Balkanization powers 'win-win' acquisitions of electric cooperatives

摘要

Cooperatives are enticing acquisition candidates. Located in 47 states and numbering roughly a thousand, domestic electric cooperatives have assets worth $76 billion and serve 36 million people via 2.3 million miles of distribution lines. To put that in perspective, coops own 43 percent of the wires and poles, cover 75 percent of the land mass, and serve 12 percent of the population of this country. Many have desirable service territo- ries, are growing fast, are under-leveraged, have substantial cash flow, and can realize significant cost savings from economies of scale. And, contrary to a widely held misconception, electric coops earn profits.