Outage Map
Growing Together: Redmond Campus Reimagined
Central Oregon continues to grow. Along with new neighborhoods and businesses comes increasing demand for electricity.
Nowhere is this growth more visible than in Central Electric Cooperative’s (CEC) service territory. In southeast Bend, more than 1,400 new homes and additional units are planned. There have been nearly 1,000 new residences in northwest Redmond in the past 3 years, with more on the way.
With that growth, CEC has seen a nearly 10% increase in membership, with additional similar growth projected over the next 5 years.
At CEC, our responsibility is to ensure we continue to deliver safe, reliable, and affordable power to our members to meet growth today and for decades to come.
Our Redmond Service Center has faithfully served the cooperative since it was built in 1977. For the past 5 decades, however, the cooperative has changed dramatically. CEC’s workforce has grown by more than 40%. Metered services have grown by more than 400%.
While the existing facilities remain safe for daily operations, they were never designed to support the workforce, equipment, and technology required to serve today’s cooperative. The buildings are at full capacity and nearing the end of their useful life. They do not meet many modern standards for fire protection, seismic resiliency, and energy efficiency.
After careful consideration and planning, which began in 2022, the CEC Board of Directors gave its final approval last November for the construction of new facilities on our current Redmond campus. The project will include a new administration building, warehouse, and truck bays. 3 existing buildings will receive modest renovations.
These improvements are more than buildings. They represent a growing co-op committed to serving our members.
A modern operations center will allow personnel to store materials and equipment efficiently, protect critical infrastructure, and respond more quickly when maintenance or outages occur. Updated workspaces and building layout will improve coordination among engineering, dispatch, line crews, and member services, enabling us to operate more effectively. Safer workspaces and additional vehicle storage will help protect employees and the equipment that keeps the lights on.
Equally important, the new campus will give the cooperative room to grow responsibly alongside the communities we serve. Planning for the future today helps ensure CEC can continue meeting rising demand while maintaining the reliable service our members expect.
Construction has begun, with completion anticipated in the fall of 2027. Throughout the project, our Redmond office remains open and available to assist with payments, questions, and support.
The project will cost an estimated $25,000,000, financed through long-term borrowing to ensure equitable cost allocation over the lifetime of the facilities, resulting in an approximate 2% increase in rate revenue.
As a not-for-profit, member-owned cooperative, every investment we make is guided by what is in our membership’s best interest. The Redmond Campus Improvement Project is an investment in reliability, efficiency, and the co-op’s future.
To learn more, visit the Campus Improvement Project page. Thank you for your continued trust in CEC. It is our privilege to serve you.
President and CEO Brad Wilson