Cooperative · Alabama · EIA 3222
Central Alabama Electric Coop
Cooperative · Alabama · 47K customers. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's EIA Form 861, reliability for 2023 shows SAIDI 568 minutes/customer.
Reliability verdict
Central Alabama Electric Coop shows near-benchmark chronic reliability in 2023: 284 minutes SAIDI excluding major events (568 minutes including them) across 47K customers.
- 568 min
- SAIDI 2023
- 284 min
- SAIDI ex-MED
- 47K
- Customers
Chronic reliability judged on SAIDI excluding major event days when reported (IEEE 1366). Source: EIA Form 861 · August 2026.
Signature read: long interruption minutes vs the 911 utility cohort (>258 min tercile cut).
What long-outage Central Alabama Electric Coop filings show
Central Alabama Electric Coop is a member-owned electric cooperative operating in Alabama under EIA identifier 3222. It reports service to approximately 46,733 customer accounts and generated about $0.11 billion in annual electric revenue, with a service footprint spanning 48 ZIP codes. Being member-owned, this cooperative answers to its ratepayers rather than outside shareholders, a structure that tends to influence how rate cases and capital spending get decided.
In 2023, the average Central Alabama Electric Coop customer experienced 568.5 minutes of power interruptions, a metric called SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index). Excluding major weather events from that total, that lands within the usual 120–180 minute national benchmark band, roughly on par with typical U.S. distribution-utility performance. Excluding major event days (hurricanes, ice storms), SAIDI drops to 283.9 minutes, the gap between that figure and the headline 568.5 reveals how much weather, not day-to-day infrastructure, drove outages.
The EIA dataset includes 4 years of continuous reporting (2020–2023) for Central Alabama Electric Coop, which lets you see whether reliability is trending up or down rather than judging from a single snapshot. SAIDI has improved from 4386.8 to 568.5 minutes over that window, a meaningful direction for prospective customers and regulators watching capital investment outcomes. Note: this figure is unusually low compared to typical U.S. utility performance and may reflect an incomplete EIA filing for this year rather than a genuine reliability improvement -- treat with caution and cross-check against Central Alabama Electric Coop's other reported years.
Based on this utility's own EIA Form 861 reliability record -- baseline (major-event- excluded) outage duration, total outage duration, and outage frequency -- each benchmarked against every reporting utility nationwide. Not a measure of electricity rates or customer service, which this portal does not track.
568 minutes per customer per year
Minutes without power per year (2023)
SAIDI by year (2020-2023)
Minutes per customer-year · EIA Form 861
Year-by-year SAIDI for Central Alabama Electric Coop from the same EIA filings as the table below. Lower is better; major-event years can spike the headline figure.
Central Alabama Electric Coop SAIDI trend
Central Alabama Electric Coop vs the nationwide SAIDI distribution
Where this utility's headline SAIDI sits among every EIA Form 861 utility with a reported figure
568 Higher than most fewer outage minutes than 15% of 911 utilities
Utilities nationwide, banded by latest reported SAIDI (minutes)
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more utilities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. EIA Form 861 reliability filings · August 2026
Price vs. reliability
Where Central Alabama Electric Coop sits on price vs. reliability
Among the 781 U.S. utilities large enough to report both revenue per customer and a recent outage record, Central Alabama Electric Coop charges more per customer than 36% of them, and is more reliable (lower SAIDI) than 17% of them, placing it in the quadrant where it pays less and is less reliable. Revenue per customer and outage minutes are independent figures: paying more does not guarantee fewer outages.
Revenue per customer: $2,309/year · Latest SAIDI: 568.5 minutes/year.
SAIDI 2023 breakdown: 568.5 minutes
Reliability Trend (2020–2023)
| Year | SAIDI (min) | SAIDI nMED | SAIFI | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 4386.8 | 202.6 | - | 43,552 |
| 2021 | 404.6 | 193.3 | - | 44,307 |
| 2022 | 202.8 | 180.1 | - | 44,367 |
| 2023 | 568.5 | 283.9 | - | 45,550 |
SAIDI nMED = SAIDI without major event days. Source: EIA Form 861.
Service Area
Central Alabama Electric Coop serves 48 ZIP codes in Alabama.
Frequently Asked Questions
How reliable is Central Alabama Electric Coop?
Central Alabama Electric Coop had a SAIDI of 568.5 minutes in 2023 including major weather events, but 283.9 minutes excluding them (the IEEE-standard day-to-day reliability measure, the difference points to a major storm that year rather than an ongoing problem). Excluding major weather events, this is near the national average.
What type of utility is Central Alabama Electric Coop?
Central Alabama Electric Coop is classified as a Cooperative serving Alabama.
How many customers does Central Alabama Electric Coop serve?
Central Alabama Electric Coop serves approximately 46,733 customers in Alabama.
How has Central Alabama Electric Coop's reliability changed over time?
Central Alabama Electric Coop has 4 years of reliability data (2020-2023). SAIDI has held roughly steady across these years. Review the trend table above for year-by-year detail.
Utility Profile
- Type
- Cooperative
- State
- Alabama
- Customers
- 46,733
- Annual Revenue
- $0.11B
- EIA ID
- 3222
Explore
Utilities with similar EIA profiles
Two cross-state peer sets for Central Alabama Electric Coop. Same-state SAIDI neighbors stay in Read-with below; these neighborhoods are nearest other-state utilities with at least 10,000 reported customers.
Similar customer count
Nearest utilities by Form 861 customers (47K here), outside Alabama.
Similar chronic SAIDI
Nearest utilities by latest SAIDI minutes (568.5 here), outside Alabama, excluding the customer-peer set.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Form 861 annual electric power industry survey · ZIP service territory: OpenEI. Disclaimer: informational only, not professional advice. See full disclaimer · methodology.