The story of how South Central Power Company has developed in the past years is amazing in many ways. It started on a grass roots level, from nothing more than the belief of a handful of people that electric service was needed to improve the lives of rural residents.

During the prosperous times of the “Roaring 20s,” little thought was given to the needs of rural areas. But during the 1930s when the cities became choked with despair, government officials began to focus on rural areas more and more.

President Franklin Roosevelt and others who pushed for the rural electrification program saw it as an effort not only to improve the lives of rural Americans, but to expand the horizons of the country as a whole. In 1936, South Central Power Company was formed. Nine men from Fairfield, Perry and Pickaway counties each paid a $5.00 membership fee, becoming the first members of record. Within a year, the first pole was set as well as the first line energized.

During the early years, South Central Power Company was growing and developing, and the people involved, employees and members of the Board of Trustees alike, were learning the steps of forming a cohesive, functioning organization.

After World War II, South Central Power Company became a functional management organization – setting up a new organizational structure and adding new people. New equipment and trucks were purchased to keep up with the increasing amount of line work. Equipment was installed to help improve the continuity of service.

The 1960s were South Central Power Company’s merger years. The size of the Cooperative doubled after the merger with Ohio-Midland in 1962 and increased by 50 percent again following the merger with Inter-County. Since then we have been committed to providing reliable power through a strong electric system, a sound financial position and the best in customer service.

Today, the Cooperative offers several services that manage energy consumption, simplify billing, and enhance safety and convenience of electricity.

In 1959, South Central and the other electric distribution cooperatives in Ohio formed Buckeye Power Inc. as a non-profit generation and transmission cooperative. This process guaranteed a source of affordable power for cooperative members. Today, Buckeye Power owns more than 2250 megawatts of power generation capacity fueled by coal and natural gas and another 88 megawatts of renewable power generation from wind, hydro and bio-digester projects.