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Youth to Washington Program

Each year, Egyptian Electric Cooperative selects local high school students for the annual Youth Day in Springfield and at least two students for Youth to Washington! Youth Day to Springfield is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, March 20, 2024 and Youth Tour (Youth to Washington) will be held June 14-21, 2024 in Washington D.C. Sophomores, juniors and seniors, attending a public or private high school within the Egyptian Electric Cooperative service territorial footprint, or otherwise a consumer-member of the cooperative, are eligible to apply for this once in a lifetime opportunity.  EECA school districts include: Marissa, Sparta, DuQuoin, Chester, Pinckneyville, Murphysboro, Elverado, Trico, Carbondale, Steeleville, Red Bud, and Carterville.

Congratulations to Auna McClure of Elverado High School and Allie Robinson of Trico High School for being selected to attend Youth Tour this summer!

When released in December of each year, they can always be found here on our website, with the area high school guidance counselors, and in our offices. The application form includes completing short summaries of the student’s school activities, civic activities and other accomplishments, plus an essay related to cooperatives and/or our local community. Students are judged on their written application and demonstrated understanding of the rural electric program. A blind independent panel of judges selects the winners for Youth to Washington. All expenses are paid by Egyptian Electric Cooperative, and transportation provided. If you have any questions on the application or the program, please contact Brooke Guthman at (618) 684-2143, ext. 1115, or bguthman@eeca.coop.  

Youth to Washington 2024

For over 57 years, more than 50,000 young Americans have taken advantage of the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour offered by their local electric cooperatives. At least 1,500 high school students will be invited to Youth Tour 2024! Each June, hundreds of electric co-ops across the country send participants to Washington, D.C. for a chance to learn about the cooperative business model and a full week of sightseeing and social networking. While in D.C., participants have a chance to meet with their elected officials and discuss the issues that are important back home. Without a doubt, Youth Tour has grown into an invaluable leadership program that gives young Americans an experience that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. 

If you are a high school sophomore, junior, or senior interested in traveling to Washington, D.C. to experience the trip of a lifetime, consider applying! At most six students will be chosen to attend the all-expense paid bus trip to Youth Day this spring to meet their elected senators and representatives at the State Capitol alongside their counterparts from other Illinois high schools and communities. From these students, at least two will be invited to attend the week-long trip to D.C. Youth Tour is so much more than a sightseeing trip. Students have repeatedly shared that this experience has helped them grow into successful professionals. Youth Tour participants return home with a deeper understanding and skillset of what it takes to be a leader. As a result, they put these skills to use right here in our community. Help us find the next generation of leaders by sharing the Youth Tour opportunity with a promising student.


Who We Are

Egyptian Electric Cooperative, currently headquartered in Murphysboro, Illinois, is a consumer-owned corporation that supplies electric power to members in portions of Jackson, Randolph, Perry, Williamson, and parts of St. Clair, Johnson, Union, Monroe, Franklin and Washington counties in southern Illinois. More than 15,000 households and businesses receive power from Egyptian Electric Cooperative. We are a distribution utility, meaning we do not generate our own electricity. We purchase our power from Southern Illinois Power Cooperative (SIPC) which is located south of Marion, Illinois, at Lake of Egypt. SIPC is a generating and transmission cooperative which is owned and controlled by the southern most rural electric cooperatives in the most southern region of Illinois, and that receive electricity from SIPC. Egyptian Electric is wholly owned by the people it serves, and is governed by nine board of directors, elected by members. Approximately 38 employees work for Egyptian Electric to serve its residential, commercial and industrial accounts.  To learn more, and view our by-laws, visit the New Members page.

The Cooperative

A cooperative is organized as a not-for-profit utility. It does not sell stock and is not under pressure to earn profits for absentee stockholders.  Co-ops are not-for-profit entities. Members invest in shares of the business to provide capital for a strong and efficient operation. All net savings (profits) left after bills are paid and money is set aside for operations and improvements are returned to the cooperative members, usually in the form of capital credits.  Electric cooperatives were established to serve rural, less-densely populated areas, when no one would do it. Providing electric service in these areas has always tended to be more costly and difficult than in urban areas.  Egyptian electric maintains nearly 2,000 miles of line, with an average of only 7.5 meters per mile of line, compared to the investor-owned companies, that average 35 customers per mile of line.

 

Previous Youth Day Photos

Previous Youth to Washington Photos