Ohio Municipal Electric Association

Founded: 1962

The Ohio Municipal Electric Association (OMEA) was organized in 1962 to represent Ohio’s municipally owned power systems. It was created by a group of individual municipal utilities that recognized the need to join forces in an effort to further the interests of public power at a statewide level.

Among the original goals of this new trade association were promoting and advancing the interests of the consumer-owned electric industry, and fostering the production, transmission, distribution and use of electrical energy. In the late 1960s, the OMEA Board of Directors moved to increase public power’s influence by becoming a stronger advocate in legislative, regulatory and power supply issues.

American Municipal Power-Ohio (AMP-Ohio) was created in 1971 to serve the power supply needs of Ohio municipal electric systems. In October 1983, the members of both the OMEA and AMP-Ohio voted to more closely align the two organizations so the needs of all eligible communities could be met in a more efficient manner. Today, the OMEA serves as the legislative liaison to 81 Ohio public power systems and to AMP-Ohio.

In 1989, the OMEA board was expanded from three to 12 directors. The expansion was structured to increase elected-official representation on the board, providing the opportunity for new insight into the political arena and legislative issues affecting municipal electric systems.

For further information regarding OMEA, please contact Jolene Thompson, OMEA Executive Director at 614-337-6222 or email her direct at jthompson@amp-ohio.org.