You flip a switch, and the lights come on. But have you ever wondered where that electricity comes from – or how it reaches your home?

For Guthrie County REC members, the journey begins with Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO), the generation and transmission cooperative that supplies your local cooperative with wholesale electricity.

The electricity journey
Electricity starts at generating facilities, where energy from sources such as wind, coal, solar, natural gas, hydropower and landfill gas is converted into electricity. CIPCO uses a diverse portfolio of these resources rather than relying heavily on any one source.

That diversity provides an important benefit: reliability and cost stability. Wind and solar can provide economical energy without fuel costs, while resources such as coal and natural gas can provide dependable power when renewable production is lower. Market purchases through the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) provide another option to meet energy demand. Having multiple resources gives CIPCO flexibility when weather, fuel prices, electricity demand or power plant availability changes.

Once generated, electricity enters the high-voltage transmission system – the electric grid’s equivalent of an interstate highway. MISO manages this “traffic” and calls for increases or decreases in generation dependent upon demand in order to keep the grid stable. CIPCO owns and maintains nearly 2,000 miles of transmission lines that move electricity across Iowa to hundreds of delivery points.

At substations, transformers reduce the voltage so electricity can then move onto Guthrie County REC’s distribution system. From there, our power lines carry it through to your community. Another transformer near your home reduces the voltage again before electricity enters your meter and powers everything from your refrigerator to your lights.

The co-op connection
There’s another important part of this journey – and you’re connected to it through cooperative ownership. Guthrie County REC is one of 13 member-owned cooperatives and associations that own CIPCO. Unlike an investor-owned utility that answers to shareholders, CIPCO is a not-for-profit cooperative governed by its members. Earnings beyond the cost of providing service can ultimately be returned to its member systems as patronage.

So, when you flip that switch, there’s a whole cooperative network working behind it – from generation and transmission to your local distribution lines – all with one goal: delivering safe, reliable and cost-effective electricity to your home.