Big Rivers Electric Corp. held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Monday for its new transmission operations center, which will be located near the west end of the bypass. The $57 million facility will serve as a modern home base for Big Rivers transmission, substation, energy control, engineering, and information technology employees.
Big Rivers opened its new headquarters at 710 West 2nd Street earlier this year. It replaced the cooperative’s Henderson complex, first built in 1961. The 47,000-square-foot facility consists of four stories and is approximately 25% smaller than Big Rivers’ former headquarters.
The former headquarters facility in Henderson also housed the company’s operations center. Big Rivers President/CEO Bob Berry, who will soon be retiring from the position, said they were initially going to move the headquarters and operations center into one building, but it worked out better to have separate facilities in Owensboro.
“The mayor made us such a great incentive package to (put our headquarters) downtown, and we knew we didn’t want our large trucks there,” Berry said. “That’s when we decided to separate them. But we wanted them both in the same city and we wanted them close to each other. … There’s actually more efficiency to have the operations center where the actual maintenance work and design work is going on because they have to interact a lot throughout the day. When we decided to build the new transmission maintenance facility, that’s when we decided to integrate it all.”
The new center will feature office space, garages, a warehouse, and a control room to accommodate up to 70 employees who operate or work on Big Rivers’ transmission system infrastructure for 22 counties. The site will include a reinforced control room, expanded equipment yard, indoor truck parking, and radiant heat parking that will reduce service response times during inclement weather and increase reliability.
The operations center will officially be located at 90 Industrial Drive, near where Henderson Road splits into 2nd and 4th streets. The 114-acre property the TOC would sit on stretches from Henderson Road on the north (near the Joe Ford Nature Center) to West 5th Street Road on the south (near Jack C. Fisher Park).
Owensboro Mayor Tom Watson, Daviess County Judge-Executive Charlie Castlen, and Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corporation Presdient/CEO Claude Bacon all gave brief remarks at Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony. They all expressed gratitude for Big Rivers investing in the community.
Bacon said of the capital investment of $57 million, “That will have a significant and lasting annual economic impact on our community for many years to come. We also appreciate your noticeable and deliberate efforts in being an impactful corporate citizen in our community.”
Berry noted that Big Rivers has a goal of investing more than money into a community.
“It’s more than just new jobs, and it’s more than just the (financial) investment that we’re making,” he sad. “Our employees are investing in this community. We’ve got a number of employees that are on the local boards. Our employees are engaged in the community. That’s what we stand for. We’re made up by the community, and we’re part of that community. That’s who owns us.”
Construction of the operations center is expected to take 18-24 months. Planning and approvals for the project began in 2021, and Big Rivers worked with the city of Owensboro and other local organizations to select the future site.
