How Did Co-ops Perform in 2025? — July 13, 2026

Join CFC's Sam Kem, senior economic research analyst, and Carolina Park, senior manager of Financial Tools & Analysis, as they use the 2025 KRTA results to discover how distribution cooperatives dealt with last year's challenges.

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Host

Sam Kem

Sam Kem is a senior economic research analyst at CFC, where she is responsible for the management and creation of economic research, writing and presentation materials for internal and external audiences. See Sam's full bio at https://www.nrucfc.coop/content/solutions/en/author/sam-kem.html.

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Sam Kem: 00:04

Hello, and welcome to the Economic and Market Watch podcast for the week of July 13, 2026. This is Sam Kem of CFC. Today, we're going to talk about the newly released 2025 KRTA, CFC's annual benchmarking report that tracks the financial and operational performance of electric co-ops across the country. Joining me here again today is Carolina Park, CFC's senior manager of financial tools and analysis. Carolina and her team are responsible for producing the KRTA every year.

Sam Kem: 00:35

And welcome back, Carolina.

Carolina Park: 00:37

Thanks, Sam. It's great to be back.

Sam Kem: 00:39

Before we get into 2025 results, let's start with a quick refresher. What is KRTA and why is it such an important resource for electric co-ops?

Carolina Park: 00:50

Of course. KRTA, or the Key Ratio Trend Analysis, is CFC's annual benchmarking report. 2025 results include data from 814 cooperatives and analyze 145 financial and operational ratios using consolidated RUS and CFC Form 7 data. Members can compare themselves nationally or against several peer groups, including US, state, consumer size, power supplier and plant growth, which helps management teams and boards understand how their cooperative is performing relative to others facing similar operating conditions.

Sam Kem: 01:31

So, one thing that stood out to me was how familiar some of the themes sounded. Last year, we talked about co-ops navigating inflation, higher borrowing costs, and continued investment in infrastructure. Looking at the 2025 report, it feels like those challenges were still there, but perhaps we're moving into a more stable phase. Is that a fair way to describe 2025?

Carolina Park: 01:57

Yes, I think that's exactly right. The headline this year is really one of continued resilience, and that's what we wanted to hear. Cooperatives are still investing heavily in their systems. Revenues continue growing and financial metrics remain strong. The difference is that we're beginning to see growth rates settle back towards more typical long term levels.

Carolina Park: 02:20

So, instead of reacting to extraordinary conditions, many cooperatives are managing through a more normalized environment while continuing to strengthen their systems.

Sam Kem: 02:31

So, let's talk about those investments. Infrastructure spending has been a major story for several years now. Did that continue in 2025?

Carolina Park: 02:39

Yes. Absolutely. Total utility plant continued increasing across the industry, and both investment per consumer and investment per mile of line reached new heights. What's interesting is that while investment remains strong, the pace of growth has moderated somewhat compared to the last few years.

Carolina Park: 02:59

That's actually a healthy sign. It suggests cooperatives are continuing to modernize their systems while returning to a more sustainable pace of capital investment after several years of unusually rapid expansion.

Sam Kem: 03:12

And another thing I noticed was consumer growth. We're still seeing co-ops add new members, but that doesn't necessarily translate directly into higher electricity sales. Is that right?

Sam Kem: 03:25

That's right. Consumer growth remained positive in 2025, although it slowed modestly from the previous year. Electric sales, however, are influenced by much more than customer counts. Weather, economic activity, and changing consumption patterns all play a role.

Carolina Park: 03:43

The encouraging news is that after some volatility in recent years, kilowatt-hour sales increased in 2025. But the longer term trend tells us electric sales have become much less predictable than they were twenty or thirty years ago.

Carolina Park: 03:58

That's something cooperative leaders continue to factor into planning and forecasting.

Sam Kem: 04:03

And one challenge that certainly has not gone away is cost pressure. What stood out to you on the expense side?

Carolina Park: 04:12

Yeah. Costs continue moving higher across several categories. Power costs increased again in 2025, operating expenses continue rising, and labor remains an area where cooperatives are investing to attract and retain skilled employees.

Carolina Park: 04:28

But what impressed me is that the revenues also continue increasing, allowing cooperatives to maintain healthy operating margins despite those higher costs. So while expenses remain elevated, the industry has largely been able to keep pace financially.

Sam Kem: 04:44

And that's reflected in some of the financial ratios as well. Coverage ratios remained strong and equity levels appear to be holding up despite all the capital investment we've been discussing. Is that right?

Carolina Park: 04:58

Yes. Exactly. TIER and modified debt service coverage -- MDSC -- remained very consistent within recent years. And equity levels continued to demonstrate financial strength. We did see equity ratios edged down slightly, but that's not unexpected when cooperatives are financing major infrastructure investments.

Carolina Park: 05:18

Overall, balance sheets remain healthy, and that is one of the key messages from this year's report.

Sam Kem: 05:23

Also, reliability is another topic that's always top of mind for our co-op members. We experienced another year with significant weather events across the country. What did the data show?

Carolina Park: 05:36

There were certainly plenty of storms in 2025, from winter ice storms to severe tornadoes, outbreaks, and floodings in several regions. Despite that, reliability remained relatively stable overall.

Carolina Park: 05:50

That's a testament to the investment cooperatives have been making over many years. Building stronger systems doesn't eliminate outages, but it certainly helps improve resilience and recovery when major weather events occur.

Sam Kem: 06:03

So before we wrap up, your team has continued enhancing KRTA Pro. Anything new this year that users should know about?

Carolina Park: 06:12

Yes. We've continued expanding KRTA Pro based on member feedback. This year, we've refreshed several reports, expanded statewide reporting capabilities, and added new analytical features like the high and low ratio analysis within the executive summary.

Carolina Park: 06:29

The goal has always been to make KRTA more than just a report. We want it to be an interactive tool that helps cooperatives' leaders quickly identify trends, benchmark performance, and support strategic decision making.

Sam Kem: 06:44

And as an economist, one thing I appreciate about KRTA is that it gives us an objective snapshot of how the co-op sector is performing. And the 2025 report tells us a pretty encouraging story. Growth may be moderating, but co-ops continue investing in their systems, maintaining strong financial health, and managing through higher costs while providing reliable service to their members.

Sam Kem: 07:10

And Carolina, thank you again for joining us today.

Carolina Park: 07:13

Thanks, Sam. It's always great to talk about these results, and I encourage everyone to take a closer look at the report and see how their cooperative compares with peers.

Carolina Park: 07:23

Also, if you'd like to learn more about the 2025 KRTA results or explore KRTA Pro, please visit the Financial Analysis section of the CSC website. You can also reach out to your regional vice president or the financial tools and analysis team at [e-mail] with any questions you may have.

Sam Kem: 07:47

And that's it for today. Thank you for listening. Be sure to download the Economic and Market Watch intelligence brief and dashboard. Talk to you soon.