2025 Coastal Electric Annual Review: More than customers, connected by trust

Bal­anc­ing afford­abil­i­ty and reli­a­bil­i­ty

We work hard to keep elec­tric rates sta­ble and afford­able. But reliability—and the infra­struc­ture required to deliv­er it— comes at a cost.

For the first time in more than a decade, Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive imple­ment­ed a rate increase, effec­tive May 1.

We under­stand that any increase mat­ters. That’s why this deci­sion came only after years of ris­ing costs, includ­ing pow­er sup­ply, mate­ri­als, equip­ment, con­struc­tion and sys­tem main­te­nance, along with care­ful eval­u­a­tion of every alter­na­tive.

Our respon­si­bil­i­ty is to bal­ance afford­abil­i­ty today with reli­a­bil­i­ty tomor­row.

This adjust­ment ensures we can con­tin­ue to meet mem­bers’ needs, not just now, but for years to come, because finan­cial trans­paren­cy and long-term plan­ning are essen­tial to main­tain­ing your trust.

Reli­a­bil­i­ty when it mat­ters most

Finan­cial stew­ard­ship doesn’t end on paper. It shows up where it mat­ters most: in reli­able elec­tric ser­vice.

In 2025, that reli­a­bil­i­ty was test­ed.

Dur­ing peri­ods of extreme tem­per­a­tures, elec­tric­i­ty use reached record lev­els across Geor­gia. On July 28, elec­tric coop­er­a­tives statewide set a new all-time sum­mer peak. And on Feb. 1, Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive reached its own high­est demand in his­to­ry at 162,503 kW.

Because we planned ahead, mon­i­tored con­di­tions and pre­pared for high demand, we met those needs with­out inter­rup­tion.

That’s the kind of reli­a­bil­i­ty our mem­bers depend on—on blue-sky days and dur­ing extreme con­di­tions alike.

And that kind of reli­a­bil­i­ty doesn’t hap­pen by acci­dent. It’s built through inten­tion­al plan­ning, strong part­ner­ships and ongo­ing invest­ment.

Strength in coop­er­a­tion

Pro­vid­ing pow­er 24/7 requires more than local effort. It takes col­lab­o­ra­tion.

Through part­ner­ships with oth­er elec­tric coop­er­a­tives across the state, we share gen­er­a­tion resources and secure long-term pow­er sup­ply agree­ments.

This approach strength­ens reli­a­bil­i­ty, man­ages risk and reduces costs through economies of scale. This is Coop­er­a­tive Prin­ci­ple 6: Coop­er­a­tion Among Coop­er­a­tives.

By work­ing togeth­er, we build a stronger, more resilient ener­gy network—one that serves our mem­bers bet­ter.

Invest­ing in a sys­tem you can rely on

Here at home, we con­tin­ue build­ing and main­tain­ing the infra­struc­ture that pow­ers your dai­ly life.

In 2025, Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive:

• Brought the Belfast Sub­sta­tion on-line to meet grow­ing demand.
• Added a sec­ond trans­former at Trade­port Sub­sta­tion with advanced meter­ing infra­struc­ture.
• Upgrad­ed equip­ment in McIn­tosh Coun­ty to sup­port increased load.
• Relo­cat­ed lines in Lib­er­ty Coun­ty to sup­port road improve­ments.
• Installed more resilient spac­er cable in Shell­man Bluff to reduce out­age risk.

We also con­tin­ue expand­ing under­ground lines where fea­si­ble, increas­ing sys­tem resilience while bal­anc­ing cost con­sid­er­a­tions.

These invest­ments are about more than equip­ment. They’re about deliv­er­ing con­sis­tent, depend­able ser­vice you can count on.

Pre­vent­ing prob­lems before they start

Reli­a­bil­i­ty isn’t just about respond­ing to out­ages. It’s about pre­vent­ing them.

In 2025, we inspect­ed 3,037 poles and 893 pad-mount­ed trans­form­ers for safe­ty and reli­a­bil­i­ty. We cleared almost 190 miles of right-of-way. This proac­tive work reduces the like­li­hood of out­ages and allows for faster restora­tion when they do occur.

And because our line­men live through­out the com­mu­ni­ties we serve, they can respond quickly—day or night.

Grow­ing respon­si­bly, serv­ing ful­ly

As our com­mu­ni­ties grow, so does the demand for reli­able pow­er.

In 2025, we con­nect­ed 1,679 new ser­vices, includ­ing major projects like the new Rich­mond Hill High School and the Has­bro dis­tri­b­u­tion cen­ter in Mid­way.

Growth brings oppor­tu­ni­ty but also respon­si­bil­i­ty.

We plan care­ful­ly to ensure we can serve new mem­bers with­out com­pro­mis­ing the ser­vice our exist­ing mem­bers depend on. That’s part of Coop­er­a­tive Prin­ci­ple 1: Open and Vol­un­tary Mem­ber­ship.

We’re com­mit­ted to mak­ing room for growth while main­tain­ing the qual­i­ty and reli­a­bil­i­ty our mem­bers expect.

Built on trust, all for our mem­bers

Every mile of line, every invest­ment and every deci­sion exists for one rea­son: the mem­bers who make this coop­er­a­tive.

At Coastal Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive, trust is built through trans­paren­cy, strength­ened through reli­a­bil­i­ty and sus­tained through respon­si­ble finan­cial stew­ard­ship.

Togeth­er, we are build­ing Lines of Trust, con­nect­ing neigh­bors, strength­en­ing com­mu­ni­ties and shap­ing the coop­er­a­tive we share.