Southwest Electric Cooperative is offering a Business Lighting Rebate to our commercial, industrial, educational and agricultural members through the Take Control & Save energy efficiency program.

Lighting is a critical component of every business. Employees must be able to see to safely perform their jobs, and floor space should be aesthetically pleasing to encourage sales.

You may be surprised to learn, lighting can be the largest user of electricity for a business. Lighting systems can produce large amounts of heat as well, and are typically the largest source of waste heat inside commercial buildings. Energy efficient lighting, such as compact fluorescent bulbs and LED's, add less heat than inefficient lighting. By decreasing internal heat gain, efficient lighting also reduces a building's cooling requirements.

Your business could be spending more than needed to effectively light your facilities. Significant cost savings can be achieved with energy efficiency improvements, and due to continually improving technology, lighting usually provides the highest return on investment of major upgrades.

With good design, lighting energy use in most buildings can be cut in half while maintaining or improving lighting quality. Such designs typically pay for themselves in energy savings alone within a few years, and they offer more benefits in terms of the potential for smaller and less costly cooling systems and more productive work environments.


Do you qualify?

Members with greater than 10 bulbs or fixtures at their installation site will qualify. The rebate amount will be determined prior to installation and is limited to $30,000 per member, per year.

How do you participate?

For existing facilities, a walk through of your facility must be conducted by Southwest Electric Cooperative to audit the existing lighting inventory.

For new construction, please contact the cooperative before you purchase the lighting; this is done for two reasons: one, to ensure the lighting you install will qualify for a rebate; two, it allows you to know how much your rebate will be for your budgeting purposes.

Work with the cooperative to fill out the lighting rebate application; provided at the time of the audit.

Pre-approval is required before you purchase and install the lighting equipment. Once the cooperative approves the proposed lighting, you may install the approved lighting and equipment.

After installation, the cooperative will perform another walk through audit to verify the lighting installation. The lighting specification sheets and the receipts will need to accompany the completed rebate application.

Rebate amounts will vary depending upon which bulbs and/or fixtures you replace the existing lighting with. The total rebate cannot exceed 40 percent of the total capital cost of the new lighting equipment.

To get your Business Lighting Rebate started please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 800.262.0326

For full program details, you may download a copy of the Business Lighting Guide.  Due to the large file size of the guide, it is offered in two downloads of 11 pages each:

Business Lighting Guide, Pages 1-11. 
Business Lighting Guide, Pages 12-22.

Southwest Electric's, Take Control & Save, program encourages members to become more energy conscious and purchase ENERGY STAR® equipment to help control their electric usage.

Youth Tour
"The trip of a lifetime"

Southwest Electric Cooperative (SWEC) is proud to be one of the many electric cooperatives in Missouri to sponsor an essay contest to select two high school Junior's for the annual Youth Tour to Washington, D.C. The experience takes place each year in June. These fortunate high school Junior's represent SWEC on an all expense paid tour of the nation's capital. They tour museums, visit America's most cherished monuments, and even meet their elected officials; while learning about electric cooperatives and their role in the community.

This year's Youth Tour trip is scheduled for June 14th - 20th, 2013.

The deadline to submit an essay for the 2013 Youth Tour contest was Friday, March 29, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. 

Contest Rules:

Eligibility - This contest is open to any current high school Junior residing or attending school within SWEC's service territory.  Parents of the student do not have to be a member of the cooperative.  Please complete the Youth Tour Cover Letter and submit with your essay.  Click here for the Cover Letter.

Essay Requirements  - Each contestant should write and submit a typewritten 500-word essay on the topic provided above.

Finalist Judging/Interviews - Essays will be read by impartial judges, and preliminary finalists will be selected.  These finalists will then be called and scheduled for an interview with the judges.  Once the interviews are completed, two winners and two runner-up positions will be selected.  Judging will be based on knowledge of the subject, originality, composition, grammer and neatness.   The two runner-up winners will participate in the CYCLE program in Jefferson City, scheduled for July 17th - 19th, 2013; this is also an all expense paid trip!

For more information or to submit your essay, please email, call or write:

Check out these Youth Tour videos on YouTube:

2012 Youth Tour Video
2011 Youth Tour Video
2010 Youth Tour Video
2009 Youth Tour Video

Youth Tour Resources

Need help with your essay?  Check out these Youth Tour resources.  Also, be sure to check out National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's Youth Tour site.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association represents nearly 1,000 electric cooperatives nationwide and sponsors the Youth Tour program nationwide. Check out NRECA's Youth Tour site.

The Rural Utilites Service replaced the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Electrification Administration.

Associated Electric Cooperative in Springfield, Missouri recounts its history.

The National Cooperative Business Association is a national trade association representing cooperatives.

The Electric Power Research Institute is a scientific and research organization funded in part by America's rural electric cooperatives.

CYCLE
(Cooperative Youth Conference and Leadership Experience)

The CYCLE program is a three day conference held in Jefferson City in late July. It brings in some of the brightest young leaders from across Missouri. The focus is to show students more about electric cooperatives, teach leadership skills and experience Missouri state government. The program includes nationally know speakers and a day at the state Capitol. There is also time for some fun things like an outdoor barbeque and a hypnosis. The group is also divided up into smaller teams that compete in various events like the “build a cooperative” game.

Delegates for the CYCLE program are selected from the Youth Tour Essays. The two runner up entries from Youth Tour contest are awarded the CYCLE trip. CYCLE is also an all expense paid experience for High School Juniors with the same eligibility requirements as Youth Tour.

The 2013 CYCLE program is set for July 17th - 19th in Jefferson City, Missouri. 

The winners of the 2012 CYCLE program!

Rural Missouri is the statewide publication of Missouri's electric cooperatives. Each month this entertaining and informative tabloid is delivered to more than 500,000 rural homes in Missouri. Along with lively features and award-winning photography, Missouri's electric co-op members receive up-to-date information about the cooperative electric utility industry. These articles, along with editorials, commentary and the information contained on cooperative local pages ensures members are better informed about the business they own. In addition, Rural Missouri advertising offers businesses a direct line to rural consumers.

Members requesting existing service be transferred or turned on in their name must sign an application for service and pay a $20.00 set up fee for each meter.

A meter number, identified as the serial number on the face of the meter, or a map location number, identified as the metal tag on the pole next to the meter box, will be required to accurately locate the meter in which service is being requested.

When you move, please notify one of our offices.  You will be billed to the final reading on the meter.  If service is being transferred, the new residents must contact the office to avoid any service interruptions.  If you move and fail to notify us, you are liable for any energy used.  Please provide a forwarding adress for the return of any credit that may be owed to you after your account has been closed.  Please keep us informed of any future address changes as well, so we will be able to forward your capital credit checks to your current location. 

Is it time to replace your worn out heating system? Or maybe you’re thinking about buying a supplemental heater for the most frequently used areas of your house. What type of heating system should you buy? If you are in the market for a home heating appliance, you will need to know how to compare the cost and value of different heating fuels. This bulletin explains how to calculate which fuel source will provide the best value.

Electricity often travels long distances before reaching your home or business.  Southwest Electric Cooperative buys wholesale power, which is produced at generating facilities and distributed through substations and power lines to members on our system.  Click Here to learn more about how electricity is delivered to your home or business.

Check out the Safe Electricity website for more electric safety information, including testimonial videos of people who have experienced electrical incidents.

The Easy Connection Act passed by the Missouri Legislature in 2007 requires all Missouri utilities to offer true net metering and provide for a simplified interconnection process for consumers wanting to install a renewable energy fueled generator with a capacity of 100 kW or less behind their retail meter.  Net metering under this Act is applicable only to the retail meter that the renewable generator is located directly behind.  One generator cannot offset usage on multiple retail meters, even though these retail meters may be owned by the same consumer or are in the same location.

During any given month, energy from the generator is given full retail credit by the local utility up to the consumer's monthly usage.  If energy in excess of a consumer's monthly usage is generated during the month, a credit will be applied to the excess.  This credit will not be at the full retail rate, but instead will be at the utility's avoided cost for the month.  All credits expire if not used twelve months after they are received.

Download a net metering application.

Whether you are building, remodeling, or improving the energy efficiency of your home, you want to make the most of the time and money you invest. The Home Energy Guide is provided by Southwest Electric and other Missouri electric cooperatives to help you make important energy related decisions. This guide offers suggestions on topics from heating and cooling systems to doors and windows. If you would like a copy of the Home Energy Guide mailed to you, please contact the Member Services Department at 1-800-262-0326 or click here to contact us by email.

Right-of-way maintenance is very important to Southwest Electric Cooperative. Right-of-way maintenance crews are contracted by Southwest to keep power lines clear of trees and brush. Many times a tree limb hitting an electric line can cause blinking lights in the homes of our members. If you see a tree touching an electric line or in danger of falling into the electric line, contact any of our offices or click here to contact us by email.

Southwest Electric is expanding its future outlook to some customers interested in fiber optics. There is a limited area at this time available for some schools and businesses to utilize fiber optic service. However, the expected future outlook of expansion into broader availability is on the horizon.  For more information regarding our fiber optic services, or to request specific information regarding area availability, please contact the Member Services Department at 1-800-262-0326 or click here to contact us by email.

Surge protection outlets are also available to members of Southwest Electric Cooperative. For more information regarding our surge protection program, or to request specific literature, please contact the Member Services Department at 1-800-262-0326 or click here to contact us by email.

Automatic Dusk-to-Dawn lights are available for Southwest Electric Cooperative members.  The light must be installed on an existing Southwest Electric Cooperative utility pole. 

An installation fee of $20.00 must be paid before installation of the light. 

Lights installed on a pole that is already being served by a transformer will cost $7.00 per month, per light.

If a separate transformer is needed just for the light, a one-time transformer fee of $100.00 is required and the monthly charge will be $10.00 per light.

The light will be furnished, installed and maintained by Southwest Electric Cooperative.  All maintenance will be performed during regular working hours on regular service routing.  The member is responsible for reporting any malfunction of the light and no compensation will be made for days inoperative.

 Local Community Links

Cooperative Links

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)
Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives (AMEC)
Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI)
KAMO Power
SHO-ME Power
Missouri's Electric Cooperatives

Energy Saving Information

Home Energy Saving Tips
U.S. Department Of Energy
How to save energy at home
How to save energy at work
Home lighting guide
Online home energy audit
Energize Missouri- DNR
Saving energy to save money

Downloadable Energy Saving And Safety Literature (pdf format)

United States map showing residential rates for each state
Portable Generator Safety
Phantom Loads
Save energy by tightening your home envelope
Ductwork sealing improves efficiency
Basic forms of thermal insulation
Lighting your home with Compact Fluorescents (CFLs)
Compact Fluorescent Lighting Q & A
Reducing the costs of water heating
Reducing energy use with Energy Star
How much heat do you get for your dollar?
Energy Saving Residential Refrigeration
Saving Energy in the Laundry Room
The truth about electric space heaters
Taking advantage of solar energy

Other Helpful Links

Missouri's Electric Cooperatives
Understanding Your Bill
Power Restoration