Touchstone Energy

Electric cooperatives have been in existence in the United States for more than 70 years and yet, many hadn’t heard much about the defining principles that have helped set cooperatives apart from other power providers throughout those years. That is, until April 6, 1998. What was so significant about this date? On April 6, Dixie Electric Cooperative joined the ranks of electric cooperatives across the country as a Touchstone Energy® Cooperative.

Touchstone Energy® is a national alliance of local electric cooperatives providing high standards of service to member-owners, large and small, and their communities. Now, more than 550 Touchstone Energy® cooperatives in 39 states are delivering energy and energy solutions to more than 16 million member-owners, forming the largest electric utility network in the United States. Joined together, we can easily share technologies, resources and buying power, while retaining our local presence and the relationships that were established with our member-owners many years ago. As a Touchstone Energy® cooperative, we are local, active members of the communities we serve and are committed to continue serving our residential, commercial and industrial member-owners with the same values we have conveyed for more than 60 years — integrity, accountability, innovation and community commitment.

Integrity
The employees and various departments within your cooperative uphold the highest standards in every task that is performed. System reliability and the quality of service that you receive as a member-owner are of the utmost concern to the cooperative. For this reason, we have rigid quality standards for the building and maintenance of our electrical distribution system. As a Touchstone Energy cooperative, we will be able to share training resources to assure that we maintain the highest standards of safety and technical training for our employees.

Accountability
Our member-owners have an interest in the operation of the cooperative. Our board of trustees, which is made up of member-owners like yourself from across our system, provide leadership to ensure the cooperative stays focused on the needs of our member-owners. They have helped to establish policies and procedures to assure that the cooperative continues to be strong and stable while remaining accountable to our member-owners. The employees and management of your local cooperative have made a commitment to continuously provide excellent customer service. This commitment is reinforced through periodic training programs relating to customer service, communications and technology.

Innovation
We recognize that, like any business or industry, technology changes to make daily tasks more efficient. Our commitment to you is to always seek out new innovations and technology to improve the quality of service you receive while continuing to operate your cooperative efficiently and effectively. The exchange of ideas and information between our fellow Touchstone Energy cooperatives will help us take advantage of new research and technology and gain valuable insight from others’ experiences.

Community Commitment
Your cooperative employees are always looking for ways to become personally involved in the communities we serve. Whether they are coaching a little league baseball team, helping build a Habitat for Humanity home or singing in their church choir, our employees play a major role in your community. Touchstone Energy represents the values that have made Dixie Electric Cooperative an important part of our communities. It provides a better understanding of the fact that we are local and our employees are your neighbors and friends. And it reinforces the values that we have believed in since the creation of electric cooperatives more than 70 years ago.