Palmetto Electric Cooperative
Legal name: Palmetto Electric Cooperative Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 570221355
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Ridgeland, SC, USA
- Phone
- 803-943-2211; 843-681-5551; 843-208-5551
- Rating
- 50
- Verdict
- MIXED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $194,786,503
- Expenses
- $194,786,503
- Assets
- $321,081,636
- Liabilities
- $216,375,901
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- A BERL DAVIS JR (PRES. & CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- A BERL DAVIS JR (PRES. & CEO): $1,036,538 total reported compensation
- TANYA K TRULL (V.P FINANCE): $453,834 total reported compensation
- WILSON D SALEEBY (V.P ENGIN/OP): $444,077 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
_At Palmetto Electric Cooperative, our mission is to deliver competitively priced, reliable energy and innovative related services to its members and to provide leadership and support to the communities we serve._ About Us Palmetto Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit electric distribution utility that is owned by the members it serves. We serve over 80,000 member accounts in southern Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper counties. Palmetto Electric is a member of Touchstone Energy, which is a national alliance of local, consumer-owned electric cooperatives providing high standards of service to customers large and small. More than 700 Touchstone Energy cooperatives in 45 states are delivering en.
Palmetto Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit electric distribution utility owned by the members it serves, delivering energy and related services to member accounts in southern Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper counties. Its mission is to deliver competitively priced, reliable energy and innovative related services to members and to provide leadership and support to the communities it serves, including through its Operation Round Up program.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 100% 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
MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 0
- Transparency & Controls: 82
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 40
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
- Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- 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; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- 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: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.65; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.67; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -22.2% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: Filed program service accomplishments
- Leadership: top reported pay $1M · 18 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $8.8M reported
- Consistency: 13 of 14 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay
- Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 18 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 57/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.