When you flip a switch, electricity feels instant. But behind that simple action is a carefully coordinated system working around the clock to deliver reliable power to your home, farm, or business.
Here’s how electricity travels — step by step — to members of Decatur County REMC.
IT STARTS WITH GENERATION
Decatur County REMC does not generate electricity itself. Instead, we purchase power from our generation and transmission cooperative, Hoosier Energy.
Hoosier Energy produces electricity using a diverse mix of energy resources and delivers it into the regional grid at very high voltages. Sending power at high voltage allows it to travel long distances efficiently with minimal energy loss.
TRANSMISSION: THE ELECTRIC HIGHWAY
Once generated, electricity moves across high-voltage transmission lines — the tall steel structures you see stretching across the countryside.
Think of transmission lines as the interstate highways of the electric system. They carry large amounts of electricity from generation sources toward communities like ours.
Before power can safely enter neighborhoods, however, that voltage must be reduced.
SUBSTATIONS: WHERE POWER GETS ‘RIGHT-SIZED’
When electricity reaches our local area, it flows into a substation — one of the most important hubs in the delivery process.
At a substation, voltage is stepped down from transmission levels to distribution levels. Once reduced, the power is routed onto the local distribution lines that Decatur County REMC maintains, delivering electricity out across our service territory to homes, farms, schools, and businesses.
DISTRIBUTION: DELIVERING POWER TO YOUR DOOR
Decatur County REMC maintains more than 1,060 miles of energized line across our service territory, serving nearly 6,800 members in Decatur and portions of surrounding counties.
From substations, electricity travels along:
- Feeders — Main distribution lines that carry power outward from substations.
- Circuit Miles — The total miles of line we maintain to serve members.
- Transformers — The gray “cans” on poles or green pad-mounted boxes that reduce voltage one final time before it enters your home.
Only after passing through all these steps does electricity reach your breaker panel — and your plug.
- Plant
- Transmission
- Substation
- Feeder
- Transformer
- Your Home
