Local Business Growth Powers Progress in Our Community
Last month, I shared an update on the growth we’ve seen in homes and neighborhoods across our region, and how that kind of residential expansion impacts your cooperative. This month, I would like to focus on another important area of growth: local businesses.
When it comes to business growth, it’s not primarily about the number of new businesses. It’s about how much power they require and how quickly they need it.
So, how much business growth are we experiencing? Over the past 5 years, our total energy sales have increased steadily, from about 113,000,000 megawatt-hours in 2020 to more than 123,000,000 in 2025. Looking ahead, we expect new and expanding businesses to add approximately 40 megawatts of demand to our system. To put that into perspective, if those businesses are operating at full capacity, it would be like adding another small town to our system.
As more businesses grow in our area, REMC is ready to meet the challenge while continuing to deliver the reliable service you have come to expect. Growth is a positive sign. It reflects a strong community where people want to live and businesses want to invest. And as the electric provider for our region for the past 87 years, REMC is proud to power that growth.
Next month, I’ll wrap up this series by taking a closer look at 1 of the fastest-growing types of business development, large-scale technology facilities, and the unique challenges and opportunities they present.