Working For You

As a member-owner of Utilities District of Western Indiana REMC, you can always be sure that your electric cooperative is working for you to deliver safe and reliable electric service at the lowest possible cost. While cooperative may resemble most companies in some ways, they are very different in others. Your REMC is not in the business of making a profit. Instead, the co-op operates at cost and is driven by serving you rather than by the need to make a profit.

While virtually all aspects of today's cost of living continue to rise, we at your co-op take great pride in avoiding routine price adjustments. No one likes rate increases, especially the folks at your REMC. We only consider an adjustment when it is absolutely necessary. We believe that you should be able to count on your cooperative and be confident in our commitment to providing you with reliable electric service at a reasonable price.

Since October 2006, we have been communicating with our members about a coming rate increase. Through increased efficiency and new technologies, we were able to delay the rate increase until recently, while still providing you with the service you want and deserve. Finally, however, the rising costs of doing business forced us to implement an eight percent rate increase in January 2008.

Several factors have led to the increased costs that we are all experiencing. Inflated rates for shipping coast by railroad, soaring natural gas prices, increased global energy consumption, and higher environmental standards have all driven up the costs of delivering electricity to our members. Across the nation, cooperatives have found themselves faced with striking a balance between maintaining the high level of reliability, quality and overall satisfaction members have come to know and expect and protecting the integrity and financial stability of the organization.

Higher energy costs remain on the horizon for the state and the nation. The reality of these rising costs faced by your electric cooperative and other utilities is reflected in a recent report by Purdue University's State Utility Forecasting Group. The report is entitled "Indiana Electricity Projection: The 2007 Forecast" and predicts that electricity rates in Indiana will increase about 20 percent over the next five years because of new federal air quality standards coupled with increasing construction, fuel, labor and other costs.

At your electric cooperative, we recognize the significant challenges that we are facing now and in the future as the demand for energy and costs of fuel increase across the nation. We are rising to meet those challenges by seeking innovative ways to increase efficiency and help minimize costs for our members.

UDWI remains on the forefront of new technologies such as automated meter reading, advanced mapping systems, and outage analysis programs. These new capabilities enable us to eliminate the labor and fuel cost of manually reading meters and assist us in identifying problems on the line and restoring electric service as quickly as possible.

Your cooperative is working for you to minimize member costs by helping them become more energy efficient in their homes and businesses. We are here to offer a wide range of resources and information, from energy savings tips in the Electric Consumer to one-on-one communication with our energy advisors.

Internally, we are developing resources to serve you more efficiently, in the form of a strong, capable distribution system of over 2,600 miles of line. We develop resources externally as well, by supporting the economic growth of the communities we serve, at the local, state, and national levels.

As a cooperative, we are not just a presence in the communities we serve. We are a partner, working alongside our neighbors to find solutions and strengthen the places where we all live. We remain committed to providing you with reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible electric service. We're here to help and to deliver the reliable power you have come to know and respect. Today, and into the future, your REMC is working for you.