Blue Grass Energy
Legal name: Blue Grass Energy Cooperative Corp
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 431948188
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Nicholasville, KY, United States
- Phone
- 888-546-4243
- Rating
- 88
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Local Benevolent Life Insurance Associations
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $176,652,522
- Expenses
- $176,652,522
- Assets
- $330,664,501
- Liabilities
- $152,373,781
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHAEL WILLIAMS (PRESIDENT/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- MICHAEL WILLIAMS (PRESIDENT/CEO): $486,521 total reported compensation
- ROBERT C BREWER JR (VP-ENGINEERING): $254,100 total reported compensation
- BOBBY MCCOUN (VP-MEMBER SERVICES): $250,439 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Distribution sales of electricity on a patronage basis to a monthly average of approximately 65,000 consumers. Blue grass energy's mission is to provide safe, reliable, affordable energy services, while improving the quality of life for our members.
What it reported doing in 2025
Distribution sales of electricity on a patronage basis to a monthly average of approximately 65,000 consumers.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 96% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 91
- Sustainability: 38
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.87; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.1%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $176.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $487K · 15 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $15.8M reported
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.