About
Serving our communities
We provide more than just electricity. We help bring energy to your community.
Member-Owned
As a local, not-for-profit electric cooperative, we're owned by our consumer-members.
We exist to make life better
About Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE)
Founded in 1936, MTE is the largest electric cooperative in the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) region and the second largest in the United States, serving more than 750,000 Tennesseans via 345,000+ accounts covering nearly 2,200 square miles in 11 Middle Tennessee counties, primarily Rutherford, Cannon, Williamson and Wilson. Municipalities served include Murfreesboro, Franklin, Brentwood, Smyrna, La Vergne, Lebanon and Mt. Juliet. MTE employs around 540 people in six local offices and its Murfreesboro headquarters.
MTE’s subsidiary, United Communications, is a nationally recognized broadband company with a fiber network spanning more than 6,100 route miles, providing high-speed internet and phone services to portions of Bedford, Davidson, Franklin, Giles, Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Moore, Rutherford, Williamson, and Wilson counties.
Middle Tennessee Electric came into being during the Great Depression as part of national and state efforts to electrify rural America. What started as a movement of farmers and rural residents to obtain the benefits of electricity became one of the nation’s success stories that continue to transform Middle Tennessee today. Here’s how it happened.
Cooperative businesses can be found in many industries. REI, Land O’Lakes, Navy Federal Credit Union, and many others are all examples of the cooperative business model in action. At their foundation are seven guiding principles.
During our creation in 1936 and subsequent development over the years, MTE also embodies these principles. Here is the list of the 7 Cooperative Principles:
- Voluntary and Open Membership — Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.
- Democratic Member Control — Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.
- Members’ Economic Participation — Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members allocate surplus capital for specific purposes like developing the cooperative business or electric system, possibly by setting up reserves. Supporting other activities like community improvement or education projects is also permitted with the approval by the membership through the board of directors.
- Autonomy and Independence — Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.
- Education, Training, and Information — Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public, particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefits of cooperation.
- Cooperation Among Cooperatives — Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures.
- Concern for Community — While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.
If you're looking for some general information about Middle Tennessee Electric, our most recently published fact sheet can give you some insight about us. If you're looking for more information, please give us a call, come by a local office, or send us an email.