Every day in America, 30 million people obtain electricity from consumer-owner electric cooperatives.

If America's electric cooperatives went out of business, the plug would be pulled on three-quarters of the U.S. land mass.

Rural electric systems may be small - a typical one serves only 8,000 consumers - but they can be found in 2,600 of the more than 3,100 counties in the United States, Puerto Rico, and American Samoa. These systems - 1,000 of them at last count - own and operate more than half of the electric distribution lines in America, providing electricity to more than 12 million homes, farms, businesses, schools, churches, irrigation systems, and other users. In all, the co-ops serve 30 million people.

But though they're called rural, these electric co-ops don't just serve farmers. In fact, nearly eight of every 10 families served by rural electric co-ops aren't directly involved in agricultural pursuits.

In Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, electric cooperatives provide service to over a million people in the region's rural areas and emerging suburbs. Cooperatives have long been deeply involved in their communities, and today many cooperatives have expanded their efforts to meet whatever needs exist in their service area - whether it be for home security, satellite TV, or economic development.