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Statistics as of 12/31/2025
Number of Employees: 40
Number of Members: 6057
Number of Active Electric Meters: 8650
Miles of Electrical Line: 1067
Members per Mile: 5,68
Electric Meters per Mile: 8,11
Retail kWh Sold: 139515005
Peak kW Demand (August 2025): 44397
Number of Active Water Meters: 2011
Miles of Water Line: 108
Water Meters per Mile: 18,62
Retail Gallons Sold: 263160400
Electric Plant in Service: US$66.782.957
Electric Long Term Debt: US$26.736.188
Electric Debt Service: US$2.485.153
Electric Property Taxes Paid in 2025: US$284.567
Water Plant in Service: US$12.376.361
Water Long Term Debt: US$6.088.941
Water Debt Service: US$422.507
Water Property Taxes Paid in 2025: US$39.092
Total Plant in Service: US$79.159.318
Total Long Term Debt: US$32.825.129
Total Debt Service: US$2.907.659
Total Property Taxes Paid in 2025: US$323.659
Power Supplier: Arizona Electric Power Cooperative
County Served: Graham
Annual Meeting Date: 1st Saturday in March
Board Meeting (monthly): First Wednesday
Last Electric Rate Increase: July 1, 2025; ACC Decision #81364
Last Water Rate Increase: July 1, 2025; ACC Decision #81364
Year Incorporated: 1945
Date Energized: 1945
Date Water System Purchased: 1989
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Laura Victor is a high school Honors Roll junior who's involved in NACC (Native America Culture Club) and FFA (Future Farmers of America). Laura enjoys spending her time beading, fishing, painting, taking pictures, being with her family and friends, and helping out with her Tribe. She aspires to study Business Administration after high school and hopes to one day start her own business.
Natalee Ballard is a junior at Safford High school. She is one of the captains of their Cheer Team who loves choreographing routines for both cheer and dance. She also is a dancer at the Safford Dance Academy. Natalee is a member of the National Honors Society who is even taking college credit hours to ideally become an EMT. After high school, Natalee wants to be a paramedic who studies premed and eventually becomes a doctor/surgeon as she's always wanted to be in the medical field- especially to help children. As a NHS Member, she volunteers for the community for various organizations. She's also involved with the Mini Monster Program, and in the GIFT Program so she can become an EMT.
Naveah Boone is a junior at Fort Thomas high school who loves roller skating, writing, and learning new things. As both a high school and college cosmetology student, she doesn't have much time for extracurricular activities. However, she's found the time to be involved in the GIFT Program, FFA, and being a manager for the football team. After graduating, Neveah hopes to be a cosmetologist, but would also settle for being a business leader or CEO.
Phoebe Tarnutzer is a Safford High School junior who loves spending time outdoors for nearly any reason, but especially being in the mountains. Phoebe is a National Honor Society member who has proudly maintained her 4.0 all high school. She also is in the GIFT Program for healthcare, and has taken an eclectic assortment of classes. As someone who puts her entire heart and soul into everything she does, it's not surprising that she is deeply involved in the community of the Gila Valley, nor is it surprising that she made the Varsity tennis team her first year. After highschool, Phoebe hopes to go to college to become a radiologist.
Sadie Dorr is a junior at Thatcher High School who enjoys playing the piano, running, spending time with her family, hanging out with her friends, baking, and playing sports. Several sports such as track, soccer, and cross country take up her time as well as show choir. She's a National Honor Society member who has been involved in several service projects in her community. Sadie's inclusive, kind, and uplifing personality coupled with her love of learning are fuelling her hopes of attending college to be a dental hygienist, nurse, or early childhood educator.
Camden Bryce is a Pima High School junior who enjoys being Drum Major for the school marching band and playing on the varsity football team. Besides watching TV and reading, Camden has unique interests in swordplay, Star Wars, Medieval and ancient warfare logistics, and playing Yu-Gi-Oh! with his brothers. Camden likes to sing and act. He's been in 6 plays, sang in various choirs, and played in many community sports leagues. He's received many academic awards including 3 Outstanding Drum Major awards and 3 Student of the Month recognitions. He's also a participant in the GIFT Program in Healthcare. Since they allegedly make good money and can live almost anywhere, Camden hopes to be a Pharmacist after graduating High School.
Chloe Skinner is a junior at Pima High School who enjoys being outside, reading, and playing on the high school volleyball team. As a student taking Culinary, she's a member of Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA). She's started her own business selling homemade pies, and helped build wheelchair ramps for Texans in need. As someone who is hardworking and eager to learn who loves meeting new people and hearing their stories, it's no wonder that she loves traveling. Chloe aspires to become a doctor after attending medical school following high school graduation.
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Statistics as of 12/31/2024
Number of Employees: 40
Number of Members: 5,926
Number of Active Electric Meters: 8,587
Miles of Electrical Line: 1,059
Members per Mile: 5.60
Electric Meters per Mile: 8.11
Retail kWh Sold: 138,763,249
Peak kW Demand (August 2024): 39,595
Number of Active Water Meters: 1,968
Miles of Water Line: 106
Water Meters per Mile: 18.57
Retail Gallons Sold: 241,195,860
Electric Plant in Service: $64,930,923
Electric Long Term Debt: $27,085,986
Electric Debt Service: $2,402,659
Electric Property Taxes Paid in 2024: $263,114
Water Plant in Service: $12,091,331
Water Long Term Debt: $4,695,934
Water Debt Service: $337,735
Water Property Taxes Paid in 2024: $29,384
Total Plant in Service: $77,022,254
Total Long Term Debt: $31,781,920
Total Debt Service: $2,740,394
Total Property Taxes Paid in 2024: $292,498
Power Supplier: Arizona Electric Power Cooperative
County Served: Graham
Annual Meeting Date: 1st Saturday in March
Board Meeting (monthly): First Wednesday
Last Electric Rate Increase: July 1, 2025; ACC Decision #81364
Last Water Rate Increase: July 1, 2025; ACC Decision #81364
Year Incorporated: 1945
Date Energized: 1945
Date Water System Purchased: 1989
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Lucy Rogers is a student from Pima High School. She enjoys painting and has been taking art classes for a few years from someone with a master’s degree in art. She also enjoys decorating, reading and learning about the world, and is learning to play the guitar with her friends. She is a co-captain of the drum line and takes a dance class in the first hour of school. Lucy helped pack food on a Saturday morning for children and families in third world countries and is always looking out for people that might need help as well. She also helped in different school fundraisers; such as the Turkey trot, and the band fundraiser. After graduating, Lucy hopes to become an esthetician and makeup artist in the future.
Camden Montierth is a student from Safford High School. He enjoys playing music, specifically piano and trumpet, working on his car, basketball, and mountain biking. He tries to be as involved as possible in his school’s activities as well as sports. Through volunteering with his church, Camden has had numerous opportunities to serve members of his community. He has received several honors while in high school. After graduating, Caleb plans to attend university.
Mia Ashby is a student from Pima High School.She enjoys reading, spending time with family and friends as well as math and science. She is involved in FBLA, basketball, soccer, tennis, and loves attending community events. After graduating high school, she plans to attend NAU or BYU. She interested in their nursing program and wants to become a nurse to help others.
Kamea Nelson is a student from Pima High School. She enjoys writing and performing music, singing, playing the piano, guitar, and ukulele, hiking with her family, and sports, especially volleyball. She is a member of Pima Show Choir, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), National Honor Society (NHS), and is active in the LDS Seminary program at her school. She is also a member of the French Club and has played both JV Basketball and JV and Varsity Volleyball and is active in the weight lifting program at Pima High. She is active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints serving both on the Pima stake youth committee and as the prelude pianist for Sunday worship. After graduating, Kamea wants to be an Obstetrician (OB). She would love to be involved in the miracle of bringing a baby into the world. She would also like to be a mother and raise a family.
Brookie Burk is a student from Pima High School. One of her hobbies is showing steers. She also enjoy playing basketball and tennis and really enjoys baking. She has participated in Link Crew and Student Council, FFA, FBLA, and Culinary. Brookie has volunteered her time with camps for volleyball and Basketball and has a leadership calling in my church and helps plan activities that bring youth together. After graduating, Brookie wants to go to college to become a Speech Pathologist. She is currently working towards that by taking college classes and aiming to receive her associates by the time she graduate high school.
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Statistics As of 12/31/2023
Number of Employees: 39
Number of Members: 5,892
Number of Active Electric Meters: 8,410
Miles of Electrical Line: 1,050
Members per Mile: 5.61
Electric Meters per Mile: 8.01
Retail kWh Sold: 134,875,585
Peak kW Demand (July 2023): 42,567
Number of Active Water Meters: 1,911
Miles of Water Line: 106
Water Meters per Mile: 18.03
Retail Gallons Sold: 240,721,440
Electric Plant in Service: $61,618,596
Electric Long Term Debt: $26,533,392
Electric Debt Service: $2,160,432
Electric Property Taxes Paid in 2022: $277,129
Water Plant in Service: $11,328,948
Water Long-Term Debt: $4,284,091
Water Debt Service: $187,638
Water Property Taxes Paid in 2022: $32,764
Total Plant in Service: $72,947,544
Total Long Term Debt: $30,817,483
Total Debt Service: $2,348,070
Total Property Taxes Paid in 2022: $309,893
Power Supplier: Arizona Electric Power Cooperative
County Served: Graham
Annual Meeting Date: 1st Saturday in March
Board Meeting (monthly): First Wednesday
Last Electric Rate Increase: May 1, 2018; ACC Decision #76693
Last Water Rate Increase: October 1, 2023; ACC Decision #79134
Year Incorporated: 1945
Date Energized: 1945
Date Water System Purchased: 1989
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Caleb Baldwin is a student from Safford High School and the son of Tamara and Merlin Baldwin. He enjoys soccer, video games, camping, bird watching, piano and both playing and listening to music. He has been involved in National Honor Society service projects, Boy Scouts of America and is a volunteer AYSO referee. His future plans are to become an engineer, after graduating high school.
Brock Bryce is a student at Pima High School and the son of Josh and Katy Bryce. He is involved in football, wrestling and choir. He takes dual credit classes at Eastern AZ College. He has helped in the community by cleaning the Bryce Cemetery, selling concessions at the Pioneer Day Rodeo and has sung the National Anthem for local events. He made Regional and All State Choir as a freshman. In his BIO he states, “I’m a hard worker and am also enthusiastic about life”.
Lexi Nabor is attending Thatcher High School. She is the daughter of Raquel Nabor. She enjoys bike riding, acting in school plays, painting, fishing with cousins and cooking with her grandma. Besides being in student council, Lexi volunteers for working the concession stand at football games and acting or directing drama class plays. She volunteers at SEACUS and picking up trash in the school courtyards. Her career goal is to obtain a degree in Criminal Justice and a job the helps or inspires others.
Ella Price is also attending Safford High School and is the daughter of Jered and Lani Price. Ella loves the arts. Her interests are exploring different mediums such as water color, ceramic, sewing, oil painting, crocheting, and chalk. She is active in playing tennis and basketball with friends. Her favorite subject is Math! Ella is pursuing graphic design and digital publishing through the GIFT program. This is a great start to pursuing her dream of creating and designing things that will better the people and the society in which we live.
Jessica Schmidt is also from Pima High School. Her parents are Gerald and Leasa Schmidt. Jessica loves any type of sport. She has played volleyball, track, basketball, swimming and hiking. She enjoys working with the dogs in their family business. As a freshman, Jessica received the Volleyball Hardest Worker award and in basketball received the Defensive Player of the year. While in track she received the Most Improved Award. This past year, Jessica was on the Volleyball 2nd Team for All Conference. Her career goals are to attend Eastern Arizona College and then obtain a clinical psychology degree at the University of Arizona.
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Statistics As of 12/31/2022
Number of Employees: 43
Number of Members: 5,783
Number of Active Electric Meters: 8,230
Miles of Electrical Line: 1,039
Members per Mile: 5.57
Electric Meters per Mile: 7.92
Retail kWh Sold: 128,503,731
Peak kW Demand (July 2022): 38,665
Number of Active Water Meters: 1,882
Miles of Water Line: 95
Water Meters per Mile: 19.81
Retail Gallons Sold: 192,495,000
Electric Plant in Service: $59,072,763
Electric Long Term Debt: $23,650,913
Electric Debt Service: $1,869,478
Electric Property Taxes Paid in 2022: $284,157
Water Plant in Service: $10,413,172
Water Long Term Debt: $1,339,979
Water Debt Service: $102,530
Water Property Taxes Paid in 2022: $32,158
Total Plant in Service: $69,485,935
Total Long Term Debt: $24,990,891
Total Debt Service: $1,972,008
Total Property Taxes Paid in 2022: $316,315
Power Supplier: Arizona Electric Power Cooperative
County Served: Graham
Annual Meeting Date: 1st Saturday in March
Board Meeting (monthly): First Wednesday
Last Electric Rate Increase: May 1, 2018; ACC Decision #76693
Last Water Rate Increase: April 1, 2021; ACC Decision #77922
Year Incorporated: 1945
Date Energized: 1945
Date Water System Purchased: 1989
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Answer: The Coop purchases power from Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO) located in Cochise Arizona. AEPCO uses natural gas, coal, and solar to generate electricity. The cost of natural gas and coal is more expensive than last three years. As an example, natural gas costs have been much higher than the low prices we experienced in 2020.
The Coop rates are approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). The residential kWh electric rates have not been raised since 2018. There is a mechanism called a power cost adjustor (PCA) is used to pay for the fuel cost to generate electricity. The PCA changes based on the cost of wholesale power, which fluctuates for many reasons. During the hot summer months when the demand for electricity is higher, power may need to be purchased from different sources at market prices. Increased costs for fuels like natural gas and coal also impact the price of wholesale power. The cost of power is adjusted through the PCA cost adjustor which affects your overall utility bills. There are other factors that need to be considered in the year-to-year bill comparisons such as kilowatt usage, temperature, and amount of solar generation in a given month.
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Answer: For many of the same reasons given for a standard residential member. This coupled with higher gas and coal prices will cause the cost of electricity to be higher than last year.
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Answer: Our mission is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective resources to our members. We invest in proactive measures to reduce outages through vegetation management, utility pole replacement and system upgrades. This is critical to meet long-term goals. Managing business costs is always a top priority.
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Answer: Currently our national energy policy created constraints on natural gas and coal supplies. The war in Ukraine also contributes to the higher natural gas costs. The cost to generate electricity is directly affected by the supply and price of natural gas and coal. Some good news is our Purchase Cost Adjuster model shows the adjuster to start coming down in September through the end of 2023.
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Answer: Graham County Electric is an all-requirements member of the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO). We partner with AEPCO to invest in renewable solar projects including batteries for storage and wind resources. There have been many news articles about California who has an aggressive renewable energy program that has suffered higher costs and reliability issues. The renewable technology is improving and we will continue investing in these technologies at the right pace that will benefit all of our members. Large renewable energy projects are expensive and can be complicated in designing a reliable system. Our goal is to have the right mix or portfolio of energy products to provide our members a safe reliable and cost effective electricity for many years in the future.
The Coop is a nonprofit utility owned by our members. The high cost of electricity is felt by all of our members. If you have questions please feel free to stop by the Coop offices for more information.
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Our meters communicate usage data automatically, reducing meter reading errors and allowing reads that are more frequent. Sending fewer employees to physically read meters also reduces fuel consumption and pollution, allowing more efficient, environmentally friendly operations.
Metering advancement allows GCEC to reduce vehicle expenses, time identifying outages and administration costs associated with metering data and billing. In addition, the meters notify GCEC of outages and fluctuations in voltage.
This improves service restoration times and assists with preventive maintenance that can prevent outages and improve the reliability of your electric service.
Finally, the new automated meters will help GCEC manage the integration of new energy resources and offer services that help customers reduce energy consumption and save money.
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Our automated meters transmit usage data through a wireless Radio Frequency (RF) signal. The meters communicate for very brief periods at a low signal strength throughout the day. Because these transmissions last only a few milliseconds, the meters typically communicate for less than 1½ minutes per day. Member-specific data such as names, addresses and account numbers are not transmitted by automated meters. The meters use advanced encryption technology to prevent unauthorized access to data and the utility network. Readings are transmitted wirelessly using Radio Frequency (RF) signals that are similar to signals used by cordless phones and many other consumer devices.
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Some of the oldest GCEC’s meters are water meters that have been in place for over 40 years. Some of the electric meters have been in place over 20 years. While our meters have served us well, they are rapidly running up against limitations and many are no longer supported by the manufacturer. New technology and communication capabilities are essential to maintaining the service our members expect. As we incorporate new technology into our electric and water systems, our power quality and reliability improves. In addition, our membership is better able to manage costs and improve energy efficiency.
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You can save bank account and/or credit/debit card information for future one-time payments.
On the website:
- Click My Profile
- Click on Manage My Stored Payment Accounts and follow instruction
On the app:
- Select Settings
- Select Stored Payment Accounts and follow instructions
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Auto Pay allows you to pay your monthly bill through an automated draft from your bank account or credit card at no extra charge. By enrolling in Auto Pay, you authorize us to withdraw funds from your selected account to pay your monthly bill on the due date.
How to sign up on the website:
- Click on Billing & Payments
- Click on Auto Pay Program
- Click on Sign Up for Auto Pay and follow instructions
How to sign up on the app:
- Select Bill & Pay
- Select Auto Pay Program and follow instructions
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You may choose how you receive notifications from SmartHub (email or SMS) by updating your notifications preferences.
- Log in to your SmartHub account
- Click on “Notifications”
- Click Manage Contacts to add or change email address and phone numbers
- Enter verification code to activate
- Click on Manage Notifications to set up SMS and email alerts
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No. It is provided as an option for your convenience. If you do not sign up for paperless billing in SmartHub, you will continue to receive a monthly bill in your mail.
When we upgraded our systems, those who were previously enrolled in paperless billing were not able to be carried over, so while we understand it’s inconvenient, we do appreciate your understanding of having to enroll again.
You can choose to participate in paperless billing, which sends bill statements to the email address on your account. You will no longer receive a copy of your bill in the mail.
Here’s how to change your preference to participate in paperless billing:
On the website:
- Click on My Profile
- Click on Update My Paperless Settings.
- Choose your paperless preference
On the app:
- Select Settings
- Select Paperless Billing
- Choose your paperless preference
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Visit the Apple App Store or Google Play on your phone or tablet and search for “SmartHub.” Select our free and secure app to begin the download process.
If you have already registered via the web portal, you will be able to log into the app immediately. If you haven’t registered yet, follow the instructions below.
Members can sign up for SmartHub via the login page. To create a new online account, click “Don’t have an account? Register now.” on the login page for SmartHub.
From the registration screen, type your billing account number, last name or business and email address in the requested fields.
You will receive an email to verify your account. You will then be prompted to change your password.
Downloads:
Download App and Register for SmartHub on Mobile Device (PDF)