Union Electric Membership Corporation Patton Avenue Office in 1950

Through the years, Union Electric Membership Corporation continued to grow, and in January 1950, the cooperative moved into a new headquarters building and facility on Patton Avenue in Monroe. At that time, Union EMC served 5,500 members and employed 22 workers. The new facility afforded ample space for all equipment, the garage and warehouse area adequately stored all trucks and materials, and there was plenty of office space. It even included an electric kitchen for demonstration purposes.

One Friday night in September 1952, 75 Home Demonstration Club members were on hand to see the demonstration of pies and meringues given in the co-op’s kitchen by Mrs. Jewel Fessenden, food specialist with the Extension Service. During Mrs. Fessenden’s two-hour demonstration, she showed the ladies how to make three different pies.

Members in Stanly, Rowan, and Cabarrus counties saw system improvements being made in their area in the early 1950s. These improvements included the building of new line, the installation of a new substation in the New London area of Stanly County, and the addition of new circuits to enable better voltage, fewer outages, and reduced outage time.

Three additional substations were energized during November and December 1954, which provided co-op members with stronger voltage and better service. This was part of the co-op’s system improvement plans which called for the installation of heavier feeder lines, regulators, oil circuit reclosers, and in general, heaving up the whole co-op system. This was necessary as new members were added and there was a greater demand by the members already connected.

In 1958, two new substations were built, one in Cabarrus County and the other in Union County. Plans included building more 44 kV line, and upgrading three existing substations.

Stay tuned as we continue to explore the history of Union Power.