Fergus Electric Cooperative

Legal name: Fergus Electric Cooperative Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
810134746
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Lewistown, MT, USA
Phone
(406) 538-3465
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$31,906,904
Expenses
$31,906,904
Assets
$72,667,056
Liabilities
$26,023,886

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • TERRY FROST (PRESIDENT)
  • JASON SWANZ (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CARSON SWEENEY (GENERAL MANAGER): $312,994 total reported compensation
  • SALLY HORACEK (OFFICE MANAGER): $241,402 total reported compensation
  • DALE RIKALA (LINE SUPERINTENDENT): $236,364 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Fergus Electric Cooperative, Inc. is a member-owned electric cooperative providing reliable, safe, and affordable energy to the communities it serves across central Montana. The Mission of Fergus Electric Cooperative is to provide reliable, safe, and affordable energy services to the communities we serve. Image. Image Together We Save.

What it reported doing in 2025

The mission of fergus electric cooperative is to provide reliable, safe, and affordable energy services to the communities we serve. Who we are: we are a non-profit cooperative utility owned, operated and supported by members in central Montana.what we do: we distribute electricity and ancillary services to 14 central Montana counties: blaine, cascade, choteau, fergus, golden valley, judith basin, meagher, musselshell, petroleum, stillwater, sweet grass, treasure, wheatland, and yellowstone.what we value: we value integrity, reliability, quality, affordability, and employees in serving our community and member-owners.what we aspire to become: we are working to become the trusted provider for all energy and energy related services that our members require.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.28; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -79.8% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $313K · 14 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 13 of 13 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 36/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.