Plw.coop
Title
PLW.coop - Welcome
Description
Parkland Light & Water Co (PL&WCo) is a mutual utility. A mutual is a form of cooperative where the members of the utility are also the owners. As a part owner in the company, the members also have a voice in how it is operated. A five-member Board of Trustees, elected by the members, represents them in deciding company policy. They meet monthly with the company manager for updates on the state of the company and to make decisions that decide the long-term company direction. In a mutual it is the customer/member, and not stockholders that determines the policy and direction of the organization. PL&WCo operates on a "not for profit" basis. Excess operating revenue is used to improve service or it is returned to the membership.
PL&WCo is not a government agency. We pay a variety of federal, state and municipal taxes such as property taxes, public utility tax, a state business and occupation tax, sales tax, and, like all businesses, state and federal employment tax.
PL&WCo is the nations oldest mutual utility, established February 17, 1914. Pacific Lutheran University forefathers and a community of forward thinking homemakers inspired the idea of the mutual. They had been around cooperatives in their native Scandinavian countries. The first manager (E.B. Ellingson) guided the volunteer labors of home owners who set poles and strung wire to bring in power, and dug ditches and installed open flumes to bring water to Parkland.
