Wake Electric
Legal name: Wake Electric Membership Corporation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 560440935
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2016–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Wake Forest, NC, United States
- Phone
- 919.863.6300
- Rating
- 88
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $129,361,410
- Expenses
- $129,361,410
- Assets
- $365,417,450
- Liabilities
- $240,942,105
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
15 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- H MICHAEL DICKERSON (PRESIDENT)
- JAMES E MANGUM JR (CEO & GEN. M)
Highest reported compensation
- JAMES E MANGUM JR (CEO & GEN. M): $1,118,961 total reported compensation
- DON BOWMAN (MANAGER OF O): $529,903 total reported compensation
- CHRISTOPHER D WRIGHT (MGR OF ENGIN): $319,722 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Wake Electric provides reliable, safe, and affordable electric energy and recognizes that electric energy is essential to members’ quality of life. Wake Electric is an involved and ethical community partner that works to anticipate and address the growth of the community and the needs of the members. Wake Electric operates a sustainable electric system—delivering affordable, increasingly clean electricity over a grid that is more efficient, resilient and capable of supporting new energy resources.
Wake Electric’s mission is to provide reliable, safe, and affordable electric energy while supporting members’ quality of life and anticipating community needs. The cooperative operates a sustainable electric system delivering affordable, increasingly clean electricity over a grid designed to be more efficient and resilient. Through community-focused giving such as Operation RoundUp and WECare Foundation grants, it supports education and nonprofit community grants within its service territory.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 100% 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 liabilities are high compared with assets.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 89
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 40
- 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: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- 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: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 65th 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 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.82; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.66; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 41st 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: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: Filed program service accomplishments
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.1M · 15 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.1M reported
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay and related organizations
- Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 15 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
- 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 23/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 25/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.