Tracking Legal Events involving Electric & Telephone Cooperatives

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 Edisto Electric:


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.

     This Complaint asserting a class action lawsuit was filed in the Court of Common Pleas in the Second Judicial Circuit of South Carolina  on May 21, 2009.

     The Plaintiffs seek recovery on behalf of a class of former members of Edisco Electric capital credits owned by former members of the Coop.  Plaintiffs assert that these capital credits have been improperly withheld.

     Edisco is attempting to remove this case to federal court but that has not yet been decided.

     For a complete list of all the allegations see the Original State Court Complaint.

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.

According to its website, this is Edisto Electric's Service Area:


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 Edisto Electric's website: