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About Us

Energizing Our Communities Since 1939

Located in southeast Tennessee, Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative is member-owned, maintaining over 3,000 miles of line in the majority of Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Marion and Grundy counties, and touches into five other counties. 

Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative was incorporated on July 31, 1939, by a group of community leaders who could foresee the benefits of an electric utility owned by and responsive to the people who were to receive electricity from it. The incorporators took the Cherokee Indian name  "Sequachee" (pronouned Se-kwah-chee), for the river running through the area as the unique identification of their new utility, and for over 80 years the Cooperative has been the only business in the area to use the original spelling, rather than "Sequatchie."

The primary purpose for founding the Cooperative was to enable the rural people in the Valley to secure electricity to improve their way of life and standard of living. Local townspeople who already enjoyed the benefits of electricity knew that the economic future for everyone would be improved with electricity available to all.

The cooperative organization enabled the new business to borrow money from the Rural Electrification Administration; one of the special federal agencies created during the 1930’s to improve the national economy and particularly the rural economy.

With the SVEC charter approved and board of trustees in place in August 1939, the new cooperative set in motion the purchase of the lines that had been owned by the Tennessee Valley Electric Power Company located primarily in the larger towns of Marion, Grundy, Sequatchie and Bledsoe counties and began expanding out into the smaller towns and the rural areas of these four counties.

On September 1, 1939, Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative began its existence, taking over properties in its areas purchased by the Tennessee Valley Authority on August 16 of that year from the Tennessee Electric Power Company.

SVEC immediately began rehabilitation of the power system. At that time, it started an aggressive program to build lines to serve new customers, primarily rural, and to promote the use of electricity under its lower rates.

ThroughTheDecades-1.jpg
Photo: The SVEC 1940s/early 1950s line crew standing in front of the first SVEC office which was located on Elm Avenue in South Pittsburg, between 2nd and 3rd streets. Pictured left to right are: Bill Thompson, Bobby Brown, Leonard Peoples, Roy Conner, James Edward Henderson, J.R. Hookey (foreman), J.C. Blevins, Rance Castle Sr., and Riley Choate.

 

Seven Cooperative Principles

7_Coop_Principles_Infographic_0.jpg

SVEC Metrics

Power pole
3240
Miles of line
Meter

37328

Meters on homes and businesses

dollar sign

1400769

2021 Taxes paid to local counties and cities

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©2023 Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative. Energizing Our Communities

  • Home
  • My Account
    • Access My Account
    • Billing Options
    • Energy Assistance
    • Fees and Rates
    • My Energy Use
    • Start or Stop Service
    • The SVEC App
    • Update My Account Information
    • Ways to Pay
  • My Cooperative
    • 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting
    • About Us
    • Affiliations
    • Board of Directors
    • CEO & Executive Staff
    • Co-op Events & Programs
    • Economic Development
    • Local Offices
    • Products
    • Tree & Vegetation Management
  • Outage Center
    • Report a Power Outage
    • View Outage Map
    • How to Prepare for Power Outages
    • Power Safety
    • Power Restoration
  • Energy Solutions
    • Comprehensive Services
    • Electric Vehicles
    • Energy Audits
    • Go Green
    • Heat Pump Financing
    • Lower My Energy Bill
    • New Homes Program
    • Solar Energy
  • News and Resources
    • Articles and Press Releases
    • Social Media
    • The Tennessee Magazine
    • Beware of Scams
    • Bright Ideas
    • Careers
    • SVECares
    • Rebates & Incentives
    • Washington D.C. Youth Tour
    • For Kids: Energy Monsters