Celebrating Co-op Month: Power with Purpose

October is National Co-op Month—a time when electric cooperatives across the country celebrate the unique benefits of the cooperative model. For Glades Electric Cooperative, it’s also the perfect opportunity to thank you, our members, for making everything we do possible.

Co-op Month isn’t just a celebration. It’s a reminder of the values that have guided us for more than 80 years and continue to shape every decision we make today.

What Makes Cooperatives Different

Unlike investor-owned utilities, electric cooperatives aren’t driven by profits for distant shareholders. We’re owned by the people we serve—our neighbors, friends, and local businesses. That purpose is what sets us apart.

As a member-owned cooperative, you have a direct voice in how we operate. You elect a board of directors made up of fellow members who live right here in our service area. Decisions aren’t made in faraway boardrooms—they’re made at home, by people who care about the same communities you do.

This local accountability keeps us focused on what matters most: providing reliable, affordable power and real value to our members.

Delivering More Than Electricity

Keeping the lights on is just the beginning. We invest in infrastructure upgrades and new technologies to strengthen our local grid, manage costs carefully to keep rates low, and respond quickly when storms or outages occur—because we live here too.

But our mission goes beyond electricity. Cooperatives were created to meet community needs, and we take that role seriously. Whether it’s supporting schools, sponsoring youth programs, partnering with local organizations, or expanding access to high-speed fiber internet, we are committed to improving the quality of life across our service area. That’s the cooperative difference. That’s what it means to be powered by purpose.

Looking Ahead

Electric cooperatives are also planning for the future. As energy demand grows through new technologies and economic development, we’re working to ensure a reliable, balanced energy mix that keeps power both dependable and affordable.

Thank You, Members

This Co-op Month, we invite you to take pride in your membership. You’re not just a customer—you’re an owner and an essential part of keeping our community strong, connected, and energized.

Thank you for placing your trust in Glades Electric Cooperative. We’re proud to serve you and honored to be your local electric cooperative.

About Glades Electric Cooperative

Glades Electric is a not-for-profit electric cooperative built by neighbors, for neighbors. We serve parts of four counties in Florida’s Heartland: Glades, Hendry, Highlands, and Okeechobee.

Founded in 1945 by neighbors working together to bring power to the unserved rural areas of Florida’s Heartland, Glades Electric continues that same mission today. We provide electricity at cost to more sparsely populated areas than neighboring investor-owned utilities—averaging seven meters per mile of service line.

Glades Electric is one of nine Florida cooperatives that purchase power from Seminole Electric Cooperative. In some parts of our service area, other providers’ transmission lines may be used to deliver Seminole’s power, but Seminole remains our sole-source power provider.

We’re owned by our members to serve our members and are led by nine trustee members elected by fellow members. At Glades Electric, everything we do comes back to one thing: putting our cooperative members first.