Graham County Electric Cooperative Inc.

Graham County Electric Cooperative Inc., a tax-exempt nonprofit electric, gas, and water cooperative utility based in Pima, Arizona, supplies electricity and natural gas services to the Federal Bureau of Prisons as a direct prime contractor, with recent expansion into water infrastructure grants from the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service. The cooperative operates without SBA set-aside designations and competes on a full-and-open basis for utility services within its service territory.

Graham County Electric Cooperative Inc. serves four federal customer agencies with a heavily concentrated footprint. The Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons Federal Correctional Institution Safford dominates the award portfolio, accounting for 35 awards and $7.7 million in combined potential value — representing 82% of total potential dollars across all federal work. The cooperative holds five recurring Bureau of Prisons Blanket Purchase Agreements (DJB60902BPA06005, DJB60902BPA06004, DJB60902BPA08004, DJB60902BPA08005, and DJB60902BPA09004) with 17, 14, 13, 12, and 12 task orders respectively, issuing purchase orders for electricity and natural gas service to FCI Safford on a monthly or seasonal basis. Representative FCI Safford contracts include a $479,767 firm fixed-price purchase order for electric utility service (October–November 2022, ultimate completion September 2022), a $115,929 electric utility service award (October 2022–December 2022), and a $20,000 electricity purchase order (October 2024–September 2025). The remaining customer base is minimal: the Department of Health and Human Services Indian Health Service (2 awards, $147 thousand), the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Arizona Region (1 award, $12 thousand), and the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (2 awards).

The cooperative's recent strategic shift into water infrastructure reflects new grant work. The Rural Utilities Service awarded two project grants totaling $5.815 million (announced September 29, 2025, performance through September 2027) under the Water and Waste Facility Loans and Grants to Alleviate Health Risks for Colonias and Tribal Lands program (CFDA 10.770). One grant of $2.815 million funds water infrastructure work in Pima; the second, $3 million, targets water and waste disposal infrastructure serving low-income rural areas with persistent poverty in Colonias zones along the U.S./Mexico border.

Activity has declined markedly in recent years — three awards in 2021 declining to one award per year in 2022, 2023, and 2024, with two awards in 2025. The Bureau of Prisons BPA task orders represent the steady-state contract vehicle; only two awards face ultimate completion in the next twenty-four months, signaling limited near-term recompete exposure tied to these recurring utility contracts. The cooperative operates exclusively as a prime contractor across all 153 awards in its federal footprint, with no subcontract activity. Utility service delivery — electric power distribution (84 awards) and natural gas distribution (65 awards) — accounts for 99% of the award count and dollar value; one award each for electrical contracting and component manufacturing round out the portfolio but represent outliers in the cooperative's core business.