Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative (MLEC) is a not-for-profit, electric distribution cooperative owned by the members we serve.
We provide service to over 13,000 members in parts of Aitkin, Crow Wing, and Mille Lacs counties.
Our Mission
It is our mission to responsibly provide reliable, competitively priced energy, services, and products to meet the needs of our members and customers.
MLEC History
Founding & Early Years
- “During the late 1930s,” Attorney Joe Ryan recalled, “a local leader approached me stating a group of farmers was talking about organizing a cooperative in Aitkin County under the New Deal program for rural electrification. I was happy to work with them and we went from there.”
- Aitkin Attorney Louis Hallum operated Rural Utilities Company, which consisted of about 20 miles of line. In 1936, he secured a loan from REA to build the additional line and a second utility, Farm Electric Service Company. This $100,000 loan was the first granted to a Minnesota utility.
- The lines of Farm Electric Service Company extended to Garrison, included a small area on the north shore of Mille Lacs Lake, and went into the Farm Island and Bay Lake areas. Wholesale power was purchased from Minnesota Power and Light and distributed through a substation near Bay Lake.
- About this time, REA fieldman Ralph Rice was encouraging the creation of a rural electric cooperative in the Aitkin area. Mr. Hallum was interested in selling his facilities, and the 2 men began negotiating. They reached a tentative agreement that allowed Mr. Rice to proceed.
- On May 12, 1939, the Articles of Incorporation for Mille Lacs Region Cooperative Power and Light Association was signed and filed with the State of Minnesota. The newly established Cooperative bought the Hallum companies, and the deal was closed in the fall of 1939.
Growth
- When the annual meeting was held on March 28, 1940, there were only 322 members in the entire system.
- In 1947, a major expansion occurred when Mille Lacs and 3 other cooperatives purchased a privately owned distribution system called Eastern Minnesota Utilities.
- In 1954, Mille Lacs and 5 other cooperatives purchased the General Minnesota Utility Company.
- In 1959, 9 distribution cooperatives in northeastern Minnesota created the Northern Minnesota Power Association. This association worked with the Rural Cooperative Power Association of Elk River and others to build a power plant on the lignite fields of North Dakota. This plant became Stanton Generating Plant and continues to operate today.
- The cooperative changed its name in the 1960s to Mille Lacs Electric Cooperative, then in the 1990s to Mille Lacs Energy Cooperative.
Today
- MLEC has gone from just a few miles of line with a few hundred members to 1,968 miles of line and 13,166 members today.
The 7 Cooperative Principles Explained:
Voluntary & Open Membership
Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political, or religious discrimination.
Democratic Member Control
Cooperatives are democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting policies and making decisions. The elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives, members have equal voting rights (1 member, 1 vote), and cooperatives at other levels are organized in a democratic manner.
Members’ Economic Participation
Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the cooperative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing the cooperative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefitting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.
Autonomy & Independence
Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.
Education, Training, & Information
Cooperatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their cooperatives. They inform the general public, particularly young people and opinion leaders, about the nature and benefits of cooperation.
Cooperation Among Cooperatives
Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures.
Concern for Community
While focusing on member needs, cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies accepted by their members.