85 years of York Electric

News & Announcements / 3 minutes of reading /

This year marks 85 years of serv­ing our mem­bers. Since 1941, York Elec­tric has grown and evolved along­side the com­mu­ni­ties we serve. What began with a shared goal of bring­ing elec­tric­i­ty to rur­al homes and busi­ness­es has expand­ed into a coop­er­a­tive that serves more than 72,000 mem­bers across York, Chester, Chero­kee and Lan­cast­er coun­ties.

While much has changed since 1941, York Electric’s foun­da­tion has not. The co-op is still not-for-prof­it, mem­ber-owned and com­mit­ted to pro­vid­ing safe, reli­able and afford­able elec­tric­i­ty. Just as it was built by the peo­ple it serves, York Elec­tric con­tin­ues to look for ways to serve that com­mu­ni­ty. It sup­ports local needs through Oper­a­tion Round Up and The Bur­rell Foun­da­tion and adapts to meet the chang­ing needs of its mem­bers.

Eighty-five years lat­er, the coop­er­a­tive busi­ness mod­el and com­mit­ment to its mem­bers and com­mu­ni­ty have shaped York Elec­tric from the begin­ning, and it will con­tin­ue to guide the co-op into the future.

Profile silhouette of a person facing left inside a pale green circle.

1935

Pres­i­dent Franklin D. Roo­sevelt estab­lish­es the Rur­al Elec­tri­fi­ca­tion Admin­is­tra­tion to pro­vide fed­er­al assis­tance for bring­ing pow­er to rur­al areas. The pro­gram helps com­mu­ni­ties orga­nize elec­tric coop­er­a­tives, open­ing the door for rur­al elec­tri­fi­ca­tion across South Car­oli­na and the nation.

White utility pole with crossarms and power lines on a lime-green circular background.

March 12, 1941

York Elec­tric Coop­er­a­tive, with 553 mem­bers and 189 miles of line, is formed to bring elec­tric­i­ty to rur­al York Coun­ty. Neigh­bors band togeth­er to meet a shared need, and the coop­er­a­tive will go on to trans­form dai­ly life for the area.

White light bulb icon inside a green circular background.

October 10, 1941

York Elec­tric crews ener­gize the first lines, turn­ing the lights on for rur­al homes and farms. With two oth­er elec­tric coop­er­a­tives begin­ning ser­vice that same month, York Elec­tric joins a grow­ing statewide move­ment to bring elec­tric­i­ty to rur­al com­mu­ni­ties across South Car­oli­na.

Green circular logo featuring a white square with vertical bars and curved vine-like shapes.

1948

South Carolina’s co-op’s form Cen­tral Elec­tric Pow­er Coop­er­a­tive, pool­ing their pur­chas­ing pow­er to secure and trans­mit whole­sale elec­tric­i­ty at a low­er cost. Today, Cen­tral con­tin­ues to serve as York Electric’s gen­er­a­tion and trans­mis­sion coop­er­a­tive.

A green circular badge that features a white Capitol dome icon.

1957

U.S. Sen. Lyn­don B. John­son inspires elec­tric coop­er­a­tives to bring young peo­ple to Wash­ing­ton D.C., encour­ag­ing them to see first­hand “what the flag stands for and rep­re­sents.” That idea grows into Wash­ing­ton Youth Tour, a year­ly tra­di­tion that has intro­duced thou­sands of high school stu­dents to our nation’s cap­i­tal.

A white line drawing of a closed cardboard box inside a green circle.

1977

York Elec­tric forms its first under­ground crew and begins reg­u­lar­ly bury­ing pow­er lines by the mid1980s. Today, rough­ly half of the co-op’s sys­tem is under­ground, improv­ing reli­a­bil­i­ty and pro­tect­ing lines from haz­ards that can cause out­ages.

A green circle containing a white abstract spiral design.

1989

Hur­ri­cane Hugo brings wide­spread destruc­tion to York Electric’s sys­tem, becom­ing the co-op’s largest out­age event for the next 35 years. In the fol­low­ing weeks, more than 3,000 linework­ers join the statewide restora­tion effort, rebuild­ing more than 11,000 miles of line across South Car­oli­na.

Circular green badge with white geometric shapes and the words UP and ROUND along the edge.

2000

York Elec­tric launch­es Oper­a­tion Round Up, giv­ing mem­bers a sim­ple way to make a dif­fer­ence by round­ing their month­ly elec­tric bills up to the next whole dol­lar. Since then, more than $4.9 mil­lion has been giv­en back to sup­port local non­prof­its and com­mu­ni­ty needs through­out the co-op’s ser­vice area.

Circular green logo featuring a white curved swoosh that forms a stylized G.

2020

York Elec­tric part­ners with Com­po­ri­um to expand high­speed inter­net access to under­served areas of York and Chero­kee coun­ties. Com­plet­ed in 2022, the project brings broad­band inter­net to 5,000 mem­bers, con­tin­u­ing the co-op’s lega­cy of con­nect­ing rur­al areas to essen­tial ser­vices.

Circular green logo featuring a white abstract spiral design.

2024

Hur­ri­cane Helene leaves 34,000 York Elec­tric mem­bers with­out pow­er, mak­ing it the largest out­age event in the co-op’s his­to­ry. With help from mutu­al aid crews, York Elec­tric repairs more than 80 bro­ken poles and rebuilds dam­aged por­tions of its sys­tem, restor­ing pow­er to all mem­bers with­in five days.

    A single-story brick storefront with a long row of large display windows and a low-sloped roof on a street.
    York Electric’s first office was in the heart of down­town York, where the co-op oper­at­ed until the 1960s.
    Black-and-white photo of four women in vintage dresses, with the center woman wearing a sash and crown and holding flowers.
    Annu­al meet­ing tra­di­tions have tak­en many forms over the years, includ­ing a beau­ty pageant that crowned “Miss York Elec­tric.”
    A line of vintage pickup trucks parked in front of a small building on a gravel lot.
    For decades, York Electric’s line crews and trucks were based at the co-op’s for­mer York office, now home to York School Dis­trict One. The pole yard behind the office served crews as they built and main­tained the grow­ing sys­tem.
    People stand in a long line outside a large, open doorway of a warehouse-like building, with volunteers at tables nearby.
    Annu­al meet­ing has always been a co-op tra­di­tion, giv­ing mem­bers a voice through demo­c­ra­t­ic elec­tions for the Board of Trustees. While the way mem­bers gath­er has changed over the years, that coop­er­a­tive tra­di­tion remains.
    Construction site featuring tall metal scaffolding, a crane, and workers on and around the structure.
    York Elec­tric crews build one of the co-op’s sub­sta­tions. Today, 28 sub­sta­tions help deliv­er reli­able pow­er to mem­bers.
    Two workers in safety gear climb a tall utility pole against a cloudy sky.
    A line­man prac­tices a hurt­man res­cue, part of linework­er safe­ty train­ing. Equip­ment and tech­niques have changed, but the co-op’s cul­ture of safe­ty has remained con­stant.
    A man in a work shirt and cap stands beside an electrical meter mounted on the wooden wall of a building.
    Many old­er meters, like this one, were replaced between 2011 and 2015 as the co-op tran­si­tioned to advanced meter­ing infra­struc­ture. Today, York Elec­tric is once again upgrad­ing its meters to bet­ter serve mem­bers.
    Aerial view of a tree-lined road flanked by office buildings and parking lots in a suburban commercial area.
    Work­ing along­side eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment part­ners, the co-op helped estab­lish the East York Indus­tri­al Park in 1986, bring­ing more than 800 jobs to the area.
    Aerial view of a solar farm with long rows of solar panels installed on the ground.
    York Elec­tric intro­duces its com­mu­ni­ty solar pro­gram in 2017 to give mem­bers a new way to ben­e­fit from renew­able ener­gy. The invest­ment reflects the co-op’s con­tin­ued com­mit­ment to adapt­ing as tech­nol­o­gy and mem­bers’ needs and expec­ta­tions evolve.

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