The Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives brand represents a nationwide alliance made of more than 750 local, consumer-owned electric cooperatives in 46 states; and Valley Rural Electric Cooperative is one of those cooperatives. Touchstone Energy co-ops collectively deliver power and energy solutions to more than 32 million members every day. Electric cooperatives distribute power for 56 percent of the U.S. land mass over 2.4 million miles of power lines.
Electric cooperatives were established to provide electricity to rural America and now make up the largest electric utility network in the nation. Touchstone Energy is the national brand identity for that network.
Did you know?
Electric cooperatives (including those which are not part of Touchstone Energy) ...
- are located in 80 percent of the nation’s counties,
- are the largest electric utility network in the nation,
- total more than 900 local systems in 47 states,
- have 42 million member-owners,
- distribute power over 2.5 million miles of line,
- serve 75 percent of the U.S. land mass,
- own $130 billion in generation, transmission, and distribution assets.
Also, more than 88 percent of all local electric co-ops offer electricity generated from renewable sources. About 70 percent of the electricity that Valley REC delivers to members comes from non-carbon sources.
(The data in this 'Did you know?' section are from 2013.)
What Makes Our Cooperatives Different?
Touchstone Energy co-ops are owned by the members they serve and are committed to providing reliable electricity at the lowest price possible. In short, co-ops “look out” for the members they serve.
Touchstone Energy co-ops provide high standards of service according to their four core values: integrity, accountability, innovation and commitment to community.
Touchstone Energy co-ops rank well ahead of their industry counterparts when it comes to customer satisfaction. Data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index® (ACSI), one of the nation’s most recognized measures of customer satisfaction, show that Touchstone Energy cooperatives had an average score of 78 out of a possible 100 in the 2017 ACSI Utility Sector Report, outclassing the investor-owned electric utilities average score of 75 and the municipal electric utilities average score of 72.
Valley Rural Electric Cooperative consistently has scored well above these averages. Valley received an ACSI score of 91 for 2011 and 2012, a 92 for 2013, a 90 for 2014, a 91 for 2015 and 2016, and a 92 for 2017.
Explanation of ACSI Scores Graph
Courtesy of and Copyright © 2013 Touchstone Energy. All rights reserved. Local co-op material provided by Valley Rural Electric Cooperative.
ACSI and its logo are Registered Marks of the University of Michigan, licensed worldwide exclusively to American Customer Satisfaction Index LLC with the right to sublicense.
On the ACSI 100-point scale, with sample sizes of 250 or more, three points is a statistically significant difference. A difference of one or two points is statistically insignificant.