Why a co-op?

We want the focus to be on benefitting our members and educating our communities, not making profits. Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by members who share in the power structure by actively participating in setting policies and making decisions for everyone's mutual benefit.

A cooperative is also distinct from a tax-exempt non-profit organization. The terms are almost mutually exclusive in the legal sense, although this distinction is muddled by sometimes conflicting State and Federal laws on the matter. We didn't fully realize the differences ourselves until we were well into the planning process for Cooperative Community Energy. Here are some of the essential differences.

Co-ops exist to benefit members

A non-profit organization must work for the good of the public community without favoring any group or organization. A co-operative organization works for the benefit of its members, although it may--and often does--also provide significant benefits to the community at large. State law has placed co-ops in the category of "non-profit" to distinguish them from standard "for-profit" corporations; this is mainly due to the requirement that a co-op distribute its "profits" to its members, so the co-op itself does not show a profit at the end of the year. Thus, the co-op resides in a middle ground between "non-profit" and "for-profit" that provides many of the benefits of each.

Co-ops advocate for individuals

Since a non-profit cannot act on the behalf of specific individuals, such as those wishing to purchase solar equipment, it is not the right type of organization for such an activity. We could not qualify as a tax-exempt non-profit organization under IRS rules, 501(c)3. A co-op, on the other hand, is ideally suited to this type of activity; in fact, co-ops were developed for the specific purpose of helping individuals organize their economic resources for their common good, such as agricultural co-ops. Food co-ops operate on a similar principle whereby individuals band together to aggregate their purchases to get goods at wholesale prices and pass along the savings to members. Cooperative Community Energy was formed to serve the same purpose, that is, aggregation of demand, but to purchase solar equipment instead of food.

Co-ops run by democratic process

A co-op is a democratically controlled organization whereas a non-profit organization is not. This means that a co-op must be more responsive to the needs of its members, reflecting the needs of the communities in which those members live. It is typical for co-op members to vote to allocate funds for community based projects and organizations rather than distribute their "profits" amongst themselves. This gives a co-operative organization a certain amount of economic leverage to fund "good works" in their communities that might otherwise go unfunded by municipal or other government entities.

Other groups in the Bay Area are forming co-ops similar to Cooperative Community Energy. This is great news because we will be able to co-operate with them to further aggregate our purchasing power for lower prices. This aggregation will also give us leverage to influence the market--from manufacturers to system integraters to installers--to be more responsive to the needs of our communities. This also helps to define a larger market into which manufacturers can sell, spurring them to invest in more manufacturing facilities (maybe in our community) and, in turn, further lower the cost of equipment.

Consider this: We have a president who got into office despite losing the popular vote, and he is perpetrating an energy policy that is based on poisonous fuels and technologies that will serve to line the pockets of his rich friends in the oil and gas business. Through Cooperative Community Energy and other co-ops like this, we have the opportunity to "vote with our dollars" to adopt a different energy policy based on clean renewable energy sources that benefit ordinary citizens like ourselves. Join us and cast your vote.