Municipal and other public power systems came into being soon after
electricity was first harnessed, when business and govern-
 ment leaders formed the first municipal electric systems before the turn of the 20th century. Their actions were based on need and on a strong belief that local government could provide local customers with reliable and responsive electric service at a reasonable cost.

Today, more than 2,000 nonprofit, public power systems serve more than 35 million Americans, or about 13 percent of the people and businesses in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and American Samoa. There are 86 municipally owned electric utilities in Ohio, 43 in Michigan, 25 in Pennsylvania and two in West Virginia.

AMP-Ohio is the nonprofit corporation organized in Ohio in 1971 for the purpose of owning and operating electric facilities or otherwise providing for the generation, transmission and distribution of electric power and energy to its members.

Today, this purpose is served by coordinating, negotiating and developing power-supply options and interconnection agreements. AMP-Ohio is also increasingly involved in design and maintenance projects for member electric systems. AMP-Ohio owns the Richard H. Gorsuch Generating Station, a 213-megawatt, coal-fired facility in Marietta, Ohio that provides power to 48 participating member communities.

AMP-Ohio purchases wholesale electric power and energy, and sells it to members at rates based on the purchase price and dispatch fees plus a small service fee. The organization also develops alternate power resources to best meet members’ short- and long-term needs, and also operates an energy control center 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to serve its member communities.

AMP-Ohio provides a wide range of other services on a cooperative, nonprofit basis for the mutual benefit of all member communities. (Detailed information on services provided to member communities is included in the annual services guide issue of Amplifier.)

The AMP-Ohio Board of Trustees consists of 16 communities; each designates its own representative to the board. Eight of these trustee communities are selected by their fellow public power communities in each of eight service areas of the organization. The other eight are elected at large. The officers of the corporation are: chairman of the board, vice chairman, secretary, treasurer, president and general counsel. The president and general counsel are appointed by the Board of Trustees and are ex officio members of the board.

Various Board of Trustees committees concentrate on vital functions of the organization. Current committees are: base load generation, board oversight, by-laws review, finance, generation/clean air, Gorsuch Station project, green power development, joint ventures oversight, legislative, member services, mutual aid, nominating, non-electric, personnel, policy, power supply & generation, scholarship, and transmission/RTO. In addition, there are subcommittees on accounting/finance, economic development, and safety.

As of January 2008, AMP-Ohio membership includes 81 public power communities in Ohio, 27 in Pennsylvania, seven in Michigan, five in Virginia, two in West Virginia and one in Kentucky.