With the outlook for electricity consumption growth projected to reach levels not seen in decades, municipal electric utilities should be proactive in considering data center projects including the benefits vs. the risks and impacts to the community.
Austin, Minn. — As consumer expectations for fast, digital communication continue to grow, Cooperative Response Center, Inc. (CRC) is expanding its service line to meet those needs. CRC recently announced the launch of its newest service offering for its membership: Social Media Monitoring & Response.
The new service provides 24/7/365 monitoring of subscribers’ social media channels, delivering real-time responses, consistent member experiences, and proactive engagement. Designed to help electric utilities maintain a strong and responsive online presence, the service also includes content moderation, reputation protection, and critical communications support during outages and major events.
As consumer engagement continues to revolve around digital platforms, CRC’s Social Media Monitoring & Response service ensures its membership can meet their consumers where they are, any time of day. By combining around-the-clock monitoring with timely, accurate responses, CRC helps organizations stay connected while safeguarding their reputation and strengthening member trust.
“Social media has become a popular way for consumers to seek information and support, especially during high-impact moments,” said Brad Fjelsta, CRC’s president and CEO. “With this new service, we’re bringing the same dependable, people-first approach our members have trusted for decades on the phone directly to their digital channels. Our team is continuously monitoring and engaging—responding to comments and messages, removing inappropriate content, and ensuring members feel heard and supported around the clock.”
The addition of the Social Media Monitoring & Response service builds on CRC’s nearly 35 years of experience providing specialized services to the electric utility industry. This new offering reflects CRC’s ongoing commitment to evolve alongside its members and deliver solutions that meet their changing communication needs.
For more information about CRC’s Social Media Monitoring & Response service, contact a regional business manager at 800-892-1578 or email info@crc.coop.
About CRC
CRC is a nationwide, cooperatively owned and operated, 24/7 contact center and alarm monitoring center. Founded in 1992, CRC has steadily increased the size and scope of its operation with offices currently in Austin, Dunlap, Abilene, and Kirksville. CRC serves over 575 members and associate members in 47 states, representing nearly 12.9 million consumers. Visit CRC on the web at www.crc.coop.
Rising demand forecasts are presenting significant challenges for public power utilities. A primary driver is data center interest within local communities.
According to APPA’s October 2025 report, What Public Power Needs to Know about Serving Data Centers, projections for data center capacity growth range from 50 GW (S&P Global Market Intelligence) to 120 GW (Deloitte and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. At any end of that spectrum, it’s an historic amount of demand.
As you think about the issues surrounding meeting this unprecedented demand, new technologies should be a key focus for public power. A good example of this is the recent move by the Utah Municipal Power Agency to deploy 48 MW of new capacity using linear generators in Nephi, Utah.
Linear generators: One new solution worth your attention.
As I strive to keep abreast of evolving industry issues and challenges, I was fortunate about two years ago to learn of Mainspring Energy and the entirely new approach it is taking to meeting local power generation needs. Their demonstrated success, examples of which are below, is impressive.
The company manufactures Linear Generators: power generators that run on any fuel, are fully dispatchable, use no water, and emit near-zero NOx. With their proprietary technology, Mainspring delivers local power that can rapidly add new capacity and deliver reliable, affordable electric power. They began commercial shipments in 2020 and today have hundreds of megawatts in field operations and advanced development. I’ve been so impressed with their solution, in fact, that I’ve joined their Strategic Advisory Board.
A record of success with existing installations.
Most utility managers understandably don’t want to be first when it comes to adopting newer technologies. We all want the reassurance that a product is proven in customer field operations. Fortunately, there are multiple existing installations of linear generators up and running. I’ve visited some myself. Here are two installations I think you’ll find especially relevant.
An irrigation district powering one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S.
Lathrop Irrigation District (LID) is the municipal electric utility serving the River Islands community in Lathrop, CA — one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. LID needed power to support approximately 4,000 homes and 3 million square feet of commercial space.
Their ideal power solution would help lower electricity costs, quickly dispatch to complement existing rooftop solar, and meet the NOx emissions compliance with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, one of the strictest in the country. What’s more, it had to fit in a limited footprint, scale with long-term community growth, and be deployed and permitted quickly to keep pace with development.
Mainspring’s low-emissions design and factory-built units enabled LID to secure air permits in three months and deploy 2.3 MW generators in seven months.
Commercially operational since February, 2025, LID is now meeting 95% of River Island’s peak demand, has 24/7 control over its electricity supply reducing its exposure to volatile pricing and rising transmission costs, and with Mainspring’s modular design, is well positioned for future capacity expansion.
10MW of new electricity without three years of grid infrastructure buildout.
Facing California’s ambitious zero-emissions truck mandate with properties near the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, logistics real estate company Prologis needed to deploy EV charging infrastructure for its customer, Maersk, looking to charge a fleet of up to 96 electric drayage trucks.
This would require nearly 10 MW of capacity and take three years of grid infrastructure build-out.
Grid resilience and cost also presented longer-term challenges, as did the need to meet the company’s own ambitious sustainability goals. The new EV charging infrastructure needed to be fast, resilient, cost-effective, and clean.
Prologis reduced that estimated time for new power from nearly 36 months down to 9 months with a power solution consisting of 3 MW of Mainspring Linear Generators and 6 MW / 18 MWh of storage.
Commercially operational since 2024, Prologis has eliminated outage risk with an islanded microgrid, obtained best-in-class total cost of ownership resulting from competitive capital costs and low operating expenses, and has the ability to run biogas and zero-carbon fuels like hydrogen as well as natural gas. It’s the largest EV truck charging station in North America.
An opportunity to learn more through APPA
If this piques your interest, Mainspring will be participating in the APPA Engineering and Operations Conference, March 29 - April 1, 2026 and the annual APPA conference in June. Either would be a good place for public power managers and their staff to learn more about how linear generator technology can help meet the significant demand challenges facing today’s public power utilities.
When a utility provides multiple essential services, managing functions such as billing, operations and customer service can be extremely complex, both for employees and customers.
This is Newport Utilities’ story of how they evolved from a siloed approach, where every department was totally independent of one another, to the total integration of all aspects of the business.
Learn how this “small but mighty” staff is benefiting from the efficiencies NISC solutions provide.
