1. Home
  2. History

Our History

The Crisp County Power Commission was formed by an amendment to the Georgia State Constitution in 1925 at the request of a group of civic minded citizens of Crisp County to develop hydro-electric power resources on the Flint River. The stated purpose for the Commission in the Amendment was to promote "the agricultural, industrial and civic interests" of Crisp County. The Commission is governed by a 7 member board:

  • Three County Commissioners
  • Four members appointed by the Crisp County Grand Jury

The first action of the Commission was the issuance of $1.25 million in revenue bonds to finance construction of the Lake Blackshear Dam and Reservoir. Construction was completed and power first generated from the facility in August 1930. At that time the rural areas of Crisp County (like virtually all the rural South) had no electrical service. Once the Power Commission began receiving power from the hydro-electric facility it began construction of distribution lines to bring the benefits of electricity to county residents.

Over a period of time the demand for power exceeded the amount available from the hydro-electric facility and in 1957 the Commission constructed one of the very first combined cycle facilities consisting of a 12.5MW coal plant and 5MW natural gas combustion turbine. By 1975 additional capacity was needed and the Crisp County Power Commission became one of the founding members of the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG). MEAG Power is a Joint Action Agency representing 49 public power entities in Georgia and co-owns generating and transmission facilities with the other major wholesale suppliers in Georgia.

Through MEAG Crisp has the ability to finance and construct any required future generating or transmission facilities on an economical scale. Through MEAG’s membership in Georgia’s Integrated Transmission System (ITS) Crisp has access to the grid of transmission lines located statewide for receipt or delivery of any needed amounts of power.

The Crisp County Power Commission serves an area of approximately 330 square miles including the municipalities of Cordele and Arabi using a network of approximately 850 miles of distribution lines. The Commission serves an estimated 12,000 meters with a peak load of 90MW.