Welcome! The Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives (AREA) is a member-owned federation of 22 electric distribution cooperatives.

Monday update Winter storm 2017

Crews continue to restore power to electric cooperative
members following surprise winter snow

Dec. 11, 2017 – Crews from Alabama’s rural electric cooperatives spent the past weekend helping restore power to areas of the state hit by the surprise winter snowfall. By Sunday evening, power had been restored in many areas but crews continued to work Monday in the southwest Alabama counties of Choctaw and Marengo served by Black Warrior EMC.  At peak, nearly 10,000 cooperative members in areas served by Black Warrior EMC, Coosa Valley EC and Central Alabama EC experienced outages due to heavy snow accumulations downing power lines and breaking electrical poles.

Crews from other Alabama cooperatives responded to the call for help, including crews from Baldwin EMC, Covington, Cullman, Dixie, Tombigbee, South Alabama, Southern Pine, Pea River, Wiregrass and Pioneer electric cooperatives.

In addition, crews from Alabama’s Sand Mountain and Marshall-DeKalb electric cooperatives have been dispatched to help restore power to members of Cobb EMC in suburban Atlanta, Ga.

Alabama’s 22 rural electric cooperatives deliver power to more than 1 million people, or a quarter of the state’s population, and they maintain more than 71,000 miles of power line.