Power for Progress: GRDA and MidAmerica

Power path
GRDA’s electric infrastructure near the MidAmerica Industrial Park helps to deliver abundant, reliable electricity to the many industries operating there. The Grand River Energy Center is visible in the background.

Power for Progress…

A weekly column from the Grand River Dam Authority

GRDA and MidAmerica

While the abundant and reliable electricity produced by the Grand River Dam Authority helps to power thousands of homes in Oklahoma communities, it also helps to move Oklahoma industry forward.

In fact, ever since the creation of the MidAmerica Industrial Park in 1960, GRDA power has been a key part of this hub of Oklahoma industry and manufacturing.

Located between Pryor and Chouteau, the 9,000-acre industrial park is home to nearly 80 companies today and most are GRDA electricity customers. Collectively, the MidAmerica workforce is approximately 4,500 people strong, employing Oklahomans in a wide variety of industrial and manufacturing settings. The electricity produced by GRDA is used in MidAmerica to produce everything from paper and ductile iron to food products and engineered cooling systems.

The GRDA Grand River Energy Center, which supplies much of the electricity to industrial park residents, sits on MidAmerica’s southern edge, which translates into high reliability. Meanwhile, GRDA’s electric transmission maintenance department – including a crew dedicated to industrial park customers – is headquartered adjacent to MidAmerica. That translates into quick response time to meet industrial customer needs and also enhances reliability.

While low-cost GRDA electricity is an attractive inducement to industries locating in MidAmerica, the availability of abundant water from the Grand River, located nearby, is also a key reason many industries call the area home. This power and water “in one spot” (which was once a slogan used to recruit potential industrial customers) is still helping GRDA and MidAmerica fulfill their important economic development mission for Oklahoma.

GRDA is Oklahoma’s largest public power electric utility; fully funded by revenues from electric and water sales instead of taxes. Each day, GRDA strives to be an “Oklahoma agency of excellence” by focusing on the 5 E’s: electricity, economic development, environmental stewardship, employees, and efficiency.