Message From General Manager – October 2026

Electricity Remains a Great Value

LATE LAST YEAR, the U.S. minted the final penny. The one-cent coin was one of the first made in 1793 after the mint was established, but by the end of its run in 2025, a penny cost as much as 3.7 cents to produce. It just wasn't worth it to keep making pennies.

This got me thinking about how the value of things changes over time. A penny used to be able to get you a piece of candy, a stamp, even a newspaper. Not so much these days.

It might seem like a penny couldn't get you much of anything now. But there is something of value you can still get for a cent: electricity.

Let's pretend the average rate for a kilowatt-hour of electricity is 20 cents. (In actuality, it's several cents lower than that.) That's 60 minutes of 500- watt electricity for a dime, so a penny of electricity equates to 50 watt-hours. It's enough to power a 9-watt LED light bulb for five and a half hours-all for only a penny.

That value is just as evident in other situations. Take, for instance, your smartphone. Using the same 20 cents per kilowatt-hour price, one penny's worth of electricity allows you to fully charge your iPhone more than nine times. You can charge it every day of the year for about 40 cents total.

We're fortunate that electricity is such an excellent value because we have a huge appetite for it.

We use it for lighting, heating, cooking, cooling, refrigeration, cleaning, washing, entertainment, communications-even transportation these days.
That's real value.

As technology has evolved, we've only grown more dependent on electricity. It's hard to even imagine life without it, and it's incredible to realize how much value it brings us, especially when you compare the cost of electricity to other goods.

Rising prices for gas, groceries and other goods put pressure on all of us, but I'm proud of the work we do at Fannin Electric Cooperative to minimize the impact of rising costs where we can and help keep electricity a great value.

The first electric cooperatives were created 90 years ago when investor-owned utilities decided it wasn't worth it to provide electricity to rural areas. They believed they wouldn't be able to make a profit.

But farmers recognized the value electricity would bring to their farms and homes and banded together to power their communities.

At Fannin EC, we're proud to continue the co-op tradition. Our team works hard every day to power our community with safe, reliable and affordable
electricity.