1930
Townspeople and city dwellers were fortunate to have electric lights. Investor-owned, for-profit utilities served urban areas, while service to rural areas was limited by the high cost of building lines to serve sparsely populated areas. Rural homeowners, farmers, storekeepers, and small business were left in the dark.

1935
The Rural Electrification Administration was formed to provide long-term, low-interest loans to run power lines to people who wanted electricity regardless of how remote their farms, homes and businesses. They set up their electric utilities as cooperatives, which are in the American spirit of private, not-for-profit, customer-owned, and service-oriented.

1936
Neighbors and friends borrowed money and banded together to build their own distribution systems. Forty-two not-for-profit cooperatives were organized in Georgia - the first in 1936, the last in 1948. These cooperatives were named Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs). They obtained loans and built power lines and substations to supply electricity.

1974

For many years, the electric cooperatives in Georgia independently purchased all of their power at wholesale rates.

The oil embargo, a depressed economy, heavy government regulations, and a steady climb in electricity usage combined to make power costs skyrocket.

Georgia's electric cooperatives decided they needed to take charge of their future by obtaining power to meet customer demand at reasonable costs. With a $5 membership fee, they laid the groundwork for Oglethorpe Electric, a generation and transmission cooperative, to develop its own power supply and transmission resources.

Through the creation of Oglethorpe Electric, a not-for-profit cooperative owned by the EMCs, they were able to plan for the EMCs' future growth and better control costs.

1997

OPC was the first electric utility in the U.S. to divide an integrated generation and transmission business into three specialized operating companies:

Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC)
Oglethorpe Power Corporation (OPC)
Georgia System Operations Corporation (GSOC)

This better positioned the businesses with developing regulatory and industry trends, and provided greater flexibility.

The business structure means electric transmission reliability and cost effectiveness are top priorities.

OPC continues to provide wholesale electric power to 38 EMCs in Georgia.

GSOC is an independent, not-for-profit corporation owned by 38 EMCs in Georgia.

Having three separate companies ensures independent, reliable system operations by monitoring and controlling electric generation, transmission and distribution assets for GTC, OPC, and others.

By providing a range of operation services, GSOC allows energy market participants (buyers and seller) to:

Implement electricity purchase and sales contracts
Schedule and monitor hourly transactions
Dispatch and monitor generation
Capture data for billing
Ensure customer confidentiality by following strict standards of conduct.

It also provides a range of business services for GTC and OPC.