SECO Energy Powers Up Ocala with $70 Million State-of-the-Art Operations Center

Ocala, FL — SECO Energy, the Ocala-based not-for-profit electric cooperative serving more than 250,000 member-customers across Central Florida, is moving forward with a landmark $70 million operations center in Marion County — a centerpiece of the cooperative’s sweeping $256 million Expansion and Improvement Plan that broke ground in early 2026.

A Bold Commitment to Ocala’s Future

The Marion County Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a special use permit for the project in May 2025, paving the way for SECO Energy to acquire land along County Road 475A and begin construction. The 79,100-square-foot facility is designed to serve as a state-of-the-art district office, employment hub, and critical backup dispatch location — enhancing SECO’s ability to respond swiftly to outages and power restoration needs across the region.

Part of a $256 Million Five-Year Vision

The Ocala facility is a key component of SECO Energy’s ambitious Expansion and Improvement Plan — a five-year, $256 million initiative unanimously approved by the cooperative’s Board of Trustees. The plan also encompasses a brand-new expanded headquarters in Sumter County and additional district operations offices in Lake and Sumter Counties. Construction on the Sumterville headquarters began in January 2026, with the Ocala and Groveland facilities to follow in subsequent phases through 2028.

The cooperative’s service area spans more than 2,100 square miles across Lake, Marion, Citrus, Sumter, Pasco, Hernando, and Levy Counties — a rapidly growing footprint that has seen its membership surge from around 150,000 to over 250,000 in recent years. The expansion is designed to keep pace with this growth, ensuring that the infrastructure, staffing capacity, and response capabilities match the demands of a booming region.

The inland Central Florida corridor driving SECO’s growth is the same region reshaping the state’s entire development map — and the land opportunity there is unlike anything on the coasts. Explore why Central Florida leads the state in long-term real estate development prospects and how master-planned communities, population migration, and infrastructure investment are converging to make the inland corridor Florida’s next great frontier.

What the New Ocala Facility Means for Marion County

The new Ocala operations center is more than just a building — it represents a strategic investment in the reliability and resilience of the electric grid serving Marion County residents and businesses. The 79,100-square-foot facility will house lineworkers, field crews, and administrative staff, and will be equipped with on-site staging areas that allow SECO to deploy trucks and equipment faster during storms, outages, or other emergencies. As a backup dispatch location, the facility also strengthens SECO’s ability to maintain operations even during high-impact weather events — a critical advantage in Florida’s hurricane-prone climate.

From an economic development standpoint, the project is expected to generate significant local employment opportunities, both during the construction phase and through permanent positions once the facility becomes operational. Marion County, which is increasingly attracting businesses and residents looking for Central Florida’s quality of life outside of the Tampa-Orlando corridor, stands to benefit substantially from the investment.

The importance of backup dispatch capabilities and rapid storm response is underscored by what Florida’s utilities faced in recent hurricane seasons, when tens of thousands of crews mobilized to restore service to hundreds of thousands of customers in a matter of days. See how Florida power grid restoration efforts following major hurricanes illustrate exactly why facilities like SECO’s new Ocala center — designed as a fully operational backup dispatch hub — are so critical to the state’s energy resilience.

SECO Energy: A Cooperative Built Around Its Members

Founded as a not-for-profit electric cooperative, SECO Energy is unique in that it is owned and operated by the members it serves. Unlike investor-owned utilities, SECO’s revenues are reinvested back into the cooperative to improve service quality, infrastructure, and member benefits. The company’s decision to proceed with the $256 million expansion underscores its long-term commitment to delivering reliable, affordable, and modern electric service to the communities it calls home.

In January 2026, the cooperative’s leadership expressed enthusiasm about the momentum building across all project sites: “We are excited about the progress on our future Sumterville, Groveland, and Ocala facilities. Thoughtfully planned to support our employees and members, these new facilities represent a bright future for SECO Energy.”

SECO’s community-first model mirrors the approach taken by other major energy players investing in Florida’s workforce and small business ecosystem — none more visibly than Duke Energy’s foundation arm. Learn how Florida energy utility community investment programs are strengthening local economies through targeted grants to workforce development organizations and minority-owned businesses across Central Florida.

Looking Ahead: Powering Ocala for the Next Generation

As SECO Energy continues to break ground on its next-generation infrastructure, the impact for Marion County is expected to be far-reaching. Residents and businesses can anticipate faster response times to outages, a more modernized electrical grid, and a cooperative with the physical resources to match the explosive growth of the region. With the Ocala facility’s construction set to ramp up in the coming months, the future of energy reliability in Central Florida’s horse country has never looked brighter.

Large-scale energy infrastructure projects like SECO’s new operations center depend on a thriving pipeline of skilled electrical contractors across the state — and Florida’s top electrical firms are already earning national recognition for their work. Discover how award-winning Florida electrical contracting companies are raising industry standards in residential, commercial, and smart-grid applications as demand for electrification projects surges across the Sunshine State.