REC Democracy Project
Black Warrior EMC is an electric cooperative serving 12 counties in Western Alabama. Every household that receives energy from BWEMC is technically a co-op member-owner. However, BWEMC's board of trustees have been operating the company as a private monopoly rather than a democratic consumer co-op that prioritizes the needs of its member-owners. BWEMC member-owners face exorbitantly high electricity bills, lack of transparency, information and democracy from the board of trustees as well as race and class discrimination. REC Democracy Project is a grassroots organizing campaign educating and mobilizing BWEMC member-owners to take back control of their co-op. A key part of their campaign is to make data more visible through mapping.
National Characteristics
Alabama Demographics by County
Black Warrior Electric Territory
Energy Burden is the percent of income that the poorest households - those making 50% below the federal poverty line - owe in electric bills each year. An affordable energy bill is considered to be 6% of income by economists. On average, low-income Alabama residents owe over half their annual income in energy bills, which contributes to chronic poverty and homelessness.
