Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative (CHELCO)
J. Matthew Avery has a diverse work experience in the engineering and operations field. J. Matthew has held various positions throughout their career, starting with Baldwin EMC as a Staking Engineer from 1996 to 1999. J. Matthew then moved on to Alabama Power Company as a Distribution Engineer from 1999 to 2001, followed by a role as an Area Trade Manager at HomeAdvisor from 2001 to 2002. After that, they worked at AZED Communications as a Project Manager / Engineer in 2002. Since 2003, they have been with CHELCO, where they have held multiple positions including Supervisor of Engineering Services, Manager of Engineering, Vice President of Engineering, and currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Engineering and Operations.
J. Matthew Avery obtained a Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University, covering the period between 1991 and 1995. In 2005 to 2006, they participated in the NRECA Management Internship Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, though they did not pursue a degree during this time. J. Matthew then pursued a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of West Florida from 2016 to 2018. In addition to their formal education, J. Matthew Avery holds certifications as a Registered Alabama Professional Engineer from the Alabama Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyor, as well as a Registered Florida Professional Engineer from the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. The specific dates or years when these certifications were obtained are not provided.
Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative (CHELCO)
Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative, Inc., (CHELCO) is a MEMBER OWNED, not-for-profit electric distribution cooperative employing more than 170 people and serving more than 62,000 accounts in Walton, Okaloosa, Holmes and Santa Rosa counties in the panhandle of Florida. The cooperative owns and maintains over 4,300 miles of line including those on Eglin Air Force Base. We have six area offices including our headquarters in DeFuniak Springs. CHELCO is a distribution cooperative that exclusively purchases its energy from PowerSouth Energy Cooperative. CHELCO is democratically controlled by its member-owners, who vote to elect the Board of Trustees. Each Trustee is also a CHELCO member, and they are elected on three-year cycles and represent nine districts throughout our service territory. History Although most cities had electricity by the mid-1930s, rural Americans were still in the dark. The high cost of building electric distribution lines to serve sparsely populated rural areas was thought to be unprofitable. Then in 1940, with the support of the federal Rural Electrification Administration's oversight and low-interest loans, the people of northwest Florida decided to band together to form CHELCO, a member-owned, not-for-profit electric distribution cooperative. Later that same year, CHELCO members met with 10 other electric cooperatives and formed Alabama Electric Cooperative (now PowerSouth Energy Cooperative), a generation and transmission cooperative established to generate the electricity needed by its member co-ops. CHELCO is dedicated to providing safe, reliable, and affordable electricity and has not had a rate increase since 2012. Membership, in 1940 and today, costs $5.00.