The Rural Electrification Administration (REA) was created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. The purpose was to provide low-interest loans to cooperatives of rural residents willing to share the costs of bringing power to their homes, farms and businesses. The REA changed the landscape and lifestyle of the people throughout rural America – including Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CCEC) – and the cooperative movement and philosophy are our roots.

George Jenkins, Coos County extension agent and Ivan Laird, considered the father of CCEC, began to discuss the idea of forming an electric cooperative with their neighbors and with the REA. The outcome was Coos Electric Cooperative, Inc. which was incorporated on June 1, 1939 to serve 255 members in the Daniel Creek, Sumner, McKinley, Fairview and Sitkum areas of Coos County. The cooperative acquired the Port Orford Electric Light and Power Company in 1942 and the Brookings Light and Power Company in 1945. In 1946, the name was officially changed to Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, Inc. That next year, the cooperative acquired the Rogue River Power Cooperative located in Gold Beach. Through existing and new distribution lines, most of the rural areas were served by the late 1950s with the exception of Agness, which was added in 1961.

With a distribution system in place, the utility now turned its focus to obtaining a reliable source of power for the membership. In the 1930s, the Northwest was billed as the “Hydro Capital of the World” because it was estimated that 40% of the nation’s renewable, clean hydro resource potential was available there. With the development of Grand Coulee dam and other projects that comprise the extensive hydropower system in place today, power became readily available to the urban areas of the region. Unfortunately, that power was not made available to the rural areas, even with distribution lines in place, until 1950.

Through all the development and change, one thing remained constant – the commitment to join together for the common good of everyone – the cooperative philosophy. Now, CCEC has 1619 miles of lines, including 52 miles of transmission lines between Gold Beach and Brookings. Employees in four offices provide service to nearly 15,000 members. We purchase our wholesale power through Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative (PNGC), which consists of power primarily obtained through the Bonneville Power Administration.

Your cooperative has adapted to changing times – both good and bad. Yet, the commitment to doing things that are in the best interests of the membership, which is at the heart of the cooperative philosophy, hasn’t changed.