关于合作公寓

“韦伯斯特电 Cooperative is committed to providing safe, reliable and affordable service to our members through dedication and integrity, treating all with courtesy and respect.”

Over fifty years ago the people of the surrounding area chose to band together to bring a necessary service to a community in need. The founding members of 韦伯斯特电 Cooperative went to great extremes to ensure that the members of their community would be able to receive the same services as their counterparts in the cities. It is from this idea that the group’s mission statement was born and from this mission statement grew the cooperative. From its charter in 1946 the cooperative has endured many changes, difficulties and trials only to emerge stronger and more robust.From the earliest beginnings as a dream shared by a handful of citizens to being a low-cost energy supplier for over 16,000消费者, 韦伯斯特电 Cooperative has evolved to be an integral part of the lives of the citizens in a seven-county area.

Continuing with the founders’ vision, the cooperative continues to strive to provide its members with new technologies and efficient services. 当我们开始第二个千年, the cooperative is offering its members such services as surge suppression, home energy audits and local internet connections. 通过提供这些服务, the cooperative continues to strive to fulfill its promise to the participating members as it was written in 1946.

With a rate per kilowatt hour of just $.07451, 韦伯斯特电 Cooperative has one of the lowest electric rates 在密苏里州的40个合作社中.

电力合作社是:

• Private independent electric utility businesses,
• Incorporated under the laws of the states in which they operate,
• Established to provide at-cost electric service,
• 属于他们所服务的消费者，
• Governed by a board of directors elected from the membership, which sets policies and procedures that are implemented by the cooperatives’ professional staff.

Most electric co-ops are distribution cooperatives that deliver electricity to the consumer. Some are generation and transmission cooperatives that both generate and transmit electricity to meet the power needs of distribution co-ops.

合作社的不同之处?

Cooperatives are operated to provide at-cost electric service to the consumer-owners. 另一方面, investor-owned utilities that are not co-ops are operated to maximize profit for the shareholders. A co-op’s net margin above expenses and reserves does not belong to the utility; it belongs to the individual consumer-owners of the co-op. The margins must either be used to improve or maintain operations, or be distributed to those who use the co-op’s products or services.

合作原则

All cooperative businesses adhere to seven guiding principles:

1. 自愿及公开会员资格 — Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, 没有性别, 社会, 种族, 政治, 或者宗教歧视.

2. 民主党议员控制 — Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The 选出的代表 are accountable to the membership. 在初级合作社中, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.

3. 会员的经济参与 — Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members usually receive limited compensation, 如果有任何, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the cooperative, 可能是通过建立储备, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

4. 自治与独立 — Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, 包括政府, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.

5. Education, Training, and Information — Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, 选出的代表, 经理, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. 他们告知公众, particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefits of cooperation.

6. 合作社间的合作 — Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, 国家, 区域, 以及国际结构.

7. 关注社会 -同时关注会员需求, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.