Honda chooses electric cooperative-served site to build $550 million Indiana automobile plant

Honda has selected a 1,700-acre Greensburg, Indiana site served by Decatur County REMC to build a $550-million automobile plant that will employ up to 2,000 workers.

Based in Greensburg, Decatur County REMC serves 7,500 consumers over 1,025 miles of line in six southeastern Indiana counties. Bloomington-based Hoosier Energy is the electric cooperative’s wholesale power supplier and both are Touchstone Energy Cooperatives.

“Decatur County REMC’s directors and employees are delighted that Honda has chosen Greensburg to build its newest U.S. auto plant,” said Don Schilling, Decatur County REMC general manager who also serves as president of the Greensburg – Decatur County Economic Development Corporation. “Our electric cooperative has a long history of serving major industrial customers. The jobs and investment are important to our consumers and the local community that we have served for more than 65 years.”

“Decatur County REMC and Hoosier Energy have been working with state and local economic development officials throughout the selection process,” said Hoosier Energy Chief Executive Officer Steve Smith. “Electric cooperatives are committed to consumers and the communities they serve. That commitment includes assisting in bringing jobs and capital investment to our state. Honda has experienced the cooperative difference through positive experiences with electric cooperatives at other U.S. locations, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership with the company.”

Construction begins this fall on Honda’s Greensburg facility, which will begin mass production of fuel-efficient 4-cylinder vehicles in fall 2008, with an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles. Annual payroll is expected to reach $100 million when the plant reaches full production capacity.

Initial electric demand for the new assembly plant is estimated at 35 to 40 megawatts. In addition to existing facilities, Decatur County REMC and Hoosier Energy will construct new substations, transmission lines and other power delivery improvements to serve the plant.

Working with major industrial customers and achieving economic development success stories is not new for Decatur County REMC or Hoosier Energy and its 17 member cooperatives in central and southern Indiana.

Decatur County REMC serves Delta Faucet, Valeo, GECOM, Printpack, Sintering Technologies, Advanced Bearing Materials and other large industrial customers in the Greensburg area.

In 2005, two national publications – Business Facilities and Site Selection – recognized Hoosier Energy and its members for job creation and capital investment efforts. In the past 15 years, Hoosier Energy and members have helped bring more than $5 billion in investment to Indiana.

The Honda announcement caps outstanding economic development results for the first half of 2006 in Hoosier Energy member service territories. Some 20 new projects and 12 expansions are slated to bring nearly $930 million in capital investment and 3,500 jobs to central and southern Indiana communities.

Hoosier Energy is a generation and transmission cooperative based in Bloomington, Indiana. The power supplier operates two coal-fired baseload generating stations and two natural gas-fired peaking stations. Power delivery facilities include more than 260 substations and delivery points and 1,500 miles of high-voltage transmission line.

Hoosier Energy and its members provide reliable and affordable electric power to an estimated 650,000 residents, businesses, industries and farms in 48 Indiana counties. As Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, Decatur County REMC and Hoosier Energy are part of a nationwide alliance of more than 600 electric cooperatives delivering power and energy solutions to more than 22 million residential, commercial and industrial customers in 45 states.