Skip to main content
Report Outage
Current Outages
Meter Readings
Contact Us
Contact Update Form
Home

OUTAGE REPORTING: 1.800.521.9879

Menu
  • Members can now pay their bills online and check energy usage. Notice the Smart hub and Pay Bill Now buttons on the home page. 

  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
      • History
    • Board of Directors
    • Business Office Info
      • Directions
    • Careers
    • Code of Regulations
      • Articles of Incorporation
      • Code of Regulations
      • Mission Statement
      • Statement of Ideals
    • Competitive Difference
      • Deregulation and Choice
      • Generation Assets
      • Renewable Energy
    • Contact Us
      • Contact Update Form
    • Nondiscrimination Statement
    • Service Territory
  • Acct Services
    • Billing Services
      • Automatic Direct Bill Payment
      • Billing Rates
      • Budget Plan
      • Member Assistance
      • Payment of Bills
    • Capital Credits
    • Financial Assistance
    • Reading the Meter
    • Financial Assistance
    • Service Fee
    • SmartHub
  • Community
    • 4H Involvement
    • Community - Youth
    • Operation Helping Others
    • Scholarships
    • Youth Tour
  • Member info
    • ACRE Coop Owners for Political Action
      • ACRE - Frequently Asked Questions
    • Annual Meeting Notice
      • Directions to L. W. Miller School
    • Annual Meeting of Members
    • Cardinal Plant Tour
    • Energy Alternatives - EnviroWatts
      • EnviroWatts Application
    • FAQ
    • Ohio Cooperative Living
    • Peak Management
    • Renewable Energy
  • Operations
    • Service Specifications
      • Meter Pole - Overhead Service
      • Overhead Service - No Mast
      • Overhead Service - With Mast
      • Meter Pole - UG Service
      • UG Service - Pedestal Panel
      • UG Service - Pedestal Post
      • UG Service - Structure Mount
      • Ohio MH Commision
    • Before You Dig - OUPS and OGPUPS
    • Non-Outage Trouble Form
    • Reporting Outages
    • Trees and Right-of-Way
      • Select the Right Tree
    • Service Disconnect
  • Services
    • Geothermal
    • Air Conditioning
    • Dual Fuel
    • Aerator Transfer Switch
      • Generator Wattage Guide
      • Which Generator to Buy
    • Home Energy Audit
    • Radio Controlled Switches
    • Safety Demonstrations
    • Water Heaters
  • Useful Tools

Deregulation and Choice

You are here

  1. About Us
  2. Competitive Difference
  3. Deregulation and Choice

Ohio co-op member systems look forward to wholesale rate stability, but around them regulated utilities struggle with issues ranging from aggregation and retail competition to electric security plans that are providing a bumpy transition to the envisioned fully deregulated market.

Ohio’s electric cooperatives did not opt in when the state General Assembly deregulated the wholesale power market in 2001.

Lawmakers recognized the nonprofit, member-owned status of the cooperatives and their G&T, and they realized the advantages of local governance by G&T member boards and the strength of cost-based rates.

Electric cooperatives have watched while deregulation and retail choice in the early years failed to deliver savings for IOU customers. The plunge of electricity prices on the wholesale market, driven by the recession and a glut of natural gas, changed this situation.

Today, the IOUs are fighting each other for consumers. Competitive retail electric suppliers are busy signing up customers on short-term contracts. Cities, villages, counties and townships are holding load aggregation votes. Ohio’s regulated power industry is churning and full of uncertainty.

Buckeye Power and its member systems continue to reap the benefits of stability and certainty. Over the decades, the cost of wholesale power for Ohio electric co-ops has been mostly stable, except during periods when capacity investment was required to meet growth demands or because of EPA compliance costs. Because Buckeye Power is a G&T cooperative owned by its member systems, corporate profits have never been the goal of power supply planning.

Buckeye Power provides safe, reliable and affordable electricity at cost-based rates. The planning and investment that resulted in upgrading power plants to world-class environmental performance did affect the cost of wholesale power, but it also ushered in at least a decade of rate stability, protecting members from the volatility of the market and the possibility of power supply pinches.

“Our members understand that long-range strategy has always guided our generation decisions,” says CEO Tony Ahern. “Our core business is meeting the electricity needs of Ohio’s cooperatives. To some it might be called a niche. To us, it’s our mission.”

Back to Top

Quick Links

  • Contact Us
  • News

Office Hours

Mon – Fri (7:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.)

17 S. Liberty St.
New Concord, Ohio 43762
Phone: 740-826-7661
Fax: 740-826-7171
Ohio Toll Free: 1-800-521-9879

Project Ohio

Follow Us Online

©2023 Guernsey Muskingum Electric Cooperative. All Rights Reserved.

  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Us
      • History
    • Board of Directors
    • Business Office Info
      • Directions
    • Careers
    • Code of Regulations
      • Articles of Incorporation
      • Code of Regulations
      • Mission Statement
      • Statement of Ideals
    • Competitive Difference
      • Deregulation and Choice
      • Generation Assets
      • Renewable Energy
    • Contact Us
      • Contact Update Form
    • Nondiscrimination Statement
    • Service Territory
  • Acct Services
    • Billing Services
      • Automatic Direct Bill Payment
      • Billing Rates
      • Budget Plan
      • Member Assistance
      • Payment of Bills
    • Capital Credits
    • Financial Assistance
    • Reading the Meter
    • Financial Assistance
    • Service Fee
    • SmartHub
  • Community
    • 4H Involvement
    • Community - Youth
    • Operation Helping Others
    • Scholarships
    • Youth Tour
  • Member info
    • ACRE Coop Owners for Political Action
      • ACRE - Frequently Asked Questions
    • Annual Meeting Notice
      • Directions to L. W. Miller School
    • Annual Meeting of Members
    • Cardinal Plant Tour
    • Energy Alternatives - EnviroWatts
      • EnviroWatts Application
    • FAQ
    • Ohio Cooperative Living
    • Peak Management
    • Renewable Energy
  • Operations
    • Service Specifications
      • Meter Pole - Overhead Service
      • Overhead Service - No Mast
      • Overhead Service - With Mast
      • Meter Pole - UG Service
      • UG Service - Pedestal Panel
      • UG Service - Pedestal Post
      • UG Service - Structure Mount
      • Ohio MH Commision
    • Before You Dig - OUPS and OGPUPS
    • Non-Outage Trouble Form
    • Reporting Outages
    • Trees and Right-of-Way
      • Select the Right Tree
    • Service Disconnect
  • Services
    • Geothermal
    • Air Conditioning
    • Dual Fuel
    • Aerator Transfer Switch
      • Generator Wattage Guide
      • Which Generator to Buy
    • Home Energy Audit
    • Radio Controlled Switches
    • Safety Demonstrations
    • Water Heaters
  • Useful Tools