Tip Rural Electric Co-Op
612 West Des Moines St, Brooklyn, Iowa, United States

If you receive your electric power from T.I.P. Rural Electric Cooperative, you are a member and part owner of a cooperative providing electric service to over 6,300 meters and over 1,764 miles of line. We are a progressive utility serving customers in Benton, Iowa, Jefferson, Johnson, Keokuk, Mahaska, Poweshiek, Tama, Wapello and Washington Counties.  Organized in 1938, T.I.P. Rural Electric Cooperative is a true cooperative. Headquartered in Brooklyn, Iowa, we are a private, non–profit electric utility owned by the members we serve to provide reliable electric service at the lowest possible cost.  Touchstone Energy Cooperatives logoWe are also a Touchstone Energy partner; which is an alliance of over 750 local, member-owned electric utilities in 46 states delivering energy and money saving solutions to businesses and homes every day. This allows us to be a part of the electric cooperatives that have built strong relationships in the communities they serve.

Touchstone Energy does this through their four core values:

• Accountability
• Integrity
• Innovation
• Commitment to Community

Energy Audits

T.I.P. Rural Electric Cooperative offers a residential energy audit to our members. This audit is performed by a third party. This company does an excellent job of providing information about your home which includes infrared pictures. The cost to the member is $175.00 for this service.

Renewables And Distributed Generation

 Rural America boasts a rich abundance of renewable resources — wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and hydropower — making co-ops ideally suited to develop these resources — and we are. Over 900 rural electric co-ops provide electricity generated by renewable energy resources because that’s what member-owners want. And we’re proud to be among them. More than 54 percent of our electricity is generated from emission and carbon-free resources minimizing the impact to our environment.  Co-ops have aggressively added renewable energy capacity to the rural electric grid. And when it comes to energy efficiency, often referred to as the “fifth fuel,” co-ops have a similar story to tell. Co-ops traditionally have promoted energy efficiency as a way to keep members’ bills low. That’s the case here at T.I.P. Rural Electric Cooperative. We use efficiency as a strategic tool to offset the impact of increased demand for electricity that otherwise can lead to higher costs. That is why we offer rebates for efficient appliances and other incentives programs.

It Takes a Balanced Approach to Provide Power

Every day, we provide our member-owners with safe, reliable, environmentally responsible and affordable power. We're able to provide this essential service because we use many types of fuel to generate electricity. Having diversity in our power resources helps us keep costs affordable should one type of fuel spike in price or be in short supply.  You may occasionally hear about base load and non-base load power sources. How these resources work together to power your homes and businesses is important, and long-term planning plays a vital role in meeting your needs. Generation plants are typically long-term assets, which last for several decades.   In the Midwest, base load power plants are most commonly fueled by coal, nuclear or large hydropower. The plants operate nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week and provide a consistent and steady amount of power. Natural gas also is considered a base load power source. However, because natural gas plants cost more to operate, those plants generally are used as additional base load during peak usage periods, such as hot summer days in Iowa.  Based on our member-owners' annual and average daily usage requirements, we plan ahead to know how much power we need to generate or purchase to meet those needs. Base load power plants run at constant levels, allowing these plants to provide the lowest-cost generation in a safe and efficient manner. Throughout Iowa and the U.S., base load power plants supply the majority of the power used by consumers. In Iowa, as a testament to our commitment to being good stewards of our environment, we continue to invest in upgrades to these base load plants to ensure they meet strict and changing environmental standards.   As part of our balanced approach to providing you with power from a variety of sources, we supplement base load power with intermittent resources, such as wind and solar. These are considered non-base load power because we have limited control over their power generating ability. For example, on a sunny day, solar panels can produce maximum output. Or, when wind speeds are steady and not too high or too low, wind turbines can generate a fairly consistent supply of power. However, during cloudy days or at night, we can't rely on solar power because it isn't generating a significant amount of energy. Because of the unpredictably of non-base load sources, we use them in tandem with base load plants to ensure when our member-owners flip the switch for power, they can count on a reliable and adequate power supply to meet those needs.   Base load power sources are the backbone of our system for a number of reasons, including the fact that energy cannot be effectively stored. Advancements in energy storage, such as batteries, have come a long way in recent years but it’s still not economically feasible or in some cases, reliable enough, to meet our member-owners' needs. Through our national partners, we invest in ongoing research to determine when and if technologies, such as storage options, may be viable for our member-owners.  As a member-owner of your not-for-profit electric cooperative you may be thinking, why is all of this important to me? Having a balanced and diverse energy portfolio is similar to having a diversified personal financial plan. When it comes to savings, it’s not prudent to put all of your eggs in one basket. The same is true with sources of power generation. To achieve the best mix of reliability, affordability, environmental responsibility and safety, we rely on multiple sources rather than just one type of power generation.