A local utility serving more than 12,500 members is moving into a new building this summer to consolidate its offices and boost efficiency. 

Benton Rural Electric Association is putting the finishing touches on its new West Richland headquarters at 2121 Cooperative Way, and the organization is set to move in by the end of July.

The building’s front doors open on a large lobby area featuring a mural of old Benton REA pictures of linemen. Another room features the utility’s service area outlined on a glass door.

The building was designed with members in mind and to streamline operations.

The 40,000-square-foot building consolidates three different office locations as well as five different warehouse locations, said CEO Ryan Redmond. 

Benton REA will maintain a field office in Prosser.

Financing project

In mid-June, the building was projected to come in at just under the original $20 million estimate, though with a slightly delayed opening date. Redmond said the delay was largely due to supply chain issues for the furniture. 

To finance the project, member rates were raised. While final invoices have yet to be paid, the building likely will affect member rates by just over 3%. About 2.5% of that adjustment has already been implemented – under original estimates of a 5% rate increase phased in over time. 

Redmond said the lower-than-planned rate increase is a result of good project planning and execution, along with financing available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service, which provides financing for infrastructure improvements to rural communities. “We were able to complete the building with even better terms,” he said in an email.

Despite furniture delays, Benton REA held its annual membership meeting June 20 in the massive garage space of its new building, with childcare available in the smaller adjacent garage. More than 600 people attended. 

Holding the annual membership meeting in a building of its own is a first for Benton REA. Previously, the utility had to rent space. 

The meeting was an opportunity for Benton REA to share audited financials and other information with its stakeholders. 

Benton REA opened its new West Richland headquarters to the public on June 20. 

| Courtesy Benton REA

As a member-owned cooperative, Benton REA’s customers are its stakeholders and owners, Redmond said. Honoring that relationship, a large community center space is a prominent feature of the new building. It can fit up to 190 people, or the space can be subdivided into two smaller rooms. 

While Benton REA will use the space for some large meetings, it’s intended as a space where community members can gather, too. A quilting group and other organizations that previously met at Benton REA’s former offices now meet there. It’s free for community and nonprofit groups to use, and terms and requirements are available upon request.

Members are also a big part of the reason Benton REA decided to make West Richland its home base. About 73% of the utility’s membership lives in West Richland, and 64% of the utility’s fieldwork is being done in the area. 

“We exist to serve the community,” Redmond said. 

Building features

Part of the lobby area includes small conference rooms where customers can discuss private matters like bills and payment arrangements. 

The building has large areas set aside for Benton REA’s member relationship group; project management and IT; and finance, accounting and compliance. Private offices for vice presidents, executives and human resources line the larger rooms, and walls help divvy up the spaces and lend privacy to different divisions while maintaining open spaces to move through.

Benton REA expects to move into its new West Richland headquarters at 2121 Cooperative Way by the end of July. 

| Photo by Nathan Finke

There’s a copy center in the middle of several of these spaces, and in an area intended for engineers, a tall desk will be installed to lay out maps. A kitchen and break room with an adjoining outdoor space support employees. 

Separate from the business end of the building is the operations portion. Here, the floors are concrete, the walls lined with lockers for the linemen who put up and take down wires each day. 

The space also has three individual bathrooms, each equipped with a shower. Redmond said that workers might have to put in up to 15 or 20 hours in a row, so having a space to clean up and change is important.

That part of the building has a crew room with a kitchen area, office space and a meeting space for safety briefings and other gatherings. 

There’s a meter shop, where specialized workers can use a garage door in the wall and a large crane to bring in heavy pieces of equipment to work on. 

Nearby is a huge warehouse, much larger than Benton REA has had before, Redmond said. Two garages can fit several trucks each. The vehicles can pull in, stay overnight, then load up and pull out in the morning, Redmond said. One garage fits four smaller line trucks, while an even larger garage fits trucks with large booms. 

Efficiencies

Beyond the warehouse space, the new headquarters’ 14-acre yard offers another efficiency advantage. 

Previously, drivers would need to stop by several different locations to pick up all the pieces they need. Now, a warehouse worker gets the supplies ready, drops them on the truck, where the driver gets orders and heads straight to where they’re needed. 

Redmond said the organization’s efficiency benefits from having a central location. There’s even a little extra room for future growth, he said. Currently, the organization has about 85 staff. 

Benton REA’s operating area stretches from West Richland and Benton County up through Yakima, the Yakama Indian Reservation and White Pass, a 620-square-mile service area. 

Redmond said the utility serves a diverse range of customers, from farms, dairies and commercial endeavors to a ski resort and cabins. 

As the new building gets up and running, Benton REA will determine next steps for its other locations. The utility’s current West Richland building will be on the market, while a consolidation plan will come into play in Prosser. 

“I think it’s going to be a really great thing for everybody,” Redmond said of the new building.