What is a Cooperative?
A cooperative is a business owned by its customers, known as members. Anyone who receives power from South Central Indiana REMC is part owner of the business. SCI REMC is one of 39 rural electric cooperatives in Indiana. Electric cooperatives were organized throughout the state in the 1930s. At that time, investor-owned utilities were supplying power in urban areas, but would not supply electric power to rural customers. This was common across the country at this time in history. People living in rural areas saw that those in cities had electricity and wanted it as well. As a result, with loans from the Rural Electrification Administration, rural communities banded together and created electric cooperatives.
It All Began …
1939 - Morgan County Rural Electric formed primarily servicing Morgan County. Gradually expanded territories to include seven counties: Morgan, Monroe, Brown, Owen, and portions of Clay, Putnam, and Johnson.
1990 - Changed name to South Central Indiana REMC to better identify the service area
1995 - Started Operation RoundUp ® ; with the philosophy of giving back to the community through funding of grants to schools, churches, civic organizations, fire departments and other not-for-profit organizations as well as some individuals. More than $1,600,000 has been awarded to community recipients. Each month, members who wish to participate allow SCI to automatically round up their electric bill to the next highest dollar. More than 70% of the SCI members participate in Operation RoundUp.
1998 - Joined Touchstone Energy ® , a national alliance of consumer-owned electric cooperatives providing high standards of service to customers large and small. Touchstone represents more than 650 cooperatives in 39 states that collectively deliver power and energy solutions to more than 16 million customers every day.
1999 - Formed SCI Services, LLC a wholly-owned subsidiary to offer ancillary products and services: security and life safety products, long distance services, and metered propane gas.
2003 - Implemented one of the cooperative’s first in-house Outage Reporting & Dispatch Centers using state-of-the art technology and interactive voice equipment.
2004 - Launched first high-speed Internet service in the state of Indiana using broadband over power lines. Started our own in- house right-of-way crew for line clearance and vegetation management of our power lines.
2005 - REMC invested $4.4 million in new lines and equipment as well as upgrades to maintain reliable service.
2007 - Installation of automated meter reading (AMR) and SCADA equipment to reduce outage time, meter reading and other power management functions.
SCI Fast Facts
- Largest distribution cooperative in Indiana
- 34,000 members in seven counties: Morgan, Monroe, Brown, Owen, Putnam, Clay, and Johnson
- Overseen by 10-member Board of Directors
- Owns and maintains 3,440 miles of line
- Total utility plant: $116 million
- Annual revenue: $45 million
- Generation & transmission service provided by Hoosier Energy, Bloomington, IN