Newsweek survey names Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. among America’s most trustworthy companies.
Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Associated) is the power generation supply cooperative for Access Energy Cooperative members. Associated was recently recognized as one of America’s most trustworthy companies, according to a recent survey ranking from Newsweek and market research partner Statista.
Associated was ranked No. 5 in Newsweek’s Most Trustworthy Companies in America in 2023 in the Energy & Utilities category. The second-annual survey reviewed a pool of 3,100 U.S. based companies, with just 700 voted for top honors across 23 industries. Notably, Associated was the highest-rated electric cooperative in the survey, followed by Arkansas Electric Cooperative (No. 17), Basin Electric Power Cooperative (No. 26) and Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (No. 38).
The Energy & Utilities category had the second-most ranked companies of any industry in the survey, with 47 public and private utility companies making the list. Newsweek’s rankings were determined by an independent survey sample of about 25,000 people comprising customers, employees and investors across the U.S. Surveys were targeted to a pool of 1,800 public and 1,300 private companies with revenues of more than $500 million.
Associated is part of a three-tiered electric cooperative system united by the common purpose of serving electric cooperative members with affordable and reliable electricity. Associated is owned by six generation and transmission cooperatives (G&Ts) (such as NE Missouri Electric Power Cooperative (NE Power) that formed it in 1961 to provide them a wholesale power supply. These six G&Ts are owned by 51 distribution cooperatives (such as Access Energy Cooperative) in southeast Iowa, Missouri, and northeast Oklahoma. These local electric cooperatives are owned by more than 935,000 meters, representing more than two million member-consumers.