In these days of sour economic activity, a high unemployment rate and the closure of struggling businesses, it does our heart good to see a company celebrate its 100th anniversary. Empire District Electric Company is celebrating its 100th year of operation this year.
The company provides power to more than 168,000 customers in an area that spans from Hickory County in Missouri to Craig County in Oklahoma. Its electricity generation plants push 1,255 megawatts to its customers, and it also provides natural gas to customers across western Missouri.
We offer our congratulations to the company for reaching this milestone. A look back at the company’s history could also serve as a glimpse into the future, however.
Empire sent electricity to its first customers from hydroelectric plants at Redings Mill and Lowell. Demand quickly grew, however, leading the company to burn coal in order to produce power.
Coal still provides 60 to 70 percent of the power we consume from Empire. But that is changing. Empire has already constructed two wind farms that use a renewable, clean source to provide power.
In the near future, we hope to see Empire continue to invest in green power. The company’s proximity to Oklahoma and Kansas should allow easier construction and investment into these kinds of ventures.
Empire was ready to meet Missouri’s renewable energy standards for 2020 after voters approved those standards last year. The company has a 100-year history of making decisions that keep prices low for customers.
But regardless of how one feels about global warming, cap-and-trade or any of the recently passed legislation regarding carbon emissions, it makes sense to draw power from sources that will never run out.
The amount of power Empire pushes out is also in our hands. We can all take simple, small steps to reduce our demand for power, such as switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, ensuring proper insulation and seal of doors and windows and remembering to switch off power to lights, computers, TVs or whatever else we’re not using.
It wasn’t the flames of coal 100 years ago, but the natural movement of water that allowed Empire to power the area. We wish the company success in its efforts to return to those days of naturally-generated power.
