2007 City of Cordele, "Crisp County Power Dam"

Crisp County Power Dam

The Crisp County Power Commission, a public electric utility owned and operated by the citizens of Crisp County, Georgia, had its inception in the 1920's when it was created by an Act of the General Assembly of Georgia in 1925. The Act was ratified in the State of Georgia's General Election on November 2, 1926, and approved by popular vote in Crisp County Special Election on April 19, 1927. The Crisp County Power Commission is licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (formerly the Federal Power Commission) and is not regulated by any state agencies.

The Special County Election of April 19, 1927, also authorized an issue of bonds in an amount of $1.250.000 for the construction of the hydroelectric facility.

The dam is located 135 miles above the mouth of the Flint River near Warwick, Georgia, in Worth County. Construction of the dam and hydroelectric facility began in 1928, and operations commenced in August 1930. The original project and construction were supervised by Emmett S. Killebrew and checked by J.E. Sirrine and Company.

The building of the hydroelectric facility created Lake Blackshear, a reservoir having an area of approximately 8700 acres. Lake Blackshear touches five Georgia counties: Crisp, Dooly, Sumter, Lee, and Worth.

A historic event took place in 1975 when Crisp County signed a power sales contract with the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG Power) along with forty-six other publicly owned systems in the State of Georgia.

The Crisp County Power Commission is made up of a board consisting of seven commissioners. Three of the commissioners are the elected County Commissioners and the grand jury appoints the other four for alternating two-year terms.

Emmett S. Killebrew was the first General Manager of the Commission and served in that capacity until 1949.

The Crisp County Power Commission has a service area of approximately three hundred square miles including the entire County of Crisp and small parts of adjoining counties Dooly, Wilcox, Turner and Worth.

The Crisp County Power Commission is locally owned. Locally operated and through the years has been responsive to community needs along with providing favorable electric rates.