About OTEC
NOTE: For office locations, mailing and physical addresses and contact telephone numbers, click here.
Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) is one of Oregon's largest distribution cooperatives. Headquartered in Baker City, Oregon, with district offices in La Grande, John Day, and Burns, OTEC serves approximately 30,000 meters in Baker, Grant, Harney and Union counties with a network of overhead and underground lines over 2,950 miles long. OTEC's distribution system represents an investment of more than $133 million.
Northeastern Oregon is the home of the stunning Blue Mountains, which annually attract hundreds of hikers, mountain bikers and other adventure types year round. Superlative fishing and hunting also draw many visitors and skiers and snowboarders flock to the region in the winter. In former frontier towns like Baker City, old-school ranchers and cowboys mingle with a growing population of artists and craftsmen. The landscape ranges from high alpine fir-covered slopes to sage-brush covered hills and valleys.
Heading towards Burns, sprawling scrubby ranchlands boast a beauty of their own here in the high desert country. Stunning vistas and unexpected river canyons dominate the landscape that harkens back to the early days of settlers and gold-mining. There are wonderful camp sites, hot springs and little towns bursting with hospitality throughout the region.
OTEC is a consumer-owned cooperative. Its policies are established by a nine-person Board of Directors - each board member is a bill-paying, residential member elected by fellow members.
What is an electric cooperative?
An electric cooperative is a type of electric utility that is owned by the members it serves. Its profits, or margins, are put back into the cooperative to help run the business efficiently, or are returned to the customer-owner. A co-op exists solely to provide high-quality service at the lowest possible price for its customer-owners. For more information, click here.
Membership
OTEC is required to charge a membership fee to maintain its status as a nonprofit cooperative: a membership fee of one cent has been established to meet this requirement.
Each month, members get news about OTEC and their electric service through the Ruralite magazine. Also, members are invited to join their friends and neighbors at the Annual Meeting held at locations that alternate yearly among Baker City, Burns, John Day and La Grande. Candidates for the board of directors are elected at the annual meeting.
