Walton EMC

Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) is a cooperative owned by those who receive its services. It is one of the country’s largest of almost 1,000 electric cooperatives.

Walton EMC supplies energy to 136,000 customer-owners, business and industrial accounts in 10 northeast Georgia counties. Our mission is to provide reliable energy and electric services – delivered efficiently, and with extraordinary customer care.

The cooperative owns two subsidiaries. Our wholly-owned subsidiary, Walton Gas, provides natural gas to residential and business customers throughout Georgia. EMC Security offers residential and commercial security services and residential home technology.

Walton EMC History

Cooperatives are not a new way of doing business. Modern co-ops got their start when the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society founded a highly successful consumer co-op in 1844.

Walton EMC was formed in 1936 when seven community leaders each gave $1 toward the organizational expenses of the co-op, which would provide electricity to residents in rural northeast Georgia. Investor-owned utilities figured it wasn’t profitable enough to run lines through these areas because the customer base was sparse. That meant local residents had to do it themselves.

That sparse country grew into the suburbs of today, but the idea of a customer-owned electric company is as viable now as it was then.