Cooperative · South Carolina · EIA 5929
Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc
Cooperative · South Carolina · 33K customers. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's EIA Form 861, reliability for 2023 shows SAIDI 167 minutes/customer.
Reliability verdict
Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc shows near-benchmark chronic reliability in 2023: 143 minutes SAIDI excluding major events across 33K customers.
- 167 min
- SAIDI 2023
- 2.31
- SAIFI 2023
- 143 min
- SAIDI ex-MED
- 33K
- Customers
Chronic reliability judged on SAIDI excluding major event days when reported (IEEE 1366). Source: EIA Form 861 · August 2026.
Signature read: mid-cohort SAIDI between the 96 and 258 minute tercile cuts.
What mid-pack Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc filings show
Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc is a member-owned electric cooperative operating in South Carolina under EIA identifier 5929. It reports service to approximately 33,097 customer accounts and generated about $0.08 billion in annual electric revenue, with a service footprint spanning 39 ZIP codes. As a cooperative, its governance is accountable to its ratepayer-members rather than shareholders, which often shapes rate-setting and reinvestment priorities.
In 2023, the average Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc customer experienced 166.6 minutes of power interruptions, a measure known as SAIDI, or System Average Interruption Duration Index. That lands within the usual 120–180 minute national benchmark band, roughly on par with typical U.S. distribution-utility performance. Over the same period, SAIFI (outage events per customer) was 2.31, putting the typical customer at roughly 2 distinct interruptions that year. Strip out major event days (hurricanes, ice storms) and SAIDI falls to 142.6 minutes; the difference from the headline 166.6 shows how much of the outage total came from weather rather than everyday grid issues.
The EIA dataset includes 4 years of continuous reporting (2020–2023) for Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc, which lets you see whether reliability is trending up or down rather than judging from a single snapshot. SAIDI has increased from 158.6 to 166.6 minutes, which may reflect either worsening weather exposure or delayed grid modernization.
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.
167 min/year per customer
Minutes without power per year (2023)
SAIDI by year (2020-2023)
Minutes per customer-year · EIA Form 861
Year-by-year SAIDI for Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc from the same EIA filings as the table below. Lower is better; major-event years can spike the headline figure.
Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc SAIDI trend
Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc vs the nationwide SAIDI distribution
Where this utility's headline SAIDI sits among every EIA Form 861 utility with a reported figure
167 Around the middle fewer outage minutes than 49% 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 Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc sits on price vs. reliability
Among the 781 U.S. utilities large enough to report both revenue per customer and a recent outage record, Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc charges more per customer than 42% of them, and is more reliable (lower SAIDI) than 53% of them, placing it in the quadrant where it pays less while still being more reliable, the best-value quadrant. Revenue per customer and outage minutes are independent figures: paying more does not guarantee fewer outages.
Revenue per customer: $2,405/year · Latest SAIDI: 166.6 minutes/year.
SAIDI 2023 breakdown: 166.6 minutes
Reliability Trend (2020–2023)
| Year | SAIDI (min) | SAIDI nMED | SAIFI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 158.6 | 81.3 | 1.600 |
| 2021 | 121.8 | 108.2 | 2.100 |
| 2022 | 364.7 | 129.4 | 3.500 |
| 2023 | 166.6 | 142.6 | 2.315 |
SAIDI nMED = SAIDI without major event days. Source: EIA Form 861.
Service Area
Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc serves 39 ZIP codes in South Carolina.
Frequently Asked Questions
How reliable is Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc?
Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc had a SAIDI of 166.6 minutes in 2023. Excluding major weather events, this is near the national average.
What type of utility is Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc?
Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc is classified as a Cooperative serving South Carolina.
How many customers does Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc serve?
Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc serves approximately 33,097 customers in South Carolina.
How has Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc's reliability changed over time?
Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc has 4 years of reliability data (2020-2023). This utility's SAIDI has stayed fairly flat over the period. Review the trend table above for year-by-year detail.
Utility Profile
- Type
- Cooperative
- State
- South Carolina
- Customers
- 33,097
- Annual Revenue
- $0.08B
- EIA ID
- 5929
Explore
Utilities with similar EIA profiles
Two cross-state peer sets for Fairfield Electric Coop, Inc. 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 (33K here), outside South Carolina.
Similar chronic SAIDI
Nearest utilities by latest SAIDI minutes (166.6 here), outside South Carolina, 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.