Our members set our priorities and we deliver

As a cooperative, every member has a voice and a vote in where we’re going and how we’re getting there. And since our members own and govern our cooperative, Tri-State is about service to our members. That means rolling up our sleeves to do the hard work, turning our cooperative priorities into reality.

It’s our members who have set our energy transition path, and our members are the beneficiaries of our ongoing efforts to lead the industry in that transition. And because we’re a cooperative, they have a say every day, every step of the way.

But our members are more than our directors on our board, they’re also members of our family. So there’s a lot more that we do to support their needs and goals, than supply electricity.

Margins to members, not shareholders

One of the unique benefits of being part of a cooperative is patronage capital. With a cooperative, paying your utility bill doesn’t turn into shareholder profits – it’s invested back into services and infrastructure for members. Our members own our co-op, our assets and have equity in our association. Over time, we pay back what’s not needed to our members as patronage capital. These returns really add up: Tri-State has returned patronage capital every year for nearly 40 years, and returned $100 million to our members in the last four years.

Affordable rates

Our rates have been stable for five years, but now we’re working hard to lower our rates. At the same time, we remain committed to maintaining the reliability our members need, the increasingly clean generation they want, and the opportunities for engagement they expect as cooperative members.