Sawnee EMC


Sawnee EMC is an electrical generation and transmission cooperative founded in July 1938 and based in Cumming, Georgia., Sawnee EMC is the third-largest electric co-op in Georgia and the eighth-largest in the United States, operating 11,982 miles of power lines in seven counties: Cherokee, Dawson, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Hall, and Lumpkin. It is a member of the National [Rural Electric Cooperative Association] and Touchstone Energy.
Michael Goodroe is the president and CEO of Sawnee EMC.

History

After the Rural Electrification Administration was created in 1935, the Forsyth County Electric Membership Corporation was incorporated on July 16, 1938, and the co-op began providing electricity to about 750 homes via 163 miles of power lines on June22, 1939. Forsyth County EMC changed its name to Sawnee EMC in August 1950, taking its name from nearby Sawnee Mountain. In 1974, Sawnee EMC was one of the dozens of Georgia-based EMCs that founded Oglethorpe Power, and Sawnee was similarly a founding member of the renewables-focused Green Power EMC in 2001.

Domain name incident

In May 2024, Sawnee advised customers to switch from www.sawnee.com to www.sawnee.coop following a cyber security incident.

Board of directors

Sawnee EMC's board of directors is composed of nine elected members:
NameDistrict and position
Marshall MillwoodDistrict 2
Bill BarnettDistrict 3
Gary PorterDistrict 4; chairman
Tim HeardDistrict 6; secretary-treasurer
Rodney ReeseDistrict 9
Terry MathisDistrict 7
Donna YostDistrict 8
Larry EvansDistrict 5
Roger CokerDistrict 1; vice-chairman

Foundation

Sawnee EMC operates the Sawnee Electric Membership Foundation, which donates to schools and charities in its service area. Since 2003, the foundation has given out $3.8 million.