Buckeye Power and the Cardinal Generating Plant were created and constructed by Ohio cooperatives to control power generation and distribution to ensure cost-effective rates. And they represent a powerful source of savings to our members!

Power To The People
Prior to 1967, cooperatives in Ohio had to rely on existing wholesale power sources to generate power to their members. Realizing this lack of control over cost and supply was not in the best interest of their members, Ohio's cooperatives, including Pioneer, developed a solution. They created Buckeye Power, an electric power generation cooperative. Our own power plant, called the Cardinal Generating Plant, was put into service in 1967. It provided members with a distinct advantage over investor-owned utility customers in the form of lower rates. This advantage remains in place through a member-cooperative agreement that states that Buckeye must supply all power needed by cooperatives, in return for cooperatives purchasing all their power from Buckeye.

Another agreement Buckeye has deals with "banked power." Banked power is excess power that Buckeye has sold to American Electric Power and arranged to "buy back" during peak demand at a reasonable rate. This allows Buckeye to supply power beyond its actual capacity without spending funds on additional equipment.

Deregulation Could "Break The Bank"
Because it would be an apparent violation of the above-mentioned agreements, these cost savings could be in jeopardy if one or more of Ohio's 24 member-cooperatives were to permit their members to obtain power from a source other than their cooperative, as could be the case with "consumer choice" or deregulation.