centers in Ashford, Dothan and Samson. These offices are full-service locations where members can pay bills, apply for service, report problems with their account or conduct any other routine business that is normally handled by the main office. Since the cost of wholesale power is the biggest portion of its expenditures, Wiregrass Electric Cooperative diligently looks for ways to reduce power expenses. Through a power supply pooling arrangement, PowerSouth, the power supplier owned by WEC and 21 other member systems in central and south Alabama and the Florida panhandle, initiated a power supply plan that could reduce wholesale power expenses and ensure the future stability of rates. Under this arrangement, PowerSouth will be responsible for supplying the electricity, which will continue to be delivered over Alabama Power Company's transmission system Power companies in Alabama There are 22 rural electric cooperatives that distribute electricity in Alabama. All of these are organized locally as separate cooperatives with their own membership, boards of trustees, management and employees. Policies, rates and provisions of service differ among each cooperative. Nineteen of these 22 distribution co-ops and the one G&T co-op have banded together to organize the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives (AREA). This is more commonly referred to as the Statewide Association. As an association, AREA is funded by the member cooperatives through a dues structure. The statewide association, or AREA, is controlled by a board of directors. The board is composed of the manager and one trustee from each of the member cooperatives. The board employs the manager or CEO who, in turn, hires and directs other employees. This association also performs various services for the member cooperatives. It works closely with the legislature and other state agencies on matters that affect all co-ops in Alabama. It produces the Alabama Living magazine mailed to all rural electric consumer/members. It also operates a print shop for custom printing required by its member co-ops. There are more than 1 million rural electric consumers in Alabama. These consumers use approximately 1,200 kilowatt hours per month. There are approximately 6.5 consumers per mile of line on Alabama cooperatives. Currently, Wiregrass system is made up of more the 3,074 miles of lines and serves more than 27,000 members in portions of five counties, including Houston, Geneva, Dale, Coffee, and Covington. See also West Florida Electric Cooperative References External links Wiregrass Electric Cooperative PowerSouth Energy Cooperative Gulf Coast Electric