Power Supply
The electricity Crawford Electric distributes to our members is generated by Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., based in Springfield, Mo. Associated is owned by and provides wholesale power to six regional generation and transmission (G&T) cooperatives. These electric utility systems supply wholesale power to 39 distribution cooperatives in Missouri, three in southeast Iowa and nine in northeast Oklahoma serving more than 780,000 customers. Associated’s wholesale power comes to Crawford Electric through our G&T co-op, Sho-Me Power.
Associated also uses its 87 interchange and interconnection agreements and 92 interconnection points to make power transactions with other utilities in and outside Missouri for the benefit of its owner systems.
Associated operates two coal-based power plants:
New Madrid Power Plant (1,200 megawatts) and
Thomas Hill Energy Center Power Division (1,153 MW).
Associated also dispatches KAMO Power’s portion of the Grand River Dam Authority’s Unit 2 (198 MW) and
Central Electric Power Cooperative’s Chamois Power Plant (68 MW), both of which are coal-based.
Associated’s natural-gas-based generating projects include the St. Francis Power Plant (501 MW), Essex Power Plant (107 MW), Nodaway Power Plant (182 MW), Chouteau Power Plant (522 MW) and Holden Power Plant (321 MW). The combined-cycle, natural gas Dell Power Plant (580 MW), was completed in 2007 and adds another important resource to meet the growing energy needs of rural electric cooperatives.
The cooperative also owns and operates the oil-based generators at Unionville (45 MW) and has a long-term contract with the Southwestern Power Administration for 478 MW of hydroelectric peaking power.
In early 2007 Associated signed a 20 year agreement to buy all the electricity produced from three wind farms, Bluegrass Ridge (57 MW), Cow Branch (50 MW) and Conception (50 MW).
The integrated transmission system owned by Associated and its member systems consists of more than 9,075 miles of line, as well as the related substations.
Associated’s mission is to provide an economical and reliable power supply and support services to its members. With rates that are among the lowest of all G&Ts in the U.S., the cooperative pursues its vision to be the lowest-cost wholesale power supplier in the country.
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