our 11 member distribution cooperatives in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.  Our core business is generating, purchasing and delivering electricity to our members.  ODEC is a not-for-profit generation and transmission cooperative that operates for the benefit of our members, who are our owners.  ODEC and our members are each governed by a Board of Directors comprised of representatives elected from and by the respective entity’s total membership.  ODEC is a not-for-profit member-owned cooperative and has no capital stock.

For more information about ODEC, please visit www.odec.com

About Touchstone Energy Cooperatives

Touchstone Energy Cooperative Logo

Touchstone Energy is a national alliance of local, member-owned electric cooperatives providing high standards of service to members large and small. More than 740 Touchstone Energy cooperatives in 44 states are delivering energy and energy solutions to more than 16 million members every day. Touchstone Energy cooperatives serve their members with integrity, accountability, innovation, and a longstanding commitment to communities and collectively deliver power and energy solutions to more than 30 million members every day.

For more information about Touchstone Energy, please visit www.touchstoneenergy.com

 

The Co-op Business Model

The Co-op Business Model

Electric cooperatives were established to provide electric service to primarily rural areas where investor-owned utilities were unwilling to serve, or where electricity was so highly priced, most residents could not afford it.

During the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt created the REA Act which was incorporated into the New Deal to stimulate growth in our dying country. The REA Act encouraged co-ops to be formed and brought power to rural America. In doing so, co-ops encouraged economic development and the quality of life for many Americans. This led to the creation of the National Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) which provides help to electric cooperatives all across the nation.

A cooperative is a very specific business model. “A Cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise” (Source, Coop, http://ica.coop/en/what-co-operative).

By providing safe, affordable and reliable power, many cooperatives are significant economic drivers within the local communities.

Electric Cooperatives are:

  • Not-for-profit businesses
  • Member-owned
  • Governed by a board of directors elected by the membership which sets policies and procedures that are implemented by the cooperatives’ management
  • Follow the 7 Cooperative Principles [external video]

 

7 Cooperative Principles

 

 

1. Voluntary And Open Membership

Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.

2. Democratic Member Control

Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.

3. Members’ Economic Participation

Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

4. Autonomy And Independence

Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.

5. Education, Training, And Information

Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public, particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefits of cooperation.

6. Cooperation Among Cooperatives

Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.

7. Concern For Community

While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.

 

Back to Top

Quick Links

  • Privacy Policy
  • Rates
  • Employment
  • Contact Us

Footer 2

  • Storm Center
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Doing Business with Us
  • Donations, Scholarships and Sponsorship

Footer 3

  • Member Guide
  • Governance
  • E-News
  • Your Co-op News

Connect with Us

©2021 Choptank Electric Cooperative. A Touchstone Energy Cooperative

  • Home
  • About Us
    • The Coop Difference
    • Governance
    • Board of Directors
    • Executive Staff
    • Financial Information
    • Employment
    • Contact Us
  • Your Service
    • Apply for Service
    • Payment Options & Your Bill
    • Complaints
    • Rates
    • Meter Sockets
    • Member Guide
    • Customer Choice
    • Business Members
      • Questline
      • Agri-Business
      • Load Control
  • Member Benefits
    • Annual Meeting
    • Co-op Connections
    • Capital Credits
    • E-News
    • Commitment to Community
      • Operation Round Up
      • Donations and Sponsorship
      • Scholarships
      • Youth Tour
      • Legislative News
      • Presentations and Demonstrations
  • Resources
    • Safety
      • Storm Center
      • Miss Utility
      • Vegetation Management
        • Invasive Species
    • Energy Solutions
      • Energy Assistance
      • Renewable Energy Credits
      • Beat The Peak
      • Green Energy
      • High Efficiency Water Heater Program
      • Energy Efficiency
  • Broadband