The program is intended to benefit people and organizations within the Central Electric service area.

The money is granted based upon applications from worthy projects and organizations within our local service territory. The funding will be focused to the following categories:

Community Service

Economic Development

Education and Youth 

Environment

Emergency Energy Assistance

Disaster Relief 

A nine-member, volunteer Board of Trustees will review the applications and decide how to distribute the funds. Members of the Board of Trustees were selected by the director from the respective county.

No. Neither Central Electric Cooperative nor the board of trustees gain compensation from this program. Members of the board of trustees are paid mileage for meetings and Central Electric covers all other administrative expenses.

Non-profit organizations, local clubs and community groups within the Central Electric service area may apply. Applicants are not required to be members of Central Electric Cooperative and projects outside Central Electric's boundaries are considered if they largely benefit residents from our service area. 

Click "Apply for a Grant" at the top of this web page to complete the simple online form. Contact the office with any questions at 605-996-7516. 

Applications are due by May 1 and November 1 each year. Applications must be submitted online using the link at the top of this webpage to "Apply for a Grant". The Board of Trustees will announce grant recipients approximately one month after the deadline. 

Applications are judged based upon 1) potential benefit to the residents and community; 2) level of community support for the project or organization; 3) capability of the applicant to deliver a quality service or program; and 4) final results that can be envisioned and evaluated.

For more information, view the guidelines attached to each application. 

Projects should be completed within 12 months following the application. Requests for funding for projects that have already been completed will be given less priority.

Yes; donations will be published in the Cooperative Connections newsletter or can be viewed on our Recipients Page.

Only one account per member will be rounded up unless you'd like to add the remaining accounts. Please call and talk to a billing representative to round up on more than one meter. 

Members are automatically enrolled unless they choose to out.

Anyone wishing not to participate may notify us by

1) Calling our office at 800-477-2892,

2) Email cec@centralec.coop

3) or Contact us

On your monthly bill, you will see "Operation Round Up" and how many cents were rounded up, located directly below the KWH charges and tax. You can also log in to your SmartHub account for donation totals.