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Caddo Electric Cooperative (OK)

Caddo Electric Cooperative is headquartered on Highway 152 three miles west of Binger, Oklahoma 73009.  It provides electricity to South Central Oklahoma.

Carroll Electric Cooperative is a non-profit rural electric utility cooperative with offices West of Binger, Oklahoma.  It was organized in 1937 and serves portions of eight counties -- Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Comanche, Custer, Grady, Kiowa and Washita -- in Oklahoma.



News

$20 Million Jury Verdict

In a case tried to a jury in Oklahoma State District Court in December 2009, the jury returned a verdict finding $20 Million in damages against Caddo Electric Cooperative.

The litigation involved a catastrophic accident that occurred in 2005 when one of the Coop's vehicles struck the automobile the plaintiff Mary Scott was in.  The court reduced the actual judgment amount to $12 Million because of the contributory negligence of the plaintiff.


Scott suffered a brain injury that requires constant medical attention.  The verdict, reached in Caddo County District Court is the largest verdict rendered in Oklahoma during 2009 and one of the largest jury verdicts ever rendered in the state of Oklahoma.  Caddo Electric is headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma.


While the issues in this case involving a motor vehicle accident are common and presently being litigated with several Coops, the size of the award in a conservative state like Oklahoma was remarkable.




IRS Form 990s

As non-profit corporation the Internal Revenue Service requires Rural Electric Cooperatives to file an informational return much like a corporate income tax return each year.  These "IRS Form 990s" are public information and Coops are obligate to provide access to copies to interested persons.

A study of these 990s can reveal interesting information about these Coops including things like salaries of executives and ownership of other for profit corporations.  This is a list of the most recently available 990s for Carroll Electric:

<<Caddo Electric 2004 IRS 990>>

<<Caddo Electric 2005 IRS 990>>

<<Caddo Electric 2006 IRS 990>>

<<Caddo Electric 2007 IRS 990>>

<<Caddo Electric 2008 IRS 990>>

Often Coops that are having financial problems or are involved in litigation do not timely file their IRS 990s as the IRS does little to monitor compliance or accuracy.  So, while our list may be complete, some Coops may simply have not filed their 990s.
Service Area

Rural Electric Cooperatives provide electrical service to customers within a geographical area know as a "Service Area" or "Service Territory".  These Service Areas often look like highly "gerrymandered" political boundaries and occasionally there will be areas or pockets withing the boundary where the Coop does not provide service like a small town or city serviced by another electric utility.

Within these Service Areas the Coop typically has an effective monopoly with no meaningful competition.

Coops ordinarily publicize their Service Area on their websites; however, for some reason Caddo Electric is apparently hiding its Service Area.  You can see an approximate map of the area covered by Caddo Electric on the website of the group that lobbies for Oklahoma Coops --  the Oklahoma Associate of Electric Cooperatives:



Coop Website

Most Rural Electric Cooperatives maintain websites but they rarely provide material information about important aspects of their operations.  In fact this failure by a Coop to be forthcoming about its policies involving patronage or capital credits is a red flag that its policies and practices are suspect.

This is Caddo Electric's website:




This page was last modified on Thursday, January 14, 2010