For 85 years, Petit Jean Electric Cooperative has served as a neighbor that supports the community through connection, not only with electricity and broadband, but also with the values that guide us as a cooperative.
Where it Began
Our story began in 1940 in Morrilton, Arkansas, coinciding with 1 of the most significant chapters in American history. Before rural electrification, only a small portion of the countryside had access to power. Investor-owned utilities saw rural areas as unprofitable, so many farms and small towns stayed in the dark. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Rural Electrification Administration in 1935, rural communities finally had a means to organize, finance, and construct their own power systems. Local families and neighbors came together at the foot of Petit Jean Mountain and did exactly that, $5 at a time, and Petit Jean Electric Cooperative was born. While we no longer serve that area with power, it’s where our name—and our story—begin.
A Cooperative, Not a Corporation
Petit Jean is owned by the people it serves. That is the core difference between a cooperative and an investor-owned utility. In a cooperative, members are both the owners and the decision-makers. Success is measured by service, reliability, and community benefit, not profit. This democratic control means 1 member, 1 vote, no matter how much electricity you use. It’s a model that values fairness, openness, and participation. At Petit Jean, when the community thrives, the cooperative thrives, because they are 1 and the same.
How We Got Started
Under the Rural Electrification Act and Arkansas’ Electric Cooperative Corporation Act, a group of local incorporators filed papers in October 1940 to form Petit Jean Electric. By 1942, the cooperative secured its first loan, acquired the Clinton Light and Ice Company, and began serving accounts across Van Buren, Cleburne, and Faulkner counties. The early years were not easy. World War II slowed construction, materials were scarce, and travel was difficult. Still, the cooperative pressed on, adding miles of line and connecting more homes, farms, and small businesses every year. Growth accelerated in the 1950s and 1960s, and Petit Jean became a cornerstone for rural development. Through floods, storms, and even a devastating office flood in 1982, the co-op kept going, because reliability is a promise we make to one another.
Member Control & Responsibility
Being a member means more than just paying an electric bill. It means having a voice and a stake in the cooperative’s success. Members elect a local board of directors to set policy, ensuring accountability and transparency. The general manager oversees daily operations, but always at the direction of the board chosen by members themselves. This local autonomy and independence are part of what has enabled Petit Jean to remain strong for 85 years.
With ownership comes responsibility. Members support the cooperative by voting in elections, practicing electrical safety, and paying bills on time to keep costs low for everyone. When members participate, they help ensure the cooperative’s success—and they share in the rewards. Because Petit Jean operates at cost, margins are returned to members as capital credits. It’s economic participation in action, where efficiency and good management put money back into members’ pockets rather than into the hands of distant shareholders.
Living Out Our Principles
Education has always been central to Petit Jean’s mission. From youth leadership tours to our nation’s capital to safety demonstrations in schools, the cooperative invests in teaching members and the next generation about energy use, technology, and cooperative values.
We also believe in working together beyond county lines. Petit Jean partners with other cooperatives across Arkansas and the country, whether it’s restoring power after a hurricane or developing new technologies that improve reliability. This spirit of cooperation among cooperatives has made rural systems like ours stronger than any 1 co-op could be on its own.
At the heart of everything is a concern for the community. Petit Jean supports local schools, food banks, economic development projects, and community events. Employees and leaders live here, too—they shop in the same stores, volunteer at the same nonprofits, and sit in the same bleachers at Friday night ball games. Powering the future, not just the past
The same cooperative spirit that brought electricity to rural Arkansas now fuels our work to deliver world-class broadband through Petit Jean Fiber. By leveraging federal grants, cooperative financing, and strong partnerships with state and local leaders, we’ve built a high-speed network that supports education, healthcare, business, and modern agriculture across nine counties and more than 15,000 square meters. It is a new way of bringing opportunity to rural Arkansas, guided by the same values that powered the first lines in the 1940s.
A Legacy That Belongs to the Members
From the first poles set more than 80 years ago to today’s fiber lines, 1 truth stands out: Petit Jean is built by and for its members. Our cooperative model—grounded in democratic control, economic participation, independence, education, cooperation, and deep concern for community—has carried us through 85 years and will guide us for generations to come.
Our past powers our present. Our present lights the way for the future. Thank you for being part of the Petit Jean story, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.