Contact

Member services

1-877-892-0001

Mon to Fri, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET

Power outage (24/7)

1-800-410-4790

Report a downed wire or restoration question

Headquarters

10384 River Road
Denton, MD 21629

Regional center

6520 Walston Switch Rd
Salisbury, MD 21804

Co-op fact sheet

Type
Member-owned electric cooperative
Founded
21 September 1938
Members served
~55,000 metered accounts
Service area
All 9 Eastern Shore counties
Retail choice?
No (co-op territory)
Governance
9-member elected board
Sister company
Choptank Fiber (broadband)

Quick actions

  • 1

    Become a member

    Call 1-877-892-0001 or apply online. A one-time membership fee plus deposit applies; the deposit is returned after 12 months of on-time payment.

  • 2

    Stop service

    Same line. Give your move-out date and a forwarding address for the final bill and any capital-credit refunds.

  • 3

    Report an outage

    Call the 24/7 outage line 1-800-410-4790 or use the SmartHub app. Do not call 911 unless lives are at risk.

See the MD energy guide

How an electric cooperative is different

Maryland has three kinds of electricity provider: investor-owned utilities (Delmarva, BGE, Potomac Edison, Pepco), municipal utilities (Hagerstown, Williamsport, Berlin, Easton, etc.), and cooperatives (Choptank, plus SMECO in southern MD). Co-ops play by their own rules.

Investor-owned utility (Delmarva, Potomac Edison)

  • ·Owned by shareholders. Profits go to dividends.
  • ·Regulated by the MD PSC.
  • ·You can shop a competitive supplier for the supply line.
  • ·Default supply price is Standard Offer Service (SOS), auctioned by the PSC.

Choptank (co-op)

  • ·Owned by the members it serves. No outside shareholders.
  • ·Governed by an elected 9-member board; one member, one vote.
  • ·Supplier choice is not available; co-op supplies all the power.
  • ·Margins above cost are credited to your capital credits account and refunded over time.

Source: Rural Electrification Act of 1936; Maryland PSC Customer Choice Act of 1999; Choptank Electric Cooperative governance documents.

Insider tip

Capital credits are your money, even after you move

Choptank is not allowed to keep a profit. Anything that comes in above the cost of running the system is allocated each year to members in proportion to what they paid. That allocation sits in a capital credit account in your name.

Years later, when the board decides the co-op has enough working capital, those allocations get refunded as a check (or bill credit). Choptank announced a return of about $3 million in capital credits to current and former members in the most recent payout.

What that means for you: if you have ever been a Choptank member, keep your forwarding address current with the co-op even after you move. Otherwise the checks pile up unclaimed.

How to pay your Choptank bill

Auto-pay

Free direct debit from your checking account.

SmartHub app

Free iOS / Android. Manage account, pay, report outages.

By mail

Check to 10384 River Road, Denton, MD 21629.

In person

Cash, check, or card at the Denton HQ or the Salisbury regional center during business hours.

Frequently asked questions

Can I pick a competitive supplier as a Choptank member?
No. Maryland's 1999 Customer Choice Act applies to investor-owned utilities only. Cooperatives chose not to opt in, so Choptank supplies all the energy its members use, alongside the wires. Door-to-door supplier pitches are not legitimate in Choptank territory.
Does Choptank deliver natural gas too?
No. Choptank is electric-only. Most homes on the Eastern Shore use propane (delivered by tank from private companies) or oil for heat. Some Salisbury-area communities have Chesapeake Utilities natural-gas service.
Where does Choptank's power come from?
Choptank buys power on the PJM wholesale market through Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), the generation cooperative that supplies many mid-Atlantic co-ops. The mix is mostly natural gas and nuclear, with a growing share of solar and wind contracted through ODEC.
My power is out. Who do I call?
Choptank, never Delmarva. Call 1-800-410-4790, 24 hours a day. Choptank crews dispatch from the Denton and Salisbury depots and own the local poles and wires.
18 deregulated jurisdictions

More U.S. states with energy choice

Same playbook, different utility. Pick another deregulated state to compare utilities, suppliers and switching rules.

See all states