Governance FAQ

The Cooperative’s members elect a Board of Directors to represent them in setting policy, approving the budget, and overseeing the strategic direction of the cooperative.   They have a fiduciary responsibility to the members, including rate action approval.  Additionally, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) serves as the cooperative’s regulator.

The General Manager is the employee of the board and serves to execute the policies of the cooperative.  As the leader of the organization, he or she employs a team to perform the purpose,vision, and mission of the cooperative.

The staff and board of the cooperative exist to serve the members.  The members are the consumers of the cooperative's product – electricity – but they also receive the other benefits of the cooperative business model.  These benefits, which are summed up in the Seven Cooperative Principles, include democratic control, education and training, and community impact.

As a democratically-run, member-owned cooperative, CEMC is committed to operating transparently.  Members have the opportunity to engage with CEMC leadership to express any concerns in multiple venues ranging from online community forums and our annual meeting to walking in the office or picking up the phone.

For members wishing to address the board, there is a process to go through and our staff can assist you with this request.  In the spirit of member satisfaction, CEMC management will work to address member concerns before they rise to a level that would require board intervention.

Board members do not receive a salary, but they are compensated for their time, effort and expenses.  Serving on the CEMC board of directors requires a substantial commitment.  The board of directors are required to review, analyze, train and engage.  As representatives of the membership, they set policy and approve multi-million dollar decisions, requiring numerous hours of attention and engagement per month.

Though CEMC is a private company, the cooperative annually submits a publicly available tax form that shows compensation, as well as other important financial information about the cooperative. It is called the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) Form 990.

Part VII of Form 990 lists compensation for current and former directors and key employees.  Part VII,Column D lists W2 income for employees and regular monthly payments for directors.  (It may also include taxable lump-sum payouts of retirement plans for retiring employees.)  Part VII, Column F lists other benefits such as insurance and retirement benefits, which are not take-home pay. Also included there is the annual change in value of retirement accounts.  For example, on a year when the stock market performs well, or interest rates change, this number can be significant; however, this does not represent money paid to the employee, but rather a change in the value of their retirement account for the year.

The board members are not employees of the cooperative, but they are compensated for a measure of their time and expense.  Their compensation is set using thorough market analysis and data.  One subset of that data is the compensation of board directors at one of the largest electric cooperatives in the United States.