Our History
In 1999, the Public Service commission deregulated the electric power industry in New York State. This meant that utility companies such as NYSEG, Niagara Mohawk (now National Grid), RG&E and others no longer enjoyed monopoly status in the sale of electricity. The market for electricity was opened to cost competition; natural gas had been deregulated several years earlier.

Anticipating the deregulation of electricity, Tompkins and Tioga Counties formed an energy alliance in 1998. Two years later, neighboring counties joined our alliance and the venture then became a non-profit community-based corporation – the Municipal Electric and Gas Alliance – or MEGA. The governing body of the Corporation is elected from the corporation membership whose representatives come from the participating counties

As our mission states, MEGA's primary purpose is to achieve the best terms and rates for electricity and natural gas for participants in our partnership program. MEGA represents only the interests of the customer, not the supplier. Because MEGA is a non-profit corporation originally founded by county governmental leaders, it has a public service orientation, not a profit making goal.