Electricity & Communication Department

Power services since 1890

The city-owned 12,470-volt electric distribution is interconnected with American Electric Power (AEP) through two separate 138,000-volt transmission lines fed to two city-owned substations. The Shelby Municipal Light Plant houses the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor the electric system 24 hours a day and notify personnel when an electrical fault occurs. The electric distribution department maintains 79 miles of electric lines.

The City of Shelby is a public power provider and a member of American Municipal Power (AMP). The city purchases electricity from a portfolio of power contracts from AMP and AEP. The city uses diesel generators for emergency backup power, demand response, and voltage support. The emergency backup generators are located at the Water and Wastewater Treatment facilities to provide backup power during an extended outage.

The American Public Power Association awarded the Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) award several times to the City of Shelby for operating a reliable and efficient public power system. The national award recognized the electric system in four disciplines: reliability, safety, workforce development and system improvement. In addition, department personnel have received numerous safety awards.

Available service: Approx. 100%
Residential customers: 4,879
Commercial customers: 169
Industrial customers: 22

Shelby Solar Timelapse

Click on the timelapse to watch a one-minute video of the solar array being constructed from start to finish.