Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative was founded in 1937. Through the Rural Electrification Administration, the co-op received a loan of $165,000 to construct 175 miles of line to serve 600 customer-members. SMECO operated a generating plant at Popes Creek, Maryland, from 1938 to 1953. SMECO has had five general managers: 1938, Forrest Coakley; 1974, Walter H. Smith; 1989, I. Wayne Swann; 2003, Austin J. Slater, Jr.; and 2020, Sonja Cox. As of January 2026, SMECO served 181,000 customers and is one of the largest electric co-ops in the country. SMECO serves all of Charles and St. Mary's counties, the southern portion of Prince George's County, and all but the northeast portion of Calvert County. For more information, go to www.smeco.coop.
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SMECO Questions
The SMECO annual revenue was $347.9 million in 2026.
Sonja Cox is the President and CEO of SMECO.
162 people are employed at SMECO.
SMECO is based in Hughesville, Maryland.
The NAICS codes for SMECO are [221, 237, 22, 23713, 2371, 23].
The SIC codes for SMECO are [16, 162].
Top SMECO Employees
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Sonja Cox
President and CEO at SMECO
Leonardtown, MD, US35+ -
Brian Lazarchick
Managing Director, Safety and Technical Training at SMECO
Hughesville, MD, US22 -
Ken Capps
Sr.Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at SMECO
Hughesville, MD, US24 -
Sylvia Welch
Managing Director, IT at SMECO
Charlotte Hall, MD, US43 -
Lezael Rorie
Senior Vice President, Member Services at SMECO
Washington, DC, US34 -
13
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Cindy Rauner
Sr. Vice President of Human Resources and CHRO at SMECO
Hughesville, MD, US25+ -
Ryan Edge
Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at SMECO
Brandywine, MD, US35 -
Beth Kennedy
VP and CFO at SMECO
Mechanicsville, MD, US15+ -
14
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