History

Central Electric was established March 29, 1940. Today, CEC maintains 3880 miles of overhead and underground lines which provide electricity to 31,262 accounts.

The 1949 CEC line crew with John Norlin, CEC general manager, at left. To Norlin's left are George Wolfe, an unidentified BPA inspector, A.L. Chaplin, Pete Sturza, Marvin Cook, Merrill Cooper, E.A. "Butch" Sturza, L.A. "Leck" Skeen, Weldon "Slim" Hix, Dean Weaver, Jim Abbot, E.R. "Bud" Smith, and Clarence Kimball.

What is Central Electric Cooperative?

	CEC is a not-for-profit, consumer-owned corporation operated for the benefit of YOU.
	CEC is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors elected from the membership. Annual meetings are held on the 2nd Friday in April.
	CEC must reinvest earnings in excess of operating expenses OR return "profits" to its members in the form of "capital credits" or dividends.

 

Mileposts in CEC History

1940	Articles of incorporation filed with State of Oregon; first employee hired; offices rented in Redmond, first loan ($244,000) signed with the new federal Rural Electrification Administration.
1941	First CEC line energized to serve 11 members living near Deschutes Junction.
1946	John Norlin hired as co-op manager; lines extended to Lower Bridge, Madras areas.
1947	Lines extended to Powell Butte, Prineville.
1952	Lines extended to Post, Paulina areas.
1956	Central Electric board members first elected from specific geographic districts rather from membership at large.
1962	Oregon Public Utility Commission "freezes" existing boundaries of Central Electric and Pacific Power territories in Central Oregon.
1977	John Norlin retires; Lane Powell becomes general manager; Central Electric moves to new Redmond headquarters on North Highway 97.
1990	Central Electric celebrates 50th year of existence.
1996	Lane Powell dies from heart attack. Al Gonzalez named president and CEO; Most destructive winter storm in co-op’s history hits Redmond, Sisters, Madras areas. Thousands without power, some for up to two days.
1999	Central Electric declares more than $1,000,000 in capital credits payments to members for the first time in its history.
2001	Bonneville Power Administration wholesale rate jump of 56% forces retail rate increase to members; CEC has lowest annual outage record in 61 years with an average of 18 minutes, 31 seconds per customer.
2001	CEC completes a comprehensive pole numbering project; over 36,000 power poles are tagged with permanent identification numbers.
2003	Central Electric named one of the top five electric utilities in the United States for Green Power sales (per capita), according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Number of active CEC accounts exceeds 27,000.
2006	Dave Markham named president and CEO.
2007	CEC ranked eighth among the nation's public and private utilities for member participation in "Green Power" from Coffin Butte landfill gas-to-electricity plant that CEC owns with 11 other cooperatives.