Before electricity was available to the farms and businesses of rural western Kansas, people labored just doing routine chores. Night work had to be done by the light of fireplaces, stoves, or kerosene lanterns. Operating a ranch, farm, or business was backbreaking work requiring a strong spirit of survival.

Life improved as small groups of farmers created rural electric cooperatives on the western Kansas prairie. Electricity was used to irrigate the land, operate machinery, water livestock, milk cows, and provide needed heat and lighting for farms and businesses. The productivity of rural Kansas increased dramatically. Referring to the arrival of electricity on the farm, John Tracy, a Syracuse resident and former member of the Sunflower Board, often said, “Nothing has done as much as electricity to improve the quality of my life.” 

By the mid-1950s, six western Kansas distribution cooperatives were facing a rapidly growing demand for electricity and needed assurance they would have a reliable long-term power supply available to them at a reasonable cost. Meeting those energy demands would require a large investment in electric generating resources coupled with a high voltage transmission system. It soon became apparent that together they could accomplish more than each could individually. 

In 1957, those six cooperatives created Sunflower, a generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative, to purchase and generate the wholesale power required to serve the needs of all six members. When forming Sunflower, they chose the cooperative business model. While other business models were available, our founders chose to operate as a cooperative because they recognized the value of the seven cooperative principles. Their goal was not to profit, but to serve the best interests of Kansans and preserve their way of life.

On May 19, 1989, Sunflower transitioned from a cooperative to a taxable corporation to more effectively manage complex business transactions and external relationships. Despite Sunflower’s corporation status, the board chose to continue operating as a not-for-profit organization.

Fast forward to 2005. Sunflower’s member cooperatives joined forces to purchase the Kansas electric network assets of Aquila, Inc., which included electric generating units, power purchase agreements, and a high voltage electric transmission system. They recognized the advantage of working together to purchase additional wholesale generation and transmission to serve their members with reliable power at the lowest possible cost. Their joint efforts continued as they created a G&T, Mid-Kansas Electric Company. Mid-Kansas not only brought more wholesale services to the system, but it also brought nearly 200,000 more Kansans to the electric cooperative family.