Noble Rural Electric Membership Cooperative (REMC), a Touchstone Energy Cooperative, has provided electric energy and other services to rural residents for over 80 years. Ron Raypole is the president and CEO of Noble REMC.
The company was founded in 1936 in Albion, Indiana, where its headquarters are today. Although located in Albion, the cooperative considers its entire service territory as its community. Noble REMC is a leader in local economic and community development. Many of our employees and directors have been an integral part of a range of community organizations, garnering numerous awards for it. Most noteworthy is the Noble REMC Operation Round Up® Trust Fund, funded by consumers allowing us to round up their bill and using the combined contributions to support community organizations and projects. See the Operation Round Up® page, under programs for details.
Founded as a not-for-profit cooperatively-owned company, Noble REMC is governed by an elected board of directors made up of nine members of the REMC. Directors are elected on a rotating basis at our annual meeting.
Patronage capital refunds are one of the benefits of being a cooperative member. Built by the community we serve, we share our excess revenue back with our members, which sets us apart from investor-owned and municipal electric companies operated by towns or cities.
When Noble REMC is in a financial position to do so - as it has been for the past 25 years - our members receive a refund check in early December, representing the prorated amount between the actual cost of service and the margin for a given year. This cash back to our members totals nearly $10 million since the mid 1990s, a sign of the cooperative's financial strength and stability.
As a Touchstone Energy Cooperative (www.touchstoneenergy.coop), we are among over 660 other rural electric cooperatives who have formed this organization and have pledged to maintain high expectations for customer service, integrity, accountability, innovation and community service.