It’s not often we get the best of both worlds.
When shopping for anything, we often must choose between quality and price or between convenience and good customer service. In a world with so many choices, surprisingly few come without compromise.
Fortunately, when it comes to acquiring the critical materials and equipment to deliver power to your homes and businesses, South Carolina’s electric cooperatives get to have their cake and eat it, too. That’s because they created a supply cooperative to serve cooperatives, and it has been operating smoothly for five decades now.
You see, 50 years ago, our state’s co-ops became frustrated with the time and money they were each spending to secure the poles, wires and transformers they needed to build the power grid.
They agreed to pool their resources to get lower prices and better service by buying in bulk. CEEUS, Inc. was formed by your cooperatives to make sure they have the equipment and materials that make up your local power grid.
CEEUS has become a game-changer over the past half-century because its staff understands the needs of our co-ops and works tirelessly to fill them.
When COVID-19 threw global supply chains into chaos, CEEUS was there to help untangle the snags and make sure our co-ops got the supplies they needed. Lately, as commodity prices have soared, CEEUS has helped our co-ops secure materials and equipment as affordably as possible.
But nowhere was CEEUS’ commitment to service better illustrated than during Hurricane Helene. Thanks to CEEUS, co-ops all over our state could quickly replace transformers, fuses, thousands of poles and miles of wire in order to restore their members’ power. CEEUS had to overcome significant competition for those supplies and navigate logistical hurdles to deliver about 30 truckloads of materials to our co-ops each day.
Many communities served by South Carolina’s electric cooperatives are growing fast. That means more equipment and materials are required to ensure safe, reliable power. A few weeks ago, CEEUS opened a brand-new facility in West Columbia with three times the storage capacity of its previous home, offering plenty of room for further growth.
CEEUS is a shining example of how co-ops succeed through cooperation, but it isn’t the only one.
South Carolina’s electric cooperatives also band together to secure reliable, affordable power through Central Electric Power Cooperative.
They work collaboratively as part of the South Carolina Power Team to land economic development deals that bring new industries and jobs to rural South Carolina and change surrounding communities for the better.
They help each other respond to storms through mutual aid, and they join forces to push for fair energy policies at the State House and in Congress.
This cooperation among cooperatives allows them to have the best of both worlds. They deliver the local feel and service of a small business while enjoying the cost advantages, stability and efficiencies you’d expect from a larger company.
The proof is in the pudding. South Carolina’s electric cooperatives enjoy some of the highest consumer satisfaction ratings of any electric utilities in the country, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
There’s a saying in our industry: If you’ve been to one co-op, you’ve been to one co-op. Each of our co-ops is independent and autonomous, with its own leaders, unique programs and bylaws. That’s part of what makes the co-op model so special.
But so, too, is their habit of putting aside individual differences for the collective good.