No Project Too Big
Decatur Co. REMC Powers Massive New Honda Plant in Indiana
1,700 acres; 2,000 workers; a $550 million capital investment – it was a huge project for an automotive company renowned for its small cars. Honda was moving to Greensburg, Indiana.
And they were moving fast.
A 31-Month Turnaround
Honda executives initially made contact with local economic development officials in March 2006 about building an assembly plant to produce their popular Civic model. Production began in October 2008 - a turnaround of only 31 months.
An Indiana Property Challenge
Don Schilling, general manager of Decatur County REMC, was president of the Decatur County Economic Development Corp. board of directors when the automotive company came calling. For Honda, site location was the first challenge, he said. A site that big--1,700 acres of Indiana real estate--meant finding land for sale in several adjoining parcels.
“We spent a lot of time getting purchase options for the properties,” Schilling said.
Schilling worked closely with the executive director of the Decatur County Economic Development Corporation, Vicki Kellerman. There was a 260-acre, shovel-ready site available, plus an adjoining 440 acres they had an option on. The Decatur County Economic Development Corporation negotiated for additional sites, she said.
“Everybody pulled together,” Kellerman added.
Powering the Honda Project
Powering the automotive company’s sizeable project was the next challenge, not just providing electricity for the finished plant – Honda said the final load would be 16.5 megawatts – but for the massive construction operation as well.
Schilling called in Decatur County REMC’s generation and transmission provider, Hoosier Energy, to assist.
Decatur County REMC and Hoosier Energy built 2.5 miles of new distribution lines and 36 three-phase banks and placed approximately 50 power transformers around the site, just to service the construction phase. “We were building while Honda was building which was an added challenge. About half of the construction-only electrical installations have now been removed,” Schilling said.
Additionally, Hoosier Energy built a new electrical substation, brought in two 138kw-lines--each more than a half-mile long--and installed approximately 29 miles of new permanent transmission lines.