Owensboro Municipal Utilities is the largest municipal electric/water system in Kentucky with more than 26,000 electric and 24,000 water customers.
Owensboro residents voted overwhelmingly in 1895 to start their own electric system. Power was generated from the city's first power plant on December 31, 1900. In November of 1900, residents also voted to build their own deep well water utility which went into operation in 1906.
The city-run electric and water systems operated independently until 1940 when they were combined into the present day OMU.
OMU is organized into four operating divisions; Elmer Smith power plant, Engineering & Operations, Water Production, and Customer Service Center.
In 1999, OMU began offering telecommunications services, including high speed Internet and point-to-point data services, to commercial customers over its fiber optic network.
Timeline
- 1895
- Dissatisfied with the service they receive from a private power comanpy, the residents vote 1,771 to 63 to build their own electric utility.
- 1900
- Unhappy with the quality of the water from a private water plant, Owensboro residents vote 1,942 to 444 to build their own deep well system.
- That same year on December 31 at 4:25 p.m., electricity flowed for the first time from the new city-owned electric system.
- 1940
- The city-owned electric and wter systems are combined to form the present-day OMU.
- 1995
- OMU expanded its water facilities by one-third in 1995 when the Cavin Plant on U.S. Highway 60 went into operation. That same year, the Elmer Smith Station installed pollution reduction devices called scrubbers to reduce SO2 emissions.
- 1997
- OMU begins installation of a fiber optic network around the city. By 1999, businesses can obtain high-speed Internet and other telecommunication services at affordable prices.
- 1999
- An independent study awards a Five Star ranking to the Elmer Smith Station for low costs and its ability to compete in a deregulated environment. The plant is one of only 28 coal-fired units in the U.S. to receive this honor.
- 2000
- OMU celebrates a new millennium with its 100th birthday.
