Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative, Inc.

Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative, Inc., doing business as Chelco, is a tax-exempt electric utility cooperative headquartered in Defuniak Springs, Florida, that supplies electricity and energy management services to federal facilities as a prime contractor (95% of recent awards) under single-award indefinite delivery contracts and basic ordering agreements with the Department of the Air Force and the General Services Administration. The cooperative holds no SBA certifications and competes on full-and-open contracts; its service footprint is geographically constrained to its regulated utility territory in the Florida Panhandle.

Chelco's federal customer base is heavily concentrated with the Department of the Air Force, which accounts for 50 awards (78% of award count) and $642.5 million in combined potential value — nearly all tied to a single $642.5 million indefinite delivery contract with Air Combat Command. The remaining dollar volume comes from a $50 million GSA Public Buildings Service Central Office Energy Division contract (awarded September 2021, period of performance through September 2031) for area-wide public utility services and energy management to eligible government properties within Chelco's service territory, and a $30 thousand Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration order. The Air Force and GSA rankings diverge sharply — the Air Force dominates dollar value despite similar award counts, while the GSA contract delivers steady baseline revenue over a decade.

Chelco's prime work splits across basic ordering agreements under the Air Force (22 task orders on BOA F0865172D0483, 18 task orders on BOA F0865172C0483, 3 on F0865180D0020) and indefinite delivery contracts (3 task orders on IDC F0865183D0027, 2 on F0865186D0015). The cooperative's capability portfolio is concentrated in electric utility distribution and gas utility services (44 awards under PSC "Utilities-Electric," 11 under "Utilities-Gas"), with incidental work in equipment leasing and facility maintenance. Recent sub-award activity is sparse: a July 2024 sub award to Emerald Coast Utility Services Inc. for three-phase line extension to a lift station, and an October 2022 sub award to Dawson Enterprises, Inc. for Duke Field electrical utility services. Combined dollars obligated across all awards total $134.3 million (19% of combined potential value), indicating a long-tail payment schedule typical of utility service contracts. Chelco also received a sub-grant award from the State of Florida Division of Emergency Management in October 2023 for permanent work on Walton County disaster recovery.