Some 85 years ago the people in rural Callaway and southern Montgomery Counties formed this cooperative with membership fees and Rural Electric Administration (REA) funds.
At that time, the REA offered federal funds at 2% interest to all utilities to take electricity beyond the cities. When nearby privately owned utilities would not serve rural areas, people formed cooperative businesses and took the task upon themselves.
Callaway Electric Cooperative is made up of nearly 13,000 residential, agricultural, and small and large commercial meters. Our lenders are the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), and CoBank. The RUS was created by executive order in 1994 to replace the REA program. CFC and CoBank are both cooperative banks formed to finance rural utilities and agricultural businesses.
Members of Callaway Electric share ownership in electric lines, power plants and substation. The Cooperative's power is transmitted by Central Electric Power Cooperative in Jefferson City. Central purchases their power from Associated Electric Cooperative (AECI). They provide power to 6 transmission cooperatives, which in turn serve 51 distribution cooperatives in Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma.
Callaway Electric holds an Annual Membership Meeting each February. At the meeting members can vote for directors, consider bylaw proposals, hear reports from the Board and manager, and visit with the Cooperative's Board and staff about any questions or concerns they may have regarding the Cooperative. The Official Notice is mailed to Callaway Electric members in mid-January.