Walton Electric Membership Corporation

Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC), a cooperative owned by those who receive its services, is one of the largest of almost 1,000 electric cooperatives in the country. EMC’s mission is to provide reliable energy and electric services ¬– delivered efficiently, with extraordinary customer care.

Walton EMC was formed in 1936 when seven community leaders each gave $1 toward the organizational expenses of the co-op, to provide electricity to residents in rural northeast Georgia. Because investor-owned utilities did not see the profitability of running lines through these areas due to a sparse customer base, local residents had to do it themselves. That sparse country grew into the suburbs of today. However the idea of a customer-owned electric company is as viable now as it was then.

Today, Walton EMC supplies energy to more than 120,000 residential, business and industrial accounts in 10 northeast Georgia counties. The cooperative owns three subsidiaries. A wholly-owned subsidiary, Walton EMC Natural Gas, provides natural gas to residential and business customers throughout Georgia. EMC Security, a joint venture with Jackson EMC and GreyStone Power, offers residential and commercial security services and residential home technology. A third subsidiary is Doyle I LLC, a natural gas-fired electricity generating plant.