Touchstone Energy Cooperatives is a cooperative federation

Cooperative federation

A co-operative federation or secondary co-operative is a co-operative in which all members are, in turn, co-operatives.Historically, co-operative federations have predominantly come in the form of co-operative wholesale societies and co-operative unions...

 composed of over 660 local, consumer-owned utility cooperative

Utility cooperative

A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity, water or telecommunications to its members...

s in 46 of the 50 United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Touchstone Energy co-ops serve more than 30 million members. Electric utility cooperative

Utility cooperative

A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity, water or telecommunications to its members...

s distribute power for 75 percent of the U.S. land mass over 2.4 million miles of power lines.

Touchstone Energy was founded in 1998. Most of its members are also members of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is the organization that represents over 900 electric cooperatives in the United States. Independent electric utilities are not-for-profit and are owned by their members...

. The federation includes both generation and transmission cooperatives and distribution cooperatives.

Philanthropy

Touchstone Energy's North Carolina cooperatives established the Bright Ideas grant program in 1993. The program provides educational grants of up to $2000 for teachers in North Carolina who fund classroom-based projects out of their own pockets.

Legal Settlement

In July 2010 an agreement was reached between the EPA and Hoosier Energy to reduce emissions that are regulated under the Clean Air Act. The agreement covers a civil penalty and a commitment to upgrade the air pollution controls at two power plants in Indiana.