Joe Wheeler Elec Member Corp

What This Utility Data Tells You

Joe Wheeler Elec Member Corp is a member-owned electric cooperative operating in Alabama under EIA identifier 9739. It reports service to approximately 45,524 customer accounts and generated about $0.17 billion in annual electric revenue, with a service footprint spanning 34 ZIP codes. Cooperative ownership means the utility is run for the benefit of the ratepayer-members who elect its board, rather than for shareholder returns, which can shift how rate and investment decisions get made.

In 2023, the average Joe Wheeler Elec Member Corp customer experienced 373.8 minutes of power interruptions, a measure known as SAIDI, or System Average Interruption Duration Index. That exceeds the 120–180 minute national benchmark by a wide margin, a pattern often tied to severe weather exposure, older infrastructure, or longer repair windows. SAIFI, the average number of outage events per customer, was 2.74 for the same period, so customers statistically faced roughly 3 distinct interruptions that year. Strip out major event days (hurricanes, ice storms) and SAIDI falls to 354.6 minutes; the difference from the headline 373.8 shows how much of the outage total came from weather rather than everyday grid issues.

Joe Wheeler Elec Member Corp has 4 years of continuous EIA reporting on file (2020–2023), enough to read a real trend rather than a single-year snapshot. SAIDI has increased from 130.8 to 373.8 minutes, which may reflect either worsening weather exposure or delayed grid modernization.